Weird cut

Well that sucked. Just noticed that the Neda Arneric sex scene was not included in this version.

Well, thank *who ever you choose to thank in your life* for the internet.

http://fleshbot.com/5390570/retronudity-neda-arneric-in-shaft-in-africa

:)

It's the edited version. All the nudity was cut. I could not believe it myself. If they can show films like Savage Messiah (1972), where Helen Mirren frolics nude half of the movie, or even Get Carter (1971) uncut this seems very arbitrary.

And the worst thing is - you actually miss a key plot point in this cut version. If at least they announced it was the edited version before the film, that would at least be fair. This is just plain annoying and disappointing.

As far as I can tell, there are at least two cuts. The first happens just where you suggested. In that scene, only 30 seconds is cut and it's mostly irrelevant.
Here's what's omitted in that jump cut: The prostitute bares her corpulent breasts for Shaft to check out and he says "Now I know why they call Africa the motherland". That's where this version picks up again ("I won't resist").

The second scene that was cut is actually important and they butchered the film because of this. You might have noticed that the mobster's girl is in a blue dress when she and Shaft talk on the boat for the first time. In the next cut you see her in a different clothing and they are trying to escape by boat all of sudden.
There's a good 6 minutes cut there, and some important stuff happens during that time.
Here's what the jump cut omits: The two of them go into her cabin. She tries to seduce him, but he's too "cool" to fall for that. Then she undresses but he's still chilling. Then she agrees to tell him all he wants to know if he goes to bed with her after that. He agrees and she tells him who the mobster behind the human trafficking is, who the traitor is, that mobster is in Paris and that she is recording their "love seance" for the mobster.
She then proceeds to seduce him with vulgar insinuations, and he decides to keep his part of the bargain. After sex (which is not filmed), they sleep and the traitor (black guy that Emir called his brain) slowly walks in the cabin with a gun, but Shaft wasn't really a sleep so Shaft takes him out with a hidden gun. Then he decides to split and they go to the life boat. Then this version picks up again. The only reason this whole section was cut is because the chick was nude the whole time. That's why some things don't make sense later (like why Shaft decides to split by boat all of a sudden, why he trusts her all of a sudden, how does he know who he's after, how did the mobster hear their chitchat before sex and most importantly what happened to the traitor).

There is one more weird jump cut when Shaft is talking to the small Franch commissioner but I can't imagine what could have been cut there (profanities and violence are not cut) so maybe it's just sloppy editing.

If you wan't to see it for yourself, both of these clips are available on the net. To get the first type "Zenebech Tadesse" (name of the actress who played the prostitute) and "rapidshare" in Google search.

To get the second one type "Neda Arneric" (the name of the actress who played mobster's chick) and "Shaft" in Google video search. Look for the clip that's at least 8 minutes long.

TCM... What gives?

And it's TCM Europe! Why would they ever air edited movies???

The movie aired on US version of TCM the other night and it was completely uncut and unedited. All the profanity, nudity and violence was left intact - including the sex scene with Shaft and the white girl. It was great to see this cult classic the way it was meant to be seen!