Square Joe

{{Short description|1922 film}}

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{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}

Square Joe is a boxing-themed American drama film released in 1922."Record Attendance to See Square Joe" The New York Age June 24, 1922 The silent film was directed by J. Harrison Edwards and starred boxer Joe Jeanette with fellow boxer John Lester Johnson co-starring.{{cite book |last1=Wiggins |first1=David K. |title=African Americans in Sports |date=2015 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-47744-0 |page=176 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aYKsBwAAQBAJ&dq=square+joe+film+jeanette&pg=PA176 |language=en}}{{Cite web|url=http://memory.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/loc.mbrs.sfdb.9495/default.html|title=Square Joe|date=September 14, 1922|via=memory.loc.gov|publisher= Library of Congress}} It was produced by Colored Feature Photoplay Co. and opened in Harlem at the Roosevelt.{{cite book |last1=Gilbert |first1=Valerie C. |title=Women and Mixed Race Representation in Film: Eight Star Profiles |date=2021 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-1-4766-4473-8 |page=69 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o-VFEAAAQBAJ&dq=marion+moore+film&pg=PA69 |language=en}} It is about an innocent man convicted of killing a policeman during a raid on a gambling operation and features a boxing match.{{Cite web|url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/561387/square-joe|title=Square Joe|website=Turner Classic Movies|publisher=Turner Classic Movies}}

The New York Age reported the film "thrills and holds the interest of spectators from beginning to end."{{cite book |last1=Richards |first1=Larry |title=African American Films Through 1959: A Comprehensive, Illustrated Filmography |date=2015 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-1-4766-1052-8 |page=162 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sTGSCgAAQBAJ&dq=square+joe+film+jeanette&pg=PA162 |language=en}}

John Lester Johnson was in several more films afterwards.{{cite book |last1=Ritchie |first1=Andrew |title=Ethnicity, Sport, Identity: Struggles for Status |date=2004 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-135-75587-4 |page=230 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NKMKW3tjpQkC&dq=square+joe+film+jeanette&pg=PA230 |language=en}} Jeanette later fought Jack Johnson who also appeared in films. Their fight appears in the 1970 documentary film Jack Johnson.

The film was Fredi Washington's debut on the big screen.