Princess Tam Tam

(France/1932—directed by Edmond T. Gréville) 

Known as the "Black Venus" during the zenith of her popularity in the 1920s and 30s, singer, dancer, and actor Josephine Baker was the first Black woman to become an international film star, and a legendary icon of beauty and rare courage. Baker achieved her success far from Hollywood; she moved to Paris and appeared in silent films there. After the introduction of sound, she starred in singing roles for French musicals including Zou-Zou (1934) and Princess Tam Tam.

In this film, Max (Albert Préjean) is a novelist who escapes his social-butterfly wife in Paris to vacation in Tunisia, where he becomes infatuated with a young shepherdess named Alwina (Baker). He decides to present her to French society as a Bedouin princess to elicit his wife’s jealousy. Princess Tam Tam was wildly popular throughout Europe but never granted an exhibition visa and went unseen by American audiences until it was rediscovered in 1989. (77 min.) Free with museum admission. 

This program is part of a companion series of film and music events presented in celebration of Regeneration: Black Cinema, 1898–1971, on view at the Detroit Institute of Arts Feb. 4–June 23, 2024. Regeneration is organized by the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures.