Princesse Tam-Tam

....but the parts she was offered were really poor."Princesse Tam-Tam" directed by third-rate artist Edmond Greville is no exception.On the plus side,there is a screenplay and even an unexpected twist at the end.It reminds me of "Pygmalion" sometimes as one user has already pointed out.

But the main reason is to show Baker in the music hall where she belongs.There's a long scene there and it may bore people who do not like this kind of show.

There's no real racism,but the natives from Africa are looked upon as "big children" by the white man .Who could blame the script writers? In Hergé's comic strip "Tintin au Congo" ,at the beginning of the thirties ,it was all the same.

Josephine Baker is such a joy to watch. She exudes grace, joy, and energy, and it was a treat to see her sing and dance a couple of times here. Hey, I could watch her skip among the Roman ruins in Dougge, Tunisia with the little kids for hours, and wish the action had remained there longer. What's weird and damn unfortunate is that despite her character being so poised and speaking French fluently, she's still referred to as a "savage" and a "wild animal" many times by the visiting Frenchmen, who are there to help an author get over his writer's block. They hatch an idea to fake an interracial love affair to help with the novel and also to make the author's wife back at home jealous. Meanwhile, she's flirting up a storm with a visiting Maharaja, who is unfortunately played by a white actor in blackface, with similar intentions.

While the film broaches at least the idea of miscegenation, so much so that Joseph Breen refused to pass the film in America (which is laughable in a painful way, and yet so predictable), it really has the two minority characters being used as pawns, and little more. Meanwhile, it has a painful dose of cultural condescension and outright racism in the script, something I haven't seen in other French vehicles for Baker. In an effort to display her inferiority and need of "civilization," they show her needing to learn basic arithmetic and shoveling food into her mouth coarsely, using her hands. Not surprisingly, it all leads to the old "East is East and West is West" crap, and a conclusion that Baker is better off left "uncivilized" in Africa. Argh.

You might wonder about my rating given the attitude the film takes, but the reason for it is simple: Josephine Baker. She's elegant in her singing, radiant in her evening gown, and owns the dance floor, jumping into a musical performance at the end which, while a bit Busby Berkeley-lite, had its moments even before she got out there. The film puts her down as a "savage" but her presence continually contradicts that, and there simply is no comparison to the menial roles given to black performers in America during this period. See it for Baker, and try to ignore the rest.

Until now the most weaker picture of Josephine Baker, apart this was made on mid thirties where they usually didn't make a lavish production, as show on it, something about a fairy tale, the plot is rubbish, serving as Baker's vehicle to explore an African dancing or criticize a usual shallow of the European society, decaying to my point of view, a bit humor all around. largely used it's time, wasn't a movie to remember too often, a dry production, lack of deepness of being thinking is quite absurd, poor attempt to make something unusual, perhaps to Josephine Baker's fans only!!!

Resume:

First watch: 2019 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 6.25

The story in this feature is an interesting re-working of the familiar 'Pygmalion' story, making some fairly imaginative changes in the setting and details to add some new themes to the story. It is also a decent vehicle for the vivacious and multi-talented Josephine Baker. Although the material does not give her a chance to display her full range of talents (which would probably take a stage show, rather than a movie), it does provide her with some pretty good musical numbers, and it gives her a role that is a good fit.

Albert Préjean and Robert Arnoux make a good team, as the writer and his collaborator who travel to Africa so that Préjean's character can benefit from a change of atmosphere. As the Bedouin Alwina, whom the two Frenchmen meet, Baker's spirited energy works very well. As the story progresses, the kinds of slights and frustrations that her character faces inevitably remind you of the undeserved problems that Baker herself had to contend with in her own life, giving it an interesting extra dimension.

Préjean and Arnoux balance things well with their light, bantering approach. Préjean, in particular, does a good job with his character, showing that there is some sensitivity underneath his somewhat lazy, self-absorbed exterior.

The story moves at a good pace, leading up to the climax at the Maharajah's lavish party, which includes a couple of creative touches. The concluding series of plot turns resolves things in a light fashion, while also suggesting a couple of ideas which, as long as you are careful not to misunderstand them, are worth thinking about. The movie avoids taking itself too seriously, and that helps it work rather well.

The key to fully enjoying this film is to forget for a few minutes that it's a vehicle for Josephine Baker, and view it as a French version of a screwball comedy. Apart from the grafted-on Pygmalion theme, the script is really about war between husband and wife.

From that perspective it's really as good as than many similar films produced by Hollywood during the same era. The viewer can then have fun comparing the Gallic take on the theme with the American and English approaches.

The production dance number is clearly an imitation of Busby Berkeley, and nowhere near as lavish. But enjoyable enough in its own rights. Again, the fun is in comparing the French choreographer's way of doing things with Berkeley. And ... think about it for a minute ... did French chorus lines at that (or any) time really have tap dancing?

Then go back to thinking about Josephine Baker. It's a shame she didn't get to dance more, but the dance to Sous Le Ciel and the Samba in the final number were quite good.