| Photos (see all 5 | slideshow) |
| Jack Johnson | ... | Himself (archive footage) | |
| Keith David | ... | Narrator (voice) | |
| Samuel L. Jackson | ... | Jack Johnson (voice) | |
| Adam Arkin | ... | Other Voices (voice) | |
| Philip Bosco | ... | Other Voices (voice) | |
| Kevin Conway | ... | Other Voices (voice) | |
| Brian Cox | ... | Other Voices (voice) | |
| John Cullum | ... | Other Voices (voice) | |
| Murphy Guyer | ... | Other Voices (voice) | |
| Ed Harris | ... | Other Voices (voice) | |
| Derek Jacobi | ... | Other Voices (voice) | |
| Carl Lumbly | ... | Other Voices (voice) | |
| Amy Madigan | ... | Other Voices (voice) | |
| Carolyn McCormick | ... | Other Voices (voice) | |
| Joe Morton | ... | Other Voices (voice) | |
| Alan Rickman | ... | Other Voices (voice) | |
| Studs Terkel | ... | Other Voices (voice) | |
| Jack Thompson | ... | Other Voices (voice) | |
| Billy Bob Thornton | ... | Other Voices (voice) | |
| Courtney B. Vance | ... | Other Voices (voice) | |
| Eli Wallach | ... | Other Voices (voice) | |
| Jeffrey Wright | ... | Other Voices (voice) | |
| rest of cast listed alphabetically: | |||
| Muhammad Ali | ... | Himself (archive footage) | |
| Tommy Burns | ... | Himself (archive footage) | |
| Lucille Cameron | ... | Herself (archive footage) | |
| James J. Corbett | ... | Himself (archive footage) | |
| Stanley Crouch | ... | Himself | |
| Gerald Early | ... | Himself | |
| W.C. Heinz | ... | Himself | |
| James J. Jeffries | ... | Himself (archive footage) | |
| James Earl Jones | ... | Himself | |
| Stanley Ketchel | ... | Himself (archive footage) | |
| Joe Louis | ... | Himself (archive footage) | |
| Jack Newfield | ... | Himself | |
| George Plimpton | ... | Himself | |
| Adam Clayton Powell Jr. | ... | Himself (archive footage) | |
| Randy Roberts | ... | Himself | |
| Bert Randolph Sugar | ... | Himself (as Bert Sugar) | |
| John L. Sullivan | ... | Himself (archive footage) | |
| Jess Willard | ... | Himself (archive footage) | |
Directed by | |||
| Ken Burns | |||
Writing credits(in alphabetical order) | ||
| Geoffrey C. Ward | writer | |
Produced by | |||
| Paul Barnes | .... | producer | |
| Pam Tubridy Baucom | .... | coordinating producer | |
| Ken Burns | .... | producer | |
| David Schaye | .... | producer | |
| Susanna Steisel | .... | associate producer | |
Original Music by | |||
| Wynton Marsalis | |||
Cinematography by | |||
| Stephen McCarthy | |||
| Buddy Squires | |||
Film Editing by | |||
| Paul Barnes | |||
| Erik Ewers | |||
Sound Department | |||
| Marko A. Costanzo | .... | foley artist | |
| Ryan Gifford | .... | assistant sound editor | |
| Sean Huff | .... | sound effects editor | |
| George A. Lara | .... | foley mixer | |
| John Osborne | .... | sound | |
| Brenda Ray | .... | sound | |
| Dominick Tavella | .... | sound re-recording mixer | |
| Daniel Ward | .... | assistant sound editor | |
Special Effects by | |||
| Dalton Delan | .... | executive in charge of production: WETA | |
Editorial Department | |||
| Tyler Cote | .... | post-production intern | |
| Melanie Cunningham | .... | post-production assistant | |
| Sean Huff | .... | assistant editor | |
| Liz Seru | .... | post-production intern | |
| Daniel J. White | .... | assistant editor | |
Music Department | |||
| Wessell Anderson | .... | musician: saxophone | |
| Paul Barnes | .... | music producer | |
| Ken Burns | .... | music producer | |
| Andy Farber | .... | music arranger | |
| Wycliffe Gordon | .... | musician: trombone and tuba | |
| Eric Lewis | .... | musician: piano | |
| Delfeayo Marsalis | .... | music producer | |
| Wynton Marsalis | .... | musician: trumpet | |
| Jacob Ribicoff | .... | music editor | |
| Reginald Veal | .... | musician: bass | |
Other crew | |||
| Jessie Anderson | .... | production intern | |
| Dewey Blanton | .... | publicist: WETA | |
| Tim Clark | .... | program advisor | |
| Bob De Flores | .... | film archive | |
| Dayton Duncan | .... | program advisor | |
| Julie Dunfey | .... | program advisor | |
| Gerald Early | .... | program advisor | |
| Andy Farber | .... | transcriber | |
| Greg French | .... | archive materials | |
| Jim Johnston | .... | archive materials | |
| William Leuchtenberg | .... | program advisor (as William E. Leuchtenberg) | |
| Bill Loughman | .... | archive materials | |
| Lynn Novick | .... | program advisor | |
| Tricia Reidy | .... | program advisor | |
| Herlin Riley | .... | drums & percussion | |
| Randy Roberts | .... | program advisor | |
| Sharon Rockefeller | .... | president and ceo: WETA | |
| Jeffrey T. Sammons | .... | program advisor | |
| Kevin Smith | .... | archive materials | |
| David Thompson | .... | project director: WETA | |
| Fred Udell | .... | production assistant | |
| Rosalind P. Walter | .... | additional funding | |
| Geoffrey C. Ward | .... | senior creative consultant | |
| Delmar Watson | .... | archive materials | |
| Elizabeth Waybright | .... | production intern | |
Thanks | |||
| Michael Balabuch | .... | extra special thanks | |
| Tom Bodett | .... | extra special thanks | |
| Sarah Botstein | .... | extra special thanks | |
| Tom Bower | .... | extra special thanks | |
| Lee Philip Brumbaugh | .... | extra special thanks | |
| Carol Butler | .... | extra special thanks | |
| Dave Davis | .... | extra special thanks | |
| Greg French | .... | extra special thanks | |
| Dennis Haysbert | .... | extra special thanks | |
| Peg Holmes | .... | extra special thanks | |
| Jim Johnston | .... | extra special thanks | |
| Gene Jones | .... | extra special thanks | |
| Bill Loughman | .... | extra special thanks | |
| Patrick Maschio | .... | extra special thanks | |
| Dave Meichsner | .... | special thanks | |
| Craig Mellish | .... | extra special thanks | |
| Peter Miller | .... | extra special thanks | |
| Albert Murray | .... | extra special thanks | |
| Jack Newfield | .... | extra special thanks | |
| Joyce Carol Oates | .... | extra special thanks | |
| Brock Peters | .... | extra special thanks | |
| Larry Pine | .... | extra special thanks | |
| George Plimpton | .... | extra special thanks | |
| George Plimpton | .... | film dedicated to | |
| Allen Reuben | .... | extra special thanks | |
| Kevin Smith | .... | extra special thanks | |
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| IMDb Documentary section | IMDb USA section | Add this title to MyMovies |
Jack Johnson, the first black heavyweight champion, is usually seen as one of the greatest heavyweights of all time. Ken Burns' "Unforgivable Blackness" paints a picture of Johnson as a great defensive fighter, ranging from his roots in mainly all-black boxing to showing him demonstrating moves to a younger fighter when Johnson was well into middle age. Indeed, Johnson used his defensive skills to beat not only white boxers like ex-champion Jim Jeffries, in the 1910 racially charged championship bout in Las Vegas, but top black boxers like Joe Jeannete, Sam Langford, and Sam McVey. The pumped-up strong boys in today's diffuse heavyweight division look physically fearsome, but I believe Johnson's defensive skills would have made it difficult for anyone to beat him, including Mike Tyson in his prime.
The portrayal of Johnson in the "Boxing's Best" series was excellent, but nearly three hours shorter than this 216-minute documentary. Some of the same footage and photos are in this video, but here we get more footage and far more of other stuff. Shown are footage of Johnson's fights with Jeffries, Tommy Burns (from whom he won the title), Fireman Jim Flynn, Stanley Ketchel, and Frank Moran, and other boxing clips of himself and others. The buildup, aftermath, and social meaning of the Jeffries fight are thorough and thoughtfully done.
White champions since John L. Sullivan in the 1880s had refused to fight black challengers until Johnson defeated Burns. The subsequent efforts at finding a great white hope are shown (although one omission was no mention of the greatest white hope, Luther McCarty, who died during a match and thus never got to fight Johnson). For whites, regaining the championship was important. Another omission was not mentioning that Johnson lost to white boxer Marvin Hart, who then won the title after Jeffries retired (later, Johnson crushed Burns, who had beaten Hart). I am suspicious of some of the decisions given to white boxers over black boxers in those days. Or, was it a legitimate victory? How about a comment, Ken?
What about Johnson the man? Jack Johnson was an individual to himself and to his own desires. He was not someone who, as the first black heavyweight champion, saw himself as a role model for his race and therefore, obliged to behave in a certain fashion, whether it be, say, more defiant than compliant with white standards. He liked to live the high life, dress well, eat well, drive fancy cars and race cars, perform on vaudeville, etc. Originally from Galveston Texas, he is also the Jack Johnson of Europe and Australia and Cuba and Mexico. He was always on the go, whether chasing Tommy Burns all over the earth to pressure him to fight him for the championship or running off to another country because of trumped-up charges of violation of the Mann Act. Much effort was made to produce expansive footage and photography: Ken Burns tried hard and succeeded.
Johnson and white women would not be such a taboo item today, but would narrators concede in private (they do not in narration) that his being such a frequent consort of prostitutes can justifiably be seen as a negative trait anytime? For this and his individualism and flamboyancy, he was detested by whites and also some blacks.
But Johnson did not care. The film briefly mentions some parallels with Muhammad Ali. However, while Ali could be angered, by political and social issues, and by black opponents calling him Cassius Clay, Johnson was just carefree. He laughed at racial abuse given him in the ring. Ironically, after having such a hard time getting a white champion to fight him, Johnson denied black fighters a chance to fight him because white challengers would result in bigger purses (and presented less risk).
The commentators are writers like Gerald Early (who was also on Burns' "Baseball" and "Jazz" documentaries), Stanley Crouch, Jack Newfield, and George Plimpton; Johnson biographer Randy Roberts; boxing expert Bert Sugar; former light heavyweight champion Jose Torres; James Earl Jones (who played Johnson in "The Great White Hope"), and others. One thing that was better about "Unforgivable Blackness" than "Baseball" was that the celebrity non-baseball experts infused some nonsense into the latter (I enjoyed the baseball personalities); here, the commentators consistently add insights and are knowledgeable about boxing.