The Josephine Baker Collection [3 Discs]

MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

Siren Of The Tropics - Available only as a fragment for decades, Siren Of The Tropics is Josephine Baker's feature film debut. Made in 1927, around the time Josephine was making a Paris splash as a Folies Bergere star, Siren establishes the rags to riches, fairy tale template from which her subsequent films would be cut. The film would be cut. The film contains perhaps Josephine's greatest dance work on celluloid, the frenetic "Charleston." And among the crew was a very young Luis Bunuel! Zou Zou - Conceived as a vehicle for Josephine Baker, then among Europe's most popular entertainers, Zou Zou was her debut talking film. In the tradition of 42nd Street, it tells the story of a star who walks out on her sugardaddy producer, only to be replaced by a talented Cinderella (Baker) who saves the show and is hailed as a new sensation overnight. Features Josephine's poignant rendition of "Haiti," sung while clad in feathers and swinging in a birdcage, plus a great co-starring turn by Jean Gabin (Grand Illusion). Princess Tam Tam - Princess Tam Tam is a Pygmalion-like comedy in which Josephine Baker stars as a mischievous shepherd girl who rises through society to become a pretend princess and the toast of Paris nightlife. Includes the famous scene in which Josephine's character is coaxed into drinking too much, whereupon she leaps onto a nightclub stage, strips off her shimmering evening gown, and dances as only La Baker could. Also, Josephine sings "Dream Ship" and "Neath the Tropical Blue Skies."

DVD FEATURES:

• Number of Discs: 3
• Screen: Tint
• Audio: Silent
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 (Pre-1954 Standard)
• Features:
  • Siren of the Tropics
  • Josephine's short film "The Fireman of the Folies Bergere," A cabaret performance of "Oh, Papitou," Interviews, a rare video clip, and memoir illustrations
  • Zou Zou
  • A tour of Chez Josephine (NYC), Interviews, song selections, and a stills gallery
  • Princess Tam Tam
  • Interviews, song selections, and a stills gallery

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Cast:

  
       Josephine Baker - Zouzou
       Josephine Baker
       Germaine Aussey
       Yvette Lebon - Claire
       Jean Gabin - Jean
       Illa Meery - Miss Barbara
       Albert Prejean
       Pierre Batcheff
       Georges Melchior
       Robert Arnoux
       Pierre Larquey - Father Mele
       Georges Peclet
       Jean Galland
       Viviane Romance
       Madeleine Guitty

• Director:

  Marc Allégret, Edmond T. Greville, Henri Etievant, Mario Nalpas

• Play Author:

  George Bernard Shaw

• Short Story Author:

  Pepito Abatino

REVIEWS:

• Edmond T. Greville's Princess Tam Tam (1935) is not only a thoroughly enjoyable movie but a fascinating artifact of its era -- a romantic comedy, a sort of Gallic parody of George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion, set within the relatively realistic confines of pre-World War II France's Middle Eastern territories. The movie and its exotic plot and setting were themselves a solution to the problem of what to do with an actress/performer like Josephine Baker: vibrant, sexy, alluring, and charismatic -- but also of African descent -- in an era where this was a casting impediment almost anywhere in the world. In Baker's native United States, this question was never asked above a whisper, if at all, and never answered, whereas in France the result was delightful vehicles such as this, which not only gave Baker a vehicle for her talents but put her into a plot involving an interracial romance (that got the movie banned from the U.S., naturally). An artifact of French colonialism as well as of relatively unfettered comedic, musical, and romantic sensibilities, Princess Tam Tam stands unique as entertainment and a window on Baker's unique talent, and remains as enchanting a piece of musical comedy as French cinema released in the 1930s. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi
• It's 1934, and in America the movie industry is about to get all head up about morality and decency on screen, and -- fearing separate legal and censorship entanglements in each of 48 states -- the studios were about to weave themselves a straightjacket called the Production Code, banning most overt expressions of sexuality or even a hint of unpunished immorality. Meanwhile, in France, they were making movies like Zou Zou, which took an American-style backstage musical framework and threw into it the sexiest black American performer of her day, Josephine Baker -- who wasn't allowed anywhere near an American movie studio. Thrust happily into musical numbers so erotically revealing that they left nothing to the imagination, Baker, co-star Jean Gabin, and director Marc Allegret (whose eye for female screen talent included nurturing the early careers of Simone Simon and Brigitte Bardot) created one of a tiny handful of must-see 1930s musicals generated outside of the United States. Except that this one, with its provocative production numbers and interracial romance, is also a kind of very nonchalant poke-in-the-eye of America and its popular culture and prejudices. On that basis alone -- even overlooking the dramatic content, the performances, and the musical numbers -- Zouzou is essential viewing for fans of the star, the genre, or the era, not to mention anyone with more than an ounce of curiosity about pop culture history. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi