Films reflect performer's bittersweet story
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By G. Michael Dobbs
Managing Editor
Do you know the name "Josephine Baker?" Well, if you're interested in either African American history or vintage films, then viewing the three new DVD releases from Kino on Video should be added to your must-see list.
At a time in Hollywood when black actresses were relegated to roles of playing servants, Baker was forging a new identity in three movies the entertainer made in France from the late 1920s to the mid-1930s. Baker got to do something that would never been allowed in American films she was allowed to be glamorous and sexy.
An American who started touring in vaudeville when she was 16, Baker left for France after appearing as a singer and dancer in Broadway revues. She electrified stages in Paris with her performances that were often punctuated with partial nudity.
Her life in France, and subsequent trips back to this country, was filled with both triumph she worked with the French Resistance during World War II and fought for civil rights here and tragedy, as her final years were often a financial struggle.
Part of her legacy as an entertainer can be seen in these films, Siren of the Tropics (1927) Zou Zou (1934) and Princess Tam Tam (1935). Each allowed her to go farther than what Hollywood would have allowed, but even in France, Baker faced racism.
The films have a similar theme: Baker plays an unsophisticated "native" woman who falls in love with a white man, but can't have him. Being able to sing and dance figures prominently into each plot.
Even though the French clearly loved Baker, film producers were hesitant to allow her to play a role equal to those of white actresses. I'm pretty sure these films did not play in this country when they were originally made because of the occasional flashes of nudity and their level of sexual permissiveness.
Now audiences here can see more of Baker than just some photograph of her dancing topless in a skirt made of bananas perhaps her most celebrated image taken from one of her French stage shows.
Each film has its strengths and weaknesses. Siren of the Tropics probably has Baker in the most potentially offensive role a woman in a French controlled tropical colony who falls in love with a white man who shows her kindness. Although the film showcases Baker as a physical comic, it's difficult to watch the talented actress in such a restricted part.
Her next film, Zou Zou, has all of the trappings of a Hollywood musical of the time. Not unlike 42nd Street, this is a behind the scenes story of a young woman who is accidentally raised to stardom. Baker plays Zou Zou, one of two orphans raised by the head of circus. As an adult she gets to replace the star of a musical revue and is an instant success. However, the man whom she loves, her adopted brother (played by French superstar Jean Gabin) loves another woman and Baker only has her stage success as comfort.
The last film, Princess Tam Tam, has an author molding Baker's character a shepherd girl from Tunisia into a sophisticated "princess" in order to make his wandering wife jealous.
Besides having beauty and a winning on-screen personality, the musical numbers in the two sound films show that Baker could have done anything in Hollywood that Ginger Rogers had done in her musical with Fred Astaire. The only thing that held her back was that she wasn't white.
Each DVD is loaded with extras that further illuminate Baker's life and career.
While bittersweet when taken in the context of her life, Baker's films show a talent that impresses even today.
For more information on these films, log onto www.kino.com
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