Josephine Baker Movies
Seductive, talented, and notorious, Josephine Baker rose from being a St. Louis street performer to become the toast of Paris for decades. The daughter of musician Eddie Carson and laundress Carrie McDonald, Baker began performing on the St. Louis streets as a child and then became a chorine in musicals. When she was 15, she married Pullman porter William Howard Baker (according to some sources she first married a foundry worker at age 13). Tired of the racial discrimination the African-American beauty encountered in St. Louis, Baker abandoned her husband at age 17 and moved to Paris where the exotic young singer and dancer became the star of La Revue Negre. Word of her sexy singing, sinuous dances, and charisma spread and soon she was performing to packed houses. In the mid-'20s, she joined an all-black revue with the Follies Bergere where she gained notoriety for her somewhat salacious banana dance. It was during this time that she appeared in a few silent films; during the '30s, she also performed in a few talkies including Princesse Tam Tam (1935). Known as a bit of a chameleon when it came to changing her style, Baker began incorporating elements of jazz to her singing. Baker became a French citizen in 1937 and during the Nazi occupation of France between 1940 and 1944, was active in the Resistance. Baker also did much to entertain troops during the war. Following the war, Baker resumed her career for a time, but then began spending more time with her humanitarian efforts. She worked with WWII refugees and adopted 11 impoverished children of various nationalities. In 1961, Baker received France's coveted Legion of Honor for her work. A wealthy woman, Baker spent her fortune on her charities and on the Civil Rights movement; by the late '60s she was nearly destitute. Though she stopped performing in 1968, Baker returned briefly to the limelight in 1974 when she accepted Princess Grace's invitation to perform at a summer ball. Later that year, she performed for a week in New York. While preparing for a Paris revue to celebrate her 50 years on-stage, Baker suffered a massive cerebral hemorrhage, went into a coma, and died two days later. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Filmmakers Linda Atkinson and Nick Doob present this affectionate portrait of dance icons Carmen de Lavallade and Geoffrey Holder, who fell in love back in 1954, and quickly went on to become a New York institution. The year they first met, de Lavallade was making a name for herself in modern dance, and Holder was a respected painter and dancer from Jamaica who had just risen to fame as the world-renowned choreographer of The Wiz. A marriage proposal quickly followed, and 50 years later the couple is still setting the world on fire. Archival footage and candid interviews offer a glimpse into the remarkable lives of the two consummate professionals who never let fame get in the way of true love. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- 1995
The four days in the life of three aimless, but handsome men in the South of France are chronicled in this French buddy film. It is the end of the tourist season and Marcel, Raoul, and Yoyo are simply hanging around. As usual, their days are spent drinking pastis, sunning themselves, robbing tourists, and driving around. They feel no compunction to look for real work, and they are not concerned with the moral ramifications of their actions. They are figuratively taken under the wing of Maurice, the owner of a local cafe. His pragmatic but sexy daughter Madeline uses these losers to exact her revenge upon a local honcho. The revenge is violent. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marc Duret, Jules Nassah, (more)
- 1986
- R
- Add Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling to QueueAdd Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling to top of Queue
Popular African-American comedian Jo Jo Dancer is severely burned while free-basing cocaine. Producer/director/writer Richard Pryor insists that the movie is not autobiographical. While hovering between life and death, Dancer flashes back to his childhood, when he grew up in a brothel. Producer/director/writer Richard Pryor insists that the movie is not autobiographical. Dancer decides to become a comic, but has a great many difficulties rising to stardom until he begins making scatological comments about race relations. Producer/director/writer Richard Pryor insists that the movie is not autobiographical. As he rises to fame, Jo Jo has problems controlling his drug addiction and womanizing. Producer/director/writer Richard Pryor insists.....Well, you've caught on by now. If one were able to excise the excruciatingly boring "introspection" scene, Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life is Calling would stand as an excellent testimonial to Richard Pryor's cutting-edge comic brilliance. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Pryor, Debbie Allen, (more)
- 1944
No relation to the same-named 1934 Maurice Chevalier musical nor the 1954 Toulouse Lautrec biopic, the French Moulin Rouge began life as a showcase for the dazzling talents of African American entertainer Josephine Baker. Alas, Baker's provocative dance routines-not to mention the hints of miscegenation in the storyline-resulted in a complete story overhaul when Moulin Rouge was released stateside in 1944, nine years after its original French release under the title Princess Tam Tam. Originally, the story concerned the efforts by a famous author (Albert Prejean) to pass off an African peasant girl (Baker) as an Indian princess. The heavily censored and extensively reshot version concentrates on the misadventures of an aspiring nightclub singer (Rene Dary), who lands a job as a caretaker for the proprietor of the famed Moulin Rouge nightclub. Thus it is that Josephine Baker's starring role has been whittled down to a few specialty numbers, while Albert Prejean has been eliminated from the story entirely! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lucien Baroux, René Dary, (more)
- 1940
The French Way (Fausse Alert) stars American expatriate musical star Josephine Baker as a Parisian cabaret singer. The plot is your standard "star-crossed lovers" melange, distinguished by the conspicuous lack of clothing on the female characters. The coy ingenue is played by 18-year-old Micheline Presle, several years removed from her international stardom vis-a-vis Devil in the Flesh. Because Josephine Baker was black, and because she performed in the nude for the most part, The French Way didn't make it to American shores until 1952. Even then, Ms. Baker's climactic feather dance was entirely excised, though the film spends its last two reels building up to it. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Micheline Presle, Josephine Baker, (more)
Princesse Tam-Tam is a must-see for fans of legendary African-American entertainer Josephine Baker. Shunned by lily-white Hollywood, Baker made a name for herself in France as a cabaret entertainer, frequently comporting in the nude--all the while letting the audience know she didn't take herself, or anything else, too seriously. Princesse Tam-Tam is a satirical spin on the "Pygamalion" concept: An uninhibited African girl (Baker) poses as a serene Indian princess, through the auspices of author Albert Prejean. A romance develops between the two (a plot device expressly forbidden by Hollywood's rules against miscegenation on screen), while Prejean's unfaithful wife fumes. Written by Josephine Baker's then-husband Pepito Abatino, the French/Tunisian Princesse Tam-Tam was banned outright in the States; thanks to videotape, it is now more accessible than ever. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Josephine Baker, Germaine Aussey, (more)
Zou Zou is one of a handful of French musical films made by the flamboyant African-American entertainer Josephine Baker. The star plays a Creole laundress who becomes an overnight stage success when she subs for a tempestuous diva. She goes on to experience the requisite professional highs and personal lows, and to briefly enjoy the attentions of French matinée idol Jean (Jean Gabin). La Baker's costumes reveal virtually everything but what she's eaten for breakfast, and her dancing is just a step away from obscenely erotic. In short, the film represents Josephine Baker at her outrageous best, making this film a must for fans and casual admirers alike. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Josephine Baker, Yvette Lebon, (more)
The black-and-white silent film Siren of the Tropics features the film debut of international star Josephine Baker. Surrealist filmmaker Luis Buñuel is credited as the assistant director, but he allegedy quit the production before it was finished. Set in the West Indies but filmed in France, a man named Berval saves a native girl, Papitou (Baker), making her his willing slave. Even though he is engaged to Denise, Papitou falls for him and follows his ship back to Paris. At first she finds work as a nurse, but she eventually becomes a dance hall star and returns to her native land. Starring Regina Dalthy, Pierre Batcheff, and Georges Melchior. Only portions of this 1927 film still exist. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Josephine Baker, Pierre Batcheff, (more)
