Main Cast: Josephine Baker, Germaine Aussey, Albert Prejean, Robert Arnoux
Release Year: 1935
Country: US/FR
Run Time: 77 minutes
Plot
Princesse Tam-Tam is a must-see for fans of legendary African-American entertainer Josephine Baker. Shunned by lily-white Hollywood, Baker made a name for herself in France as a cabaret entertainer, frequently comporting in the nude--all the while letting the audience know she didn't take herself, or anything else, too seriously. Princesse Tam-Tam is a satirical spin on the "Pygamalion" concept: An uninhibited African girl (Baker) poses as a serene Indian princess, through the auspices of author Albert Prejean. A romance develops between the two (a plot device expressly forbidden by Hollywood's rules against miscegenation on screen), while Prejean's unfaithful wife fumes. Written by Josephine Baker's then-husband Pepito Abatino, the French/Tunisian Princesse Tam-Tam was banned outright in the States; thanks to videotape, it is now more accessible than ever. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
Edmond T. Greville's Princess Tam Tam (1935) is not only a thoroughly enjoyable movie but a fascinating artifact of its era -- a romantic comedy, a sort of Gallic parody of George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion, set within the relatively realistic confines of pre-World War II France's Middle Eastern territories. The movie and its exotic plot and setting were themselves a solution to the problem of what to do with an actress/performer like Josephine Baker: vibrant, sexy, alluring, and charismatic -- but also of African descent -- in an era where this was a casting impediment almost anywhere in the world. In Baker's native United States, this question was never asked above a whisper, if at all, and never answered, whereas in France the result was delightful vehicles such as this, which not only gave Baker a vehicle for her talents but put her into a plot involving an interracial romance (that got the movie banned from the U.S., naturally). An artifact of French colonialism as well as of relatively unfettered comedic, musical, and romantic sensibilities, Princess Tam Tam stands unique as entertainment and a window on Baker's unique talent, and remains as enchanting a piece of musical comedy as French cinema released in the 1930s. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
Max de Mirecourt (Albert Préjean), a frustrated writer, goes to Tunisia in search of inspiration for his next novel. He meets a local girl named Alwina (Baker) whose personality intrigues Max so greatly that he invents a character based on her for his newest (and 'most exciting') novel. His relation with Alwina serves a dual purpose in that it also angers (or at least highly annoys) his wife Lucie (Germaine Aussey) who has been flirting with the Maharajah of Datane (Jean Galland) back in Paris. Alwina is taken under Max's wing and taught the manners and social graces of a high society princess. She is then whisked away to Paris with Max and pretends to be Princess Tam Tam, from far away India. Lucie is only further enraged by all the attention that Alwina receives and, after her friend sees Alwina dance provocatively in a sailor's bar, calls upon her Maharajah to craft a plan which will destroy her husband's relation with "the princess." The Maharajah throws a grand party, inviting the upper crust of Parisian society. Alwina is unable to resist the exotic music, and promptly joins the large, staged dance number, embarrassing Max. Lucie and Max forgive each other in the end and fall in love again. Alwina returns back to Tunisia after the frustrating realization that, as the Maharajah puts it, "Some windows face to the West, and the others to the East." This is an obvious reference to the extreme orientalist tendencies of society Paris at this time. Ultimately, however, the entire European affair is revealed to be little more than an enactment of Max's novel in progress. Alwina never does go to Europe, and the primary events of the film are simply a staging of how Max has imagined them. Alwina is given Max's Tunisian estate, and Max's new novel is a success. The title of his new work is "Civilisation." When asked about Alwina while back in Europe, Max states that she is "Better where she is," and the film closes with a scene of Alwina and Dar back in Tunisia, with a newborn child, and with farm animals now strewn about Max's mansion. In the final shot, a donkey eats the title page of "Civilisation" from off of Max's (now Alwina's) floor.
