(Zou Zou was Conceived as a vehicle for Josephine Baker, t...)
Zou Zou was Conceived as a vehicle for Josephine Baker, then among Europe's most popular entertainers. This was her debut talking film and a huge success in France upon its original release (and upon its1989 theatrical re-release by Kino International). It is definitely Baker's show, despite the presence of Jean Gabin, who was himself on the brink of international stardom.
The Josephine Baker Collection (Zou Zou / Princess Tam Tam / Siren of the Tropics)
(Siren Of The Tropics - Available only as a fragment for d...)
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."
(Buoyed by the success of the French musical Zou Zou a yea...)
Buoyed by the success of the French musical Zou Zou a year earlier, the same team created in Princess Tam Tam a Pygmalion-like comedy in which a mischievous shepherd girl rises through society to become a pretend princess and the toast of Paris nightlife. Alwina (Josephine Baker) is discovered by a French aristocrat (Albert Prejean) while he is in Tunisia seeking inspiration for a new novel. He becomes infatuated with this innocent gamin and constructs a plot to polish her charms and bring her to Paris where he presents her to society as an Indian princess. In a thinly-veiled parallel to Baker's own experience, Alwinna becomes an exotic celebrity, a favorite subject for the city's great artists and a guest at the most important social events. Her rise to notoriety climaxes in a posh nightclub, where she is coaxed into drinking too much by her mentor's jealous wife and falls prey to the compelling tom-tom beat of the club orchestra, whereupon she leaps to the stage, strips off her shimmering evening gown and dances as only La Baker could.
(Of all the remarkable events of this century perhaps the ...)
Of all the remarkable events of this century perhaps the most fascinating has been the spontaneous growth, flowering and then decay of a handful of great cities. These cities were places where art, culture and political liberties co-mingled with corruption, brutality and decadence. Everything and just about anyone could be bought and sold. The immigrant would struggle beside the artist. Gamblers, thieves and prostitutes co-habited with soul-savers, the rich and the powerful. The exhilarating combination of the seamy with the sublime made these places a magnet for all the lost souls and refugees of the world. Pushing the limits of tolerance and freedom, they defined the social, political and sexual culture of the 20 th century. Their names ring out: Paris of the '20s, Berlin of the '20s and '30s and Shanghai of the '30s. In the period between the wars, these were the LEGENDARY SIN CITIES of the world. Contemporary footage mixed with rare and richly evocative archival films, stock shots and stills give resonance to the stories of an extraordinary cast of characters: novelists and artists, musicians and journalists, rogues and sinners. Added to the mix are excerpts from feature films, married with the music of those remarkable times.
(Available only as a fragment for decades, Siren of the Tr...)
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 Berg+¨re star, Siren establishes the rags to riches, fairy tale template from which her subsequent films would be cut. Josephine plays Papitou, a free-spirited, animal-loving native girl who falls in love with Andre, a sophisticated young man who has been sent to the Parisian Antilles as a prospector. She is unaware that he is betrothed to another, or that his work assignment is actually a perilous ruse concocted by his scheming boss, the Marquis Severo. As the truth becomes known, Papitou finds herself pursuing Andre back to Paris, where fate intervenes. Will Papitou's new job as a music hall performer (a natural role for La Baker) bring the romantic resolution she so desperately desires? Though silent, Siren Of The Tropics abounds with musical energy, aided in no small part by Josephine Baker's innate screen magnetism. The film contains perhaps her greatest dance work on celluloid, the frenetic "Charleston." Among the crew was a very young Luis Bu+Ýuel!
(Quick Shipping !!! New And Sealed !!! This Disc WILL NOT ...)
Quick Shipping !!! New And Sealed !!! This Disc WILL NOT play on standard US DVD player. A multi-region PAL/NTSC DVD player is request to view it in USA/Canada. Please Review Description.
Josephine Baker was a dancer and singer who became wildly popular in France during the 1920s. She also devoted much of her life to fighting racism.
Background
Josephine Baker was born in a poor, Black slum in East St. Louis, Illinois, on June 3, 1906, to 21-year-old Carrie MacDonald. Her mother hoped to be a music hall dancer; meanwhile, she was forced to take in laundry. She was of mixed ethnic background: Indian/Negro (as they would say in 1906) or Native American/African American (as we would say today). She descended from Apalachee Indians and Black slaves in South Carolina. Olive-skinned Eddie Carson, her father, was a vaudeville drummer and was not seen much by his daughter.
At the age of eight Josephine was hired out to a white woman as a maid; she was forced to sleep in the coal cellar with a pet dog and was scalded on the hands when she used too much soap in the laundry.
Education
At the age of ten she returned, thankfully, to school. She had little formal education, and attended Lincoln Elementary School only through the fifth grade.
Career
At 15, she became a part of a vaudeville show in the St. Louis Chorus. She soon landed in New York City, where she performed at the 'Plantation Club'. In 1921, she was part of the Broadway revue, 'Shuffle Along'.
In 1924, she was part of the Broadway revue, 'The Chocolate Dandies'. The next year, she went to Paris to be a part of the show in 'La Revue Negre', which opened at the Theatre des Champs-Elysees.
In Paris, she earned fame and popularity for her erotic dancing. She went on a Europe tour, performing at various places. She later performed, ‘Dansesauvage', wearing a skirt made of artificial bananas.
In 1926, she performed at the Folies Bergères music hall for 'LaFolie du Jour'. With this show, she became one of the most popular and highly paid dancers. She was also appreciated by literary figure, Ernest Hemingway.
In 1927, she starred in the silent film, ‘Siren of the Tropics’. The film was not successful outside Europe. After four years, she sang, ‘J'aideux amours', which gained immense success.
In 1934, she played the lead role in 'La Creole', a revival al of Jacques Offenbach's opera. The show opened at the Theatre Marigny, Paris, and ran for six months. That year, she was also seen in the film, ‘Zouzou'.
Around 1935, when he came to the U. S, she did not receive the same success and adulation that she had received in Europe. This was due to the unwillingness of American audiences to accept an African-American woman.
In November 1935, she played the role of a Tunisian local girl named 'Alwina' in the film, 'Princess Tam Tam', which was directed by Edmond T. Graville. Later, she starred in ‘Faussealerte' and 'Moulin Rouge'.
In 1939, when Germany and France were at war, she was appointed as an ’honourable correspondent’ by the French military organisation, Deuxieme Bureau.
She supported the French Resistance during World War II, gathering information about the German troops. She performed in North Africa in 1941 and later toured Spain, pinning notes and gathering military information.
After the war, she devoted more time to her family. In the 1950s, she went to the United States to support the Civil Rights Movement and took part in various demonstrations. She condemned segregated clubs and public venues.
In 1951, after she was denied service at the Stork Club in Manhattan, she filed a case of racism against the owner of the club, Sherman Billingsley. Actress Grace Kelly too walked out of the club with her, in her support.
In 1954, she starred in the film, 'Anjedem Finger zehn'. The following year, she was seen in the film 'Carosello del varieta'.
In 1963, she was one of the speakers who spoke alongside Martin Luther King Jr. at the ‘March on Washington’, one of the largest political rallies that took place for human rights.
In January 1966, she received an invitation from Cuban communist revolutionary, Fidel Castro to perform at the 7th anniversary of his revolution in Havana, Cuba. The show was held in April and had a record-breaking number of attendees.
In 1973, she delivered a performance at the Carnegie Hall in New York. After the performance she received a standing ovation.
In 1974, she performed for a Royal Variety Performance at the London Palladium. That year, she also performed for the Monacan Red Cross Gala, just before she commemorated the 50th year of her dancing career.
In April 1975, she performed at the Bobino Theater in Paris on the 50th anniversary of her dancing career. The event witnessed many celebrity attendees.
Four days later, Baker was found lying peacefully in her bed surrounded by newspapers with glowing reviews of her performance. She was in a coma after suffering a cerebral hemorrhage. She was taken to Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, where she died, aged 68, on 12 April 1975.
Achievements
Proclaimed to be 'the most sensational woman anyone ever saw' by Ernest Hemingway, Josephine Baker was one of the most successful entertainers in France and other parts of Europe. She scintillated audiences with her mesmerising dance performances and went on to become ‘the highest-paid chorus girl in vaudeville’. Much revered for her exotic beauty, Baker enjoyed celebrity status for 50 almost years. She also acted in a few films. Unfortunately, racism laid constraints in her career and she was not well received in the United States of America. She served as a source of intelligence during the World War II, gathering secret information about German troops, supporting the French Resistance movement. This earned her one of the highest French military honours, the ‘Croix de guerre'. She made several notable contributions to the Civil Rights Movement, blatantly refusing to perform in segregated clubs and participating in active demonstrations. She also delivered a speech alongside Martin Luther King, Jr at the ‘March on Washington’. She had a huge fan-following and was given the nicknames, 'Black Pearl', 'Bronze Venus' and ‘Creole Goddess’.
Place Joséphine Baker in the Montparnasse Quarter of Paris was named in her honor. She has also been inducted into the St. Louis Walk of Fame, and on 29 March 1995, into the Hall of Famous Missourians.
In 2015 she was inducted into the Legacy Walk in Chicago, Illinois, USA. The Piscine Joséphine Baker is a swimming pool along the banks of the Seine in Paris named for her.
Château des Milandes, a castle near Sarlat in the Dordogne, was Baker's home where she raised her twelve children. It is open to the public and displays her stage outfits including her banana skirt (of which there are apparently several). It also displays many family photographs and documents as well as her Legion of Honour medal. Most rooms are open for the public to walk through including bedrooms with the cots where her children slept, a huge kitchen, and a dining room where she often entertained large groups. The bathrooms were designed in art deco style but most rooms retained the French chateau style.
Writing on the 110 anniversary of her birth, Vogue described how her 1926 "danse sauvage" in her famous banana skirt "brilliantly manipulated the white male imagination" and "radically redefined notions of race and gender through style and performance in a way that continues to echo throughout fashion and music today, from Prada to Beyoncé. "
On 3 June 2017, the 111th anniversary of her birth, Google released an animated Google Doodle, which consists of a slideshow chronicling her life and achievements.
In her later years, Baker converted to Roman Catholicism.
Politics
Although based in France, Baker supported the Civil Rights Movement during the 1950s. When she arrived in New York with her husband Jo, they were refused reservations at 36 hotels because of racial discrimination. She was so upset by this treatment that she wrote articles about the segregation in the United States. She also began traveling into the South. She gave a talk at Fisk University, a historically black college in Nashville, Tennessee, on "France, North Africa And The Equality Of The Races In France".
She refused to perform for segregated audiences in the United States, although she was offered $10, 000 by a Miami club. (The club eventually met her demands). Her insistence on mixed audiences helped to integrate live entertainment shows in Las Vegas, Nevada. After this incident, she began receiving threatening phone calls from people claiming to be from the Ku Klux Klan but said publicly that she was not afraid of them.
In 1951, Baker made charges of racism against Sherman Billingsley's Stork Club in Manhattan, where she alleged she had been refused service. Actress Grace Kelly, who was at the club at the time, rushed over to Baker, took her by the arm and stormed out with her entire party, vowing never to return (although she returned on 3 January 1956 with Prince Rainier of Monaco). The two women became close friends after the incident.
Baker worked with the NAACP. Her reputation as a crusader grew to such an extent that the NAACP had Sunday, 20 May 1951 declared "Josephine Baker Day". She was presented with life membership with the NAACP by Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr. Ralph Bunche. The honor she was paid spurred her to further her crusading efforts with the "Save Willie McGee" rally after he was convicted of the 1948 beating death of a furniture shop owner in Trenton, New Jersey. As Baker became increasingly regarded as controversial, many blacks began to shun her, fearing that her reputation would hurt their cause.
In 1963, she spoke at the March on Washington at the side of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Baker was the only official female speaker. While wearing her Free French uniform emblazoned with her medal of the Légion d'honneur, she introduced the "Negro Women for Civil Rights. " Rosa Parks and Daisy Bates were among those she acknowledged, and both gave brief speeches.
After King's assassination, his widow Coretta Scott King approached Baker in the Netherlands to ask if she would take her husband's place as leader of the Civil Rights Movement. After many days of thinking it over, Baker declined, saying her children were "too young to lose their mother".
Views
Quotations:
"The things we truly love stay with us always, locked in our hearts as long as life remains. "
"He was my cream, and I was his coffee - And when you poured us together, it was something. "
"I'm not intimidated by anyone. Everyone is made with two arms, two legs, a stomach and a head. Just think about that. "
"Beautiful? It's all a question of luck. I was born with good legs. As for the rest. .. beautiful, no. Amusing, yes. "
"My people have a country of their own to go to if they choose. .. Africa. .. but, this America belongs to them just as much as it does to any of the white race. .. in some ways even more so, because they gave the sweat of their brow and their blood in slavery so that many parts of America could become prosperous and recognized in the world. "
"You must get an education. You must go to school, and you must learn to protect yourself. And you must learn to protect yourself with the pen, and not the gun. "
"I believe if the white and colored people could get together and be let alone, they would understand each other and consequently love each other. "
"All my life, I have maintained that the people of the world can learn to live together in peace if they are not brought up in prejudice. "
"I wanted to get far away from those who believed in cruelty, so then I went to France, a land of true freedom, democracy, equality and fraternity. "
"I ran away from home. I ran away from St. Louis, and then I ran away from the United States of America, because of that terror of discrimination, that horrible beast which paralyzes one's very soul and body. "
"I have walked into the palaces of kings and queens and into the houses of presidents. And much more. But I could not walk into a hotel in America and get a cup of coffee, and that made me mad. "
"I was a devil in other countries, and I was a little devil in America, too. "
"The hate directed against the colored people here in St. Louis has always given me a sad feeling. .. How can you expect the world to believe in you and respect your preaching of democracy when you yourself treat your colored brothers as you do?"
Connections
In 1918, when she was 13, she married Willie Wells. The marriage did not last very long and the couple divorced in a short span of time.
In 1921, she married Willie Baker. The couple eventually legally separated. Despite the separation, she kept her last name as she was recognised by that name.
In 1937, he married French citizen Jean Lion. Through the marriage she was also granted French citizenship. The couple separated and he passed away later.
In 1947, she married Jo Bouillon, a French composer. It was during this marriage that she adopted 12 children from around the world. They eventually divorced.
After her divorce, she became romantically involved with a man named Robert Brady.
Father:
Eddie Carson
Mother:
Carrie
child:
Janot
child:
Brahim
child:
Jean-Claude Baker
(born Jean-Claude Julien Léon Tronville, April 18, 1943 – January 15, 2015) He was a French-American restaurateur.
