Jack Johnson

The story of Jack Johnson, the first African American Heavyweight boxing champion.

An American story. Traces the career of Joe Louis (1914-1981) within the context of American racial consciousness: his difficulty getting big fights early in his career, the pride of African-Americans in his prowess, the shift of White sentiment toward Louis as Hitler came to power, Louis's patriotism during World War II, and the hounding of Louis by the IRS for the following 15 years. In his last years, he's a casino greeter, a drug user, and the occasional object of scorn for young Turks like Muhammad Ali. Appreciative comment comes from boxing scholars, Louis's son Joe Jr., friends, and icons like Maya Angelou, Dick Gregory, and Bill Cosby.

In 1918, the poet and boxer Arthur Cravan disappears in the Gulf of Mexico without a trace. Today, another boxer and artist, film director Frank Nicotra, begins an investigation that will take you behind the mysterious steps Cravan from Switzerland to Mexico, passing through Paris, London and Barcelona.

Jack Johnson is a 1970 documentary film directed by Jim Jacobs about the boxer Jack Johnson.

Actor, writer, director and activist Ossie Davis narrates this look at the history of race films, those produced from the 1920s-50s catered to a primarily Black audience.

Jack Johnson, the first African-American heavyweight boxing champion, plays himself in a sports-themed melodrama where Joe Walker, a "98-pound weakling" is forced to step up when his girlfriend, Molly Moran, is falsely accused of grand larceny.

Film recording of a controversial boxing match with the first black heavyweight champion fighting a white retired former champion.

The legendary world heavyweight boxing champion, John Arthur 'Jack' Johnson, visits Manchester.