Josephine Baker during her time was one of the greatest celebrities in the
world. The kind of celebrity that was earned back then. Not that shallow
untalented type we get now - people who are famous and you have no idea why.
The Kardashians or Paris Hilton come to mind of course but all the Internet
influencers as well. People and their fifteen minutes of fame. She did it
with determination that was like a blow torch in your face. Talent played
a part of it - her effervescent smile as well - but mainly it was her commitment
to becoming something, someone. And what an astonishing life she had. Enough
for four of us. Born in abject poverty in the slums of St. Louis, she often
lived on the streets, had no education and often had nothing to eat. Her
one way out was show business and at the age of thirteen she was part of
a chorus that played in a show in New York, She was placed at the end of
the line where she would intentionally goof up for comedy and then at the
end she would show the real thing. Audiences loved her.
At the age of nineteen in 1925 she sailed for Paris and basically never looked
back as did so many black ex-patriates. Away from the virulent racism and
discrimination. I am sure Paris had her share but nothing like the USA. And
with her mischievous sense of humor and her risqué shows - often appearing
in near nudity - she was a sensation. Married a few times and with many lovers
- Georges Simenon and Colette among them - she loved her land of adoption.
She went back to tour in the USA a few times and insisted on non-segregated
venues and came back with a bad taste in her mouth. After WWII it was revealed
that she worked for the Underground during her touring - finding out about
troop movements and carrying messages. Later she returned again to the USA
and worked in the Civil Rights movement. An amazing life.
She also starred in three films - the silent Siren of the Tropics in 1927,
Zouzou in 1934 and this film in 1935. All three are available. Princess Tam
Tam is a lovely film - very lyrical, elegantly shot and with a few musical
interludes. Very low key though without a lot of pizzazz. It is a far thing
from her stage shows - basically sly humor and pointed sarcastic barbs at
Parisian society. It's a version of Pygmalion in which a French author tries
to remake a native girl he comes across in Tunisia. Very innocent to my eyes
and yet the Hays Office refused to pass it and so it could not be played
in America. No idea why but I imagine her color or reputation had something
to do with it. Though there is no romance between races. Maybe even the French
were not willing to go there.
A famous French writer Max (Albert Préjean - who I just saw as Maigret)
is blocked and has a naggy wife who keeps calling him a failure. She
(Germaine Aussey) also likes living among high society and mixing with the
hoi polloi like the extremely wealthy Maharajah who has eyes for her. So
Max and his friend Colon hop off to Tunisia (a French colony at the time)
to get away from everything. But he still can't write until he keeps running
into this wild native girl who plays with the goats and children and leads
a life of merriment but has no home or money. So the two friends come up
with an idea. A Pygmalion idea. They invite her to stay with them and begin
to teach her how to be a lady - speak, eat, act properly and dress her up
the 7's. Their plan is to take her back to Paris and pass her off as a Princess
and rub the upper class noses in it.
Baker sings two lovely songs. Simple ones with no production. Once just sitting
on a sailboat and the other when she wanders into a black bar of sailors
and sings Under the African Skies. It is a beautifully shot sequence of faces
watching her and her in rapture as she sings and dances. Freed from French
respectability for a few minutes. Later on at the Maharajah's he is throwing
a fabulous party as only the rich can do - remember that the Depression was
in France as well - and there is a fifteen minute musical number clearly
influenced by Busby Berkeley. At the end the Princess has to join in and
dances to the cheers of the crowd. So glad to finally see this. From today's
perspective there are issues with how this is presented - the noble Frenchman
taking what they call a savage girl and making her respectable to Western
eyes - colonizing in a sense - but the ending I think solves that as it turns
out only to be his imagination for the book he is writing - it is all an
exotic fantasy.
