Siren of the Tropics

The film is merely ok, but the performance of Josephine Baker is extraordinary, particularly for those times.

Although it came very early in her film acting career, this is well worth seeing for the performance by Josephine Baker. Her talent more than makes up for any lack of experience, and the role gives her a lot to work with. Although there is no singing, her dancing, athleticism, boundless energy, and personal allure all stand out. The rest of the movie is solid rather than impressive, but most of it works all right in itself.

Baker plays Papitou, an innocent, loyal native girl who becomes part of a clash involving a soulless French nobleman, his brutal colonial henchman, and a young engineer hoping to succeed in the tropics so that he can marry his Parisian fiancée. The first half shows the conflict that plays out in the tropics, and the second half shows the characters back in Paris, with the different settings naturally leading to much different kinds of developments.

Baker's role has many similarities to her roles in later movies such as "Princesse Tam Tam" and "Zou Zou". As her first such role, she not only looks quite young, but also seems to have an extra freshness here. The character also is put in very different circumstances in the different parts of the story. From that viewpoint, the first half is more enjoyable, since it shows Papitou in her element. In the second half of the movie, her character is treated rather thanklessly, and at times it is almost painful seeing such an appealing character treated so badly by the story and by the other characters - which indicates how believably Baker defines her character.

During the 20's, the Weimar nights were fabulous, full of exciting and decadent cabarets in which this German count spent many glorious soirées but it is fair to say that also in Paris, the Parisians knew how to have fun.

Dame Josephine Baker, Amerikan from birth, French by adoption, was the indisputable queen, a legend of the Parisian nights during the 20's, an enormous singer and entertainer that did delight the French bourgeoisie during the past century.

Dame Josephine Baker had a short film career, appearing from time to time in some films and, as it happens, in "La Revue Des Revues" recently reviewed by this German count. "La Sirène Des Tropiques, a film directed hand-in-hand by Herr Mario Nalpas and Herr Henri Étiévant, was her first full-length film as leading actress.

The most important aspect of "La Sirène Des Tropiques" is that it is a film with Dame Baker and this is the perfect excuse to watch this film. For Dame Baker fans or for ignorant longhaired youngsters who still don't know her, that's the most attractive aspect of the work because, in artists terms, the film it is an absolute failure.

The plot's topic about the tropics; engineer Berval ( Herr Pierre Batcheff ) is sent to Monte Puebla by his boss the Count Severo ( Herr Georges Melchior ) in order to study the possibilities of mineral extraction from the mines that belongs to his chief. But the wicked Count ( a classical reiteration… ) inner intentions is that Berval never return to France. In this way he doesn't have any obstacle in order to get Denise's love ( Dame Regina Thomas ). Meanwhile in Monte Puebla, Berval will meet Papitou ( Josephine Baker ) who is a sparkling indigene that will fall in love with him. She doesn't hesitate to pursue Berval to Paris where finally she will find out that he loves Denise but on the other hand she will become a music-hall star. The film is full of intrigues and satires (but this is too formulaic and with simple characters ). The result is an unwise mixture of genres in one film ( adventure, drama, musical, ) with plenty of bad performances including Dame Baker. This in spite of the fact that she plays a kind of free spirited girl, but similar to a cartoon character, a "pecata minuta" in itself. Our heroine was more interested to dance the Charleston than properly act. This is demonstrated at the end of the film, which includes an excerpt of her talented dancing. That's enough for Dame Baker fans and dissipated German aristocrats.

And now if you'll allow me, I must temporarily take my leave because this German count must unknot his knees before dancing Charleston.

What a treat to see Josephine Baker in her film debut at age 21, and what a significantly better role than what Hollywood was offering relative to African-Americans at the time. Baker's character is exoticized and unfortunately speaks broken English, but she's also smart, alluring, and talented. She got top billing and is magnetic every time she's on the screen. We're treated to her looking cute in flapper outfits, her dancing on the stage, and her splashing around topless in a tub. What I was impressed by most was that this was a human portrait of a young woman who is vibrant, joyful, and in love, which was many decades ahead of its time compared to American films.

The film is not without its flaws, starting with the colonial scenes which, while not awful, are off-putting. On the other hand, the colonizers are shown to be evil, and in parallel scenes we see a woman fending off the advances of a rich man in France, and another (Baker) fighting off his right-hand man in what seems to be the West Indies. They are the cruel ones, exploiting the land and moving people around like pawns on a chessboard. It's not a very deep plot though, and it drags in places when Baker is not in the scene (and even when she is, it gets a little silly, e.g. the chase on the steamer). I was more than happy to be patient with those scenes to see Baker shine though. It was pretty interesting to see Luis Buñuel listed as assistant director in the opening credits too.

SIREN OF THE TROPICS was the first of a series of French films featuring legendary dancer and entertainer Josephine Baker and her only silent feature. It is part of a three film set released on DVD by Kino International to honor the legendary performer . SIREN was long thought to have been lost but, like a number of silents in recent times, a copy has turned up and proved to be in good condition which can be witnessed on this DVD.

The image quality is very good and it has been tinted to 1920s style specifications. There are a few brief portions where the film jitters or throbs due to shrinkage and judging from the trailer which is included, some footage seems to be missing but it doesn't detract from the overall presentation. "La Baker", as the French called her is a sensation in her debut essentially playing herself as she appeared at the Folies Bergere. The latter parts of the film display her stage act and enable us to see her as Paris saw her in 1926 making it not only entertaining but a valuable historical record as well.

Unfortunately the rest of the movie is not very good with the rest of the performers coming nowhere near Baker's ability. Like another film recently released on DVD featuring an exotic star (PICCADILLY with Anna May Wong), SIREN has yet another tired melodramatic plot with the exotic star there as icing on the cake. As well made as it is with some beautiful art deco settings and extremely racy footage of Josephine Baker sans clothing, SIREN ultimately illustrates what was happening to silent films everywhere (except in the Soviet Union) just before sound arrived. The pictures look great but the use of cinema technique and especially the storytelling just weren't there. Even in Europe the mindset of Hollywood was taking over.

Nevertheless I recommend this DVD for the chance to see one of the great cabaret performers of the 20th century in what is her best film along with plenty of extras including a 20 minute documentary on Josephine Baker produced by her son and an incredibly risque' short featuring an inebriated fireman who sees nude chorus girls everywhere. Donald Sosin's musical accompaniment is fine as usual ranging from solo piano to tropical sounding melodies which enhance the action...For more reviews visit The Capsule Critic.