Gordon Parks directs this action drama based on the novel by Ernest Tidyman. Private detective John Shaft (Richard Roundtree) is called in when the daughter of Harlem gangster Bumpy Jonas (Moses Gunn) is kidnapped. Forced to go undercover as a member of the mob, Shaft finds an ally in black militant Ben Buford (Christopher St. John), but soon finds himself becoming embroiled in gang warfare, clashes with the Mafia and encounters with a variety of beautiful women.