La sirène des tropiques

The film is merely ok, but the performance of Josephine Baker is extraordinary, particularly for those times.

Although it came very early in her film acting career, this is well worth seeing for the performance by Josephine Baker. Her talent more than makes up for any lack of experience, and the role gives her a lot to work with. Although there is no singing, her dancing, athleticism, boundless energy, and personal allure all stand out. The rest of the movie is solid rather than impressive, but most of it works all right in itself.

Baker plays Papitou, an innocent, loyal native girl who becomes part of a clash involving a soulless French nobleman, his brutal colonial henchman, and a young engineer hoping to succeed in the tropics so that he can marry his Parisian fiancée. The first half shows the conflict that plays out in the tropics, and the second half shows the characters back in Paris, with the different settings naturally leading to much different kinds of developments.

Baker's role has many similarities to her roles in later movies such as "Princesse Tam Tam" and "Zou Zou". As her first such role, she not only looks quite young, but also seems to have an extra freshness here. The character also is put in very different circumstances in the different parts of the story. From that viewpoint, the first half is more enjoyable, since it shows Papitou in her element. In the second half of the movie, her character is treated rather thanklessly, and at times it is almost painful seeing such an appealing character treated so badly by the story and by the other characters - which indicates how believably Baker defines her character.

Though I had read John Baxter's Luis Bunuel biography some years back, I only recalled while leafing through it again the other day that the Spanish Surrealist had served as Assistant Director on this exotic romance intended as a showcase for legendary black performing artist Josephine Baker – hence, its belated viewing in this segment in my ongoing Bunuel retrospective dedicated to his formative years. Anyway, having acquired this and already owning another of the star's vehicles i.e. ZOUZOU (1934), I decided to also add to my collection the third film of hers – and the most famous – PRINCESS TAM TAM (1935) which was released first separately and then re-packaged in a Baker-related Box Set by Kino.

Though I was not particularly enthused by the prospect of watching the title under review, being essentially a melodrama with interpolated dance routines, it turned out to be harmless enough – more importantly, it was delightfully typical of its period (including a couple of sequences which feature the shapely star in the nude!). As I said, the film's settings – high-society Paris, the tropics and even the ship-board section – were much in vogue in cinema of this era; hence, for someone who loves Silents as much as I do, they certainly evoked a pleasant air of nostalgia. Even so, these do not really jell together and the picture basically feels like three shorts pasted together!; predictably, the island sequences (with the obligatory hissable villain looking quite a bit like the great Lon Chaney!) prove the most engaging – while those at sea, featuring rampant politically Incorrect comedy relief (with Baker repeatedly chased all over the liner by virtually the entire crew and passenger list simply for being a stowaway!), make up its least appealing component.

Bunuel cannot have been much inspired by the film (save, perhaps, for its notion of unabashed lechery on the two heavies' part) but he did retain its leading man, Pierre Batcheff, for his own notorious debut UN CHIEN ANDALOU (1929); at one point, the latter is even made to break the fourth wall by suddenly interacting with the audience –something which Bunuel himself would have the lead character do a quarter of a century later at the very end of his DAUGHTER OF DECEIT (1951)! To get to Baker's presence, which is the reason the film got made in the first place, she manages to exude star quality despite being surprisingly relegated to a secondary Other Woman role (Batcheff's relationship with his true love is plagued by the misplaced affection of her Godfather, the hero's unscrupulous employer – a situation eventually resolved by Baker's own timely, albeit clandestine, intervention); while undeniably an accomplished dancer (highlighted first in a native jig during an island festivity and, later, a full-blown Charleston number on stage at the "Folies Bergere"), I liked her best when displaying great affection towards animals (her large pet dog and a cat she has rescued from a well, which the canine amazingly helps in drying up!).

Finally, I could not help noticing the choppiness of certain scenes – the key moment of Batcheff's attempted murder on a bridge suffers the most in this regard – but this appears to be the result of footage lost to the ravages of time (in fact, it was long thought that all of three reels had survived from SIREN OF THE TROPICS!). Having said that, the print I watched was attractively tinted from time to time.

I only saw the first and last two reels, supposedly all of the file that has survived. Josephine Baker's role is similar to her roles in Zouzou (1934) and Princess Tam-Tam (1935), the innocent from the tropics who is brought to civilization and finds it somewhat wanting. However, she does get to keep a man in the end.

Most interesting for Josephine Baker. It includes a short segment of one of her stage dances. Seeing her move in close-up is also a pleasure. The film is an oddity in that it was shot as a pantomime (there are no titles).

Though it's hardly a matter exclusive to this title, within the silent era or beyond, there's something to be said for the fact that this feature plays very fast and loose with its conceptions of peoples and cultures outside the purview of white western Europe, including a degree of both condescension and dubious fetishizing (especially as to titular "siren" Papitou). Furthermore, whether or not one is a fan of cinema of the timeframe I don't think there's much disputing that the acting, and more so the scene writing and plot development, is marked by a tinge of forthrightness that reflects a somewhat common description of older movies as "simpler entertainment for a simpler time." Be all that as it may, however, even keeping these qualities in mind, I believe the strengths of the picture well outweigh any subjective faults or weaknesses. In fact, even with such marginal issues, I think this rather stands just as tall if not taller than many of its contemporaries. 'Siren of the tropics,' or 'La sirène des tropiques,' may not be an absolute must-see, but this is surprisingly well-rounded and entertaining, and holds up pretty well even almost 100 years later.

Writer Maurice Dekobra penned a story that's earnestly engaging and compelling, with welcome nuances and multiple detailed facets that are all important to the whole. Characters feel a tad more fleshed out than we've seen elsewhere (again, silent era or otherwise), and the scene writing is thorough and robust both in building the narrative and in keeping viewers invested with action, drama, and character moments of significance. There are distinct airs of colonialism and racism coursing through the tale as part and parcel of it (and how this dovetails into values of the 1920s, particularly in regards to race, well, that's a longer discussion), but more substantial still are themes of love, manipulation, exploitation, underhanded scheming, and hard-boiled determination - culminating, of course, in requital, the triumph of the good and virtuous over those of ill intentions, and hearts prevailing. Truly, Dekobra fashioned a strong screenplay, and filmmakers Mario Nalpas and Henri Étiévant, co-directing, did a fine job of realizing that screenplay with an unexpected vibrancy, infusing a minor sense of adventure and low-key thrills into this drama. The direction may not be entirely remarkable, but the pair orchestrated shots and scenes with a keen attentiveness to all the moods the saga carries in turn, including of course romance and light humor. Kudos all around!

All this excellence is furthered by the capable contributions of both cast and crew. It's very noteworthy that this marks the film debut of Josephine Baker, an icon both on-screen and off, and she gives a wholehearted, energetic performance that's altogether invigorating. Co-stars including Pierre Batcheff, Regina Thomas, or Kiranine may not completely stand out as much, but still everyone involved demonstrates fine acting skills of range and physicality (if flavored to an extent by the more straightforward tack of silent film-making). Moreover, 'Siren of the tropics' looks great from top to bottom, making use of superb filming locations, sets, costume design, and hair and makeup. Those few stunts and effects that are employed look terrific, not to mention aspects of choreography. And still we're not quite done, because there's one thing more: yes, as stated, in some measure the movie capitalizes in an unfavorable fashion on race, tawdrily misusing or abusing Baker as a woman of color. Yet I don't think there's much disputing that, if unevenly, 'Siren' also takes time to meaningfully elevate Baker as a black woman by the same token. She's the first black woman to be given a major, starring role in a major motion picture; though Papitou is written with stereotypes in part, she's also granted agency and personality befitting an actual lead character. The feature even smartly, cheekily takes a knock at those conventions that put white actors in blackface, earning the biggest laughs of these ninety minutes - and wittingly or not, slyly connotes how white culture pointedly steals from black culture. And through it all, Baker dominates with a presence that far outpaces that of anyone else in front of the camera.

Beyond even what I've already mentioned it can hardly be said that this is totally perfect, as the narrative ultimately follows a thrust that's kind of tiresome specifically for the way that the key character is undervalued. Nonetheless, what the title does well and gets right notably outweighs what it does less well, or gets wrong. Characterized by admirable writing, direction, acting, and craftsmanship, and leaping out not least with Baker's newborn star power, this isn't 100% essential, but it earns a high, solid recommendation, and is well worth anyone's time. 'Siren of the tropics' is well balanced between the good and the questionable, and in all elements of the storytelling, and above all is really fun. Both on its own merits and as a bit of a landmark in cinema, this is a classic that deserves recognition and remembrance.