In Remembrance: Sig Shore

     Sig Shore, the independent film producer who scored a hit with the 1972 blaxploitation film Superfly and its two sequels, passed away on August 17, 2006 in Stamford, CN. He was 87.

     Born on May 13, 1919 in Harlem, Shore grew up in the Bronx, NY. After attending George Washington University on a basketball scholarship for two years, he enlisted in the US Army Air Corps in 1941. He served for four years, rising to the rank of first lieutenant while a navigator aboard a bomber.

     After World War II, Shore took a job as the advertising director for Dance magazine in New York. After a decade, he decided to try his hand at film distribution, getting such foreign films as The Sword And The Dragon (1956) and My Name Is Ivan (1962) onto American screens. Shore was also sought out by producer James Harris for distribution and advertising campaign ideas for Dr. Strangelove Or How I learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb (1964), which he was producing for director Stanley Kubrick.

     Capitalizing on the success of urban action film Shaft (1971) with Richard Roundtree, Shore raised $300,00.00, mostly from a consortium of black businessmen to produce Superfly, his first film. Filmed on location in Harlem during the winter of 1972, the film’s story centered on a New York City cocaine dealer, played by Ron O’Neal, trying to break free from his life of crime. Although the film was protested by some African-American community leaders for presenting negative black stereotypes and glamorizing drugs and crime, the outcry did nothing but fuel ticket sales for the picture, with the film earning $30 million at the box office. A soundtrack album of Curtis Mayfield’s music for the film earned an additional $25 million. Shore followed the success of Superfly with the sequel Superfly TNT (1973).

     In 1975, Shore made his feature film directorial debut with That’s The Way Of The World. He had previously directed a short film – Ski Run – in 1966. Featuring the pop band Earth, Wind & Fire, the movie starred Harvey Keitel as a record producer battling company politics. In 1984, Shore produced and directed the comedy The Act. He followed that with writing and directing the female action picture Sudden Death the following year. After directing the 1987 action picture The Survivalist, Shore produced and directed his final film The Return Of Superfly in 1990.

     Shore was reportedly in discussions with Warner Brothers for a remake of Superfly at the time of his death.