Chasing a Rainbow: The Life of Josephine Baker

Chasing a Rainbow: The Life of Josephine Baker (1987)

Released: 1987-03-24 Duration: 1hr 30min
Rating 7.0
Documentary on black American singer/dancer Josephine Baker (1906-1974), who emigrated to France where she was a major artist from 1927 until her death.

Overview

The story of Josephine Baker takes us on a fascinating tour of 20th-century race relations on both sides of the Atlantic, yet it leads to no conclusion, and black girls in search of a role-model tend to look elsewhere. Part of her appeal is her startlingly unique appearance. Simply nobody has ever looked or acted like her. She fits no black stereotype. Nor does she look like any recognizable strain of Afro-American. I'd always heard she was half-white, but it seems that her paternity is unknown, and her contradictory claims on the subject don't do much to enlighten us. (We are tempted to imagine quite an exotic mix.) Her origins in sharply-segregated St. Louis, where she is said to have witnessed a lynching, do not seem to have left her embittered. Perhaps she had too much to give. There is a special innocence about that smile, and when she performs her cross-eyed gag, we are lifted into a strange pixie-world, all its own.

Production Companies

Csaky Ltd
Channel 4 Television
Channel 4 Television

Additional Info

Budget $0.00
Revenue $0.00
Original Language en
Popularity 0.36

Directed By

Christopher Ralling

Crew

Producer
Carla Ehrlich
Editor
Noel Chanan
Production Design
David Raitt
Sound Recordist
George Hitchins
Mixing Engineer
Michael Narduzzo
Camera Operator
Ken Morse
Camera Operator
Martin Rissen
Executive Producer
Mick Csáky

TOP CAST

Todd Olivier
Todd Olivier

Narrator

Josephine Baker
Josephine Baker

Self (Archival Footage)

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