Humanity has lauded celebrities for as long as we’ve hoisted them upon our shoulders and asserted their worth in one way or another. Maybe at one time we did this to show our appreciation for their work and to bestow honor upon them, but at one point, the nature of celebrity shifted and our fascination with the select few who received its laurels exploded. Now, the figures are as powerful as politicians or business leaders, they can sway public opinion and influence what we buy. Examples of such stars include Marilyn Monroe, who managed to surpass the fame she received by working in film and modeling, and became an international success. She opened the floodgates for dozens more like her, but even Marilyn wasn’t the first, and nowhere near the most international. In that regard, Josephine Baker’s story stands out above the rest by not only changing the way we view celebrity but by breaking through racial prejudices to get there. The world hasn’t been the same since.
How Josephine Baker got her start won’t strike many as something out of the ordinary, after all she was following a route many girls before her had used to find marginal success; but the choices Josephine Baker made along the way changed her route for the better and instilled her with an edge that made her a racy, exotic act that stood out above the rest. She quickly climbed from just another vaudevillian showgirl to a star, and from there she dazzled the eyes of many men who would go on to take a keen interest in her future (for better or for worse). Taking her career to Paris as much by choice as by the influence of American prudishness, Josephine found one suitor after another and lived through the highs and lows that both love and show business bring.
The story of Josephine Baker is a quintessential tale of how an entertainer with a particular flourish can become a brand unto herself. Were it not for the time period and the social belief structures of the time that made an African-American woman’s rise to fame so progressive, Josephine’s story would resemble those of many modern public figures. The Josephine Baker Story already has plenty of merit in its screenplay, the structure and pace of which takes a little while to hit its stride, but when you add in Lynn Whitfield as the seductive and enchanting Baker, the film is elevated significantly. Whitfield brings all the right flows of grace and poise to the character and she makes The Josephine Baker Story memorable.
Blu-ray Bonus Features
An audio commentary with Whitfield, Writer Ron Hutchinson, and Associate Producer Alisa Taylor is the only extra.
"The Josephine Baker Story" is on sale January 17, 2012 and is rated R. Drama. Directed by Brian Gibson. Written by Ron Hutchinson. Starring Craig T Nelson, Louis Gossett Jr, Lynn Whitfield, Ruben Blades, David Dukes.
