---
product_id: 85718833
title: "Josephine Baker Story [VHS]"
brand: "hbo home video"
price: "$20.22"
currency: USD
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 9
category: "Video"
url: https://www.desertcart.us/products/85718833-josephine-baker-story-vhs
store_origin: US
region: United States of America
---

# Josephine Baker Story [VHS]

**Brand:** hbo home video
**Price:** $20.22
**Availability:** ✅ In Stock

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- **What is this?** Josephine Baker Story [VHS] by hbo home video
- **How much does it cost?** $20.22 with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship
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## Description

Product description








Born into a poor family in St. Louis, Josephine Baker (Lynn Whitfield) struggles to make a name for herself on the vaudeville circuit. As her career progresses, so does her resentment of racial prejudice, motivating her to move to Paris -- where in a short time, her exotic dance routines make her the toast of the town. Swayed by the influence of her manager (Ruben Blades), she takes the act back to America. Josephine, proves herself to be a humanitarian and entertainer.












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You know how it goes. You hear about what a sensation someone like Josephine Baker was in her prime (in her case, the 1920s and &apos;30s), how she pushed boundaries in such delicate areas as race and sex, how she both thrilled and scandalized Paris with her exotic dancing and personal behavior. You have all these loose strands of legend and random fact, your curiosity is running high, and then you hear that a feature film is being made about the very subject. You watch, and then wonder: what was the big deal about Josephine Baker? The problem with this 1991 TV movie is the same as with a number of HBO films from the 1980s and early &apos;90s: it isn&apos;t particularly well written, the production looks rushed, and the entire point is obscured in a whirl of biographical material that doesn&apos;t sufficiently develop into insightful, organic unity. What The Josephine Baker Story does do, however, is provide a reference point from which to begin an appreciation of Baker&apos;s life. A poor, African American girl from St. Louis, Baker found fame and wealth in Europe as a dancer whose partially nude, unbridled performances invoked wit, sexual liberation, and passion--without, somehow, seeming vulgar or obscene. As Baker, Lynn Whitfield gets into the uninhibited spirit of things, free with her body and enthusiastic about re-creating many of her character&apos;s performances (yes, the famed Banana Dance is a highlight). The film superficially suggests that Baker was celebrated as an expressive artist, a healthy force of nature rather than a lewd exhibitionist, but it doesn&apos;t go far enough down that road to tell us why she matters. Somewhat better is the script&apos;s contrasting emphasis on Baker&apos;s celebrity overseas and her second-class status as a black woman in America. In the end, the film&apos;s real accomplishment is underscoring how racism truly determines the course of an individual&apos;s life, and the way Baker understood that both from the vantage point of a refugee and a victim. --Tom Keogh

## Images

![Josephine Baker Story [VHS] - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/517RZE0SosL.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    A Very Good Drag Show Interpretation of Josephine Baker
  

*by I***T on Reviewed in the United States on July 18, 2015*

The Josephine Baker Story, and Various, the film was very good, it really broke my heart, the acting was superb and stunning, the cinematography was equal to the great plot and acting.  Various however was portraying a song and dance woman, but somehow I did not feel she was Josephine Baker……I enjoyed the film immensely, especially from a drag show perspective (I happen to think that RuPaul is extremely talented performer as a transgender entertainer), and that is what this film reminded of, a very good drag show, complete with scenes and a script and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that as RuPaul might tell you.  But the Josephine Baker story, I don’t know, I think we need to rethink the script writing somehow and maybe Josephine Bakers character in the film as an African American Woman in world war two France, and when the KKK was giving African American’s in America literal hell.

### ⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    Semi-Historical and Sexy
  

*by S***I on Reviewed in the United States on August 20, 2013*

After seeing this movie, I wanted to hop on the first a plane to France I could get; not really, I do speak French and have friends from France. I've never been to France, only other European nations. The lynching scene, in the beginning gave one the feeling you were in the early 1900s U.S. South; we also know, it wasn't only the South that had those scenes. This movie could be called The Josephine Baker Story, Abridged. The only husbands in the story are numbers three and four. I think there was mention of a former husband in the movie; but, when one must read closed captioned text; a lot of times, some dialogue is not displayed. There were many "gaps" in this movie - lips moving, no closed captions. Also missing were the movies she made, information about the four legal husbands, the fifth "pseudo" husband, her work for U.S. Civil Rights, work for France, and the multiple love affairs with men and women. After she lost the house, her children "went away," to where? Were they placed in separate homes? A full biography would probably be on more than one DVD.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    'The Josephine Baker Story' Is A Treasure In My Movie Collection
  

*by A***E on Reviewed in the United States on August 1, 2007*

Ever since I was 9 years old and watched the French documentary 'Chasing A Rainbow' I was emmediatly fascinated by Josephine Baker. It was like The Beatles in a way-she has one of the greatest celebrity stories in know history!And it wasn't until several years later did I realize that this movie had been made but it was an HBO exclusive and I didn't have cable.It came out on VHS and was hard to find for awhile but when it came out on DVD,I waited awhile and at the strong recommendation of a friend went for this.Considering how much I enjoyed 

  
Introducing Dorothy Dandridge









  
  
    
   I naturally assumed this would be at least just as good.Well 'The Josephine Baker Story' is BETTER then just as good.As noted in other reviews this film takes a look at Josephine Baker the women rather then the performer.That is covered too but Josephine (portrayed by the lovely and dynamic Lynn Whitfiend)is given a real humanity outside her larger then life persona.One thing I learned about Josephine from this was that I COULD SEE why she'd want to get out of her area of St.Louis.From the point of view of her it looked to be a terrible violent place that should've never been bestowed on anyone of any color. She dreamed of a fairy tale life and after playing the baffoon long enough in America she blissfully went to Paris along with her fellow artist and buddy Sidney Bechet.And so La Baker's assault on France begins-her and other members of Le Revue Negre' dancing in the streets of the city,her being painted and adored by many. But as her pseudo count "husband" Pepito pointed out,she needed to truly break out.So over the years,through returns to her own country she realized that the racism she'd once tried to escape needed to be dealt with and,in middle age (through her famous Rainbow Tribe and activism)she did conquer racism with a somewhat heavy handed,if well meaning fist-in her own words "If I see a roach I step on it".She did lose much perspective (and another husband in the kindly Joe Boullian) when she began to become obsessed with adopting every foundling child she heard about.As she had many times before she endured a beating to leave her chateau Les Milandes but made a triumphant comeback,slying admitting in a phone call at the premire of her final revue in 1975 that she was'nt "behind the times" as she cited Mick Jaggers presense at the revue and concluded with what sounded like a slightly altered "Josephine-ized" version of Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are-A-Changin"-it was quite a road to that from "Je Deux Amour".There are many many highlites here to mention-one being the dramatic and exciting interpretation of Josephine's performance in the (allegedly) unfilmed Le Revue' Negre',her banana dance and (my favorite) the beautifully filmed scene where a glowing Pepito (Rueban Blades) watches as a wistful young Josephine records her theme song "Je Deux Amour" in the early 1930's.As stated some things are missing but there are some poignant moments,such as a distraught Josephine learning of her inability to bare children while in the hospital in North Africa.So even though it is not a biographically flawless movie (it would've taken a MINI SERIES to put all of Josephine's amazing story) this is a must see for any fan of Josephine Baker or even the curious.Because even if you know her story to heart as I do this superbly acted and beautifully photographed movie will show you who she was while she lived her own history.One reason why we have the art of film in the first place.

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*Product available on Desertcart United States of America*
*Store origin: US*
*Last updated: 2026-03-08*