Film: “Princess Tam Tam”

Princess Tam-Tam (dir. Edmond Greville, 1935) in conjunction with the exhibit “Brilliant Exiles: American Women in Paris, 1900-1939" 

In the 1930s, Black performers were subjected to stereotypes even as they sought, and often achieved, their own opportunities to show the full range of their talents on the American screen. In pursuit of her artistic ambitions, singer/dancer/comedian Josephine Baker accepted an invitation to work in France. The resulting films, including “Princess Tam Tam” reveal what Hollywood producers in the US suppressed: a confident, sexy, scene-stealing African American woman who projected exuberance, expressiveness and raw charisma like an uncorked bottle of champagne. “Princess Tam Tam” is a Pygmalion-like comedy in which Baker stars as a mischievous shepherd girl who rises through society to become a pretend princess and the toast of Paris nightlife. 1935, NR, 77 min.

This screening will include a video introduction by Dr. Terri Simone Francis, associate professor of cinematic arts at the University of Miami. Dr. Francis is the author of “Josephine Baker’s Cinematic Prism” (Indiana University Press, 2021). She is a scholar of Black film history and aesthetics.

This program is presented in partnership with the Willson Center's Interdisciplinary Modernism Workshop research cluster and in conjunction with the exhibition “Brilliant Exiles: American Women in Paris, 1900 - 1939.”

Content consideration: “Princess Tam Tam" includes language and depictions of racial stereotypes. We encourage you to view scholar Terri Simone Francis’ contextualization of Baker’s film career in her video “Josephine Baker as ‘Rememory’ of Global Black Cinema” and/or Francis’ conversation about her book, “Josephine Baker’s Cinematic Prism,” with Nina Collins.

Free and open to the public