Jack Johnson
Cast & Crew
William Cayton
Brock Peters
Kevin Kennedy
Barney Beck
Al Bodian
John Dandre
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Newsreel footage and still photographs chronicle the professional and personal life of black prizefighter Jack Johnson. Included are Johnson's first boxing matches at the turn of the century; his defeat of Tommy Burns to win the heavyweight championship in Australia (1908), his victory over Jim Jeffries in the "Battle of the Century" (1910), his match race with speed car driver Barney Oldfield; his much-debated loss of the heavyweight title to Jess Willard in Havana (1915), his widely-publicized marriages to three white women; his arrest and trial in Chicago for running a house of debauchery; his escape to Europe and voluntary return for imprisonment at Leavenworth; his activities in Spain during World War I, including a stint as an amateur matador in the Madrid bull ring; his trip to Russia and meeting with Rasputin on the eve of the 1917 revolution; his career in second-rate Hollywood films; his appearances in the 1930's at a Manhattan 42nd Street flea circus; and his fatal automobile crash in 1946. Also included is footage of Jack London, Nikolai Lenin, actor Victor McLaglen, Bat Masterson, fight promoter Tex Rickard, and Pancho Villa.
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
Producer Jim Jacobs and director William Cayton collaborated previously on two boxing documentaries, The Legendary Champions in 1969 (see below) and a.k.a. Cassius Clay in 1970. The Daily Variety review noted that Jack Johnson was the subject of Howard Sackler's 1967 Pulitzer Prize winning play The Great White Hope which was made into a film released by Twentieth Century-Fox in 1970. James Earl Jones, who had starred in the Broadway version, reprised his role for the film as did his co-star Jane Alexander, directed by Martin Ritt. Jack Johnson was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Feature Documentary.
Miscellaneous Notes
Released in United States 1971
Released in United States 1971
