This movie had so much promise and failed so badly. There are only a couple of songs by Josephine Baker - this is not a musical. There is a dance that is so badly done it's funny. The plot is a mishmash of jealousy, revenge, and Pygmalion. A white Frenchman in Africa stumbles across an African girl and decides to use her to make his philandering wife jealous. He teaches the African to be a white European, then claims she is an Indian princess. He returns to Europe with her, where she is acclaimed. The philandering wife is having an affair with an Indian who is played by a white man in dark makeup. The Indian recognizes the fraud at once, but doesn't disclose it. He offers the "princess" the choice of continuing to live as a European or the return to Africa. There is a great deal of material in what's going on, but it's never delved into. If it's not going to be a musical, I wanted to know why the Indian didn't expose her; I wanted to know more about the choice between Europe and Africa. instead, the Frenchman's ploy works, his wife becomes jealous and returns to his arms. Tam Tam returns to Africa with a native man who beat her, and they apparently live happily ever after.
It's an interesting movie to see for the history: the casual racism, the lousy choreography, Europe between wars. Baker is wasted as a child-like savage with only two songs.
It's an interesting movie to see for the history: the casual racism, the lousy choreography, Europe between wars. Baker is wasted as a child-like savage with only two songs.