Webster University Film Series Presents: Josephine Baker: A Centennial Celebration
Saturday, April 29 and Sunday, April 30, 7:00 p.m.
Admission is $6 for the general public, $5 for seniors, students from other schools and Webster alumni, and $4 for Webster University staff and faculty unless otherwise noted. All films screened in Moore Auditorium on the campus of Webster University, 470 E. Lockwood, Webster Groves, Missouri, unless noted. Contact: James Harrison, 314-968-7487. For more information log-on to: www.webster.edu/filmseries.html
In honor of the 100th birthday of the St Louis born “Parisian Sensation” the Webster University Film Series is pleased to present a weekend of Ms. Baker’s finest films. The weekend program is as follows:
April 29 at 7 p.m.
Zou Zou (Zouzou), Marc Allégret, 1934, France, 92 min
Conceived as a vehicle for Josephine Baker, then among Europe's most popular entertainers, the film was her debut talking film and a huge success in France upon its original release. In the tradition of 42nd Street and other Warner Bros. backstage musicals of the period, the plot of Zou Zou concerns a star who walks out on her sugardaddy producer for true love, and a talented Cinderella (Baker) who takes her place, saves the show and is hailed as a new sensation opening night. The film places Baker in several lavish production numbers in which she is sumptuously dressed and supported by a large chorus. But it is the poignant rendition of "Haiti" that remains indelible.
Screens with:
Siren of the Tropics (La Sirène des tropiques), Henri Etievant & Mario Nalpas, 1927
France, 86 min.
Baker’s feature film debut, Sirène establishes the rags-to-riches, fairy tale template from which her subsequent films would be cut. Papitou (Baker), a free-spirited, animal-loving native girl falls in love with André, a sophisticated young man who has been sent to the Parisian Antilles as a prospector. Papitou finds herself pursuing André back to Paris, where she lands a job as a music hall performer. Though silent, the film 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 Buñuel!
April 30 at 7 p.m.
Princess Tam Tam, Edmond T. Gréville, 1935, France, 77 min.
A Pygmalion-like comedy in which a mischievous shepherd girl Alwina (Baker) rises through society to become a pretend princess and the toast of Paris nightlife. In a thinly-veiled parallel to Baker's own experience, Alwina 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. In French with English subtitles.
The Webster University Film Series receives funding from the Regional Arts Commission; the Arts and Education Council of Greater St. Louis; and the Missouri Arts Council, a state agency.
