Josephine Baker was the world’s first black superstar. The USA-born artist had to go to Europe to sidestep racism and achieve the heights of fame. That is not to say that race didn’t affect her roles and the way she was portrayed in film, but she was able to avoid the trap of maid roles and take the full spotlight as a star. This video focuses on her life after she found stardom in Europe. She adopted twelve children from across the world as a comment against racism and called them her Rainbow Tribe. While the way she put her wards on display to the public would be seen as problematic today, she had good intentions in assembling this mini–United Nations. A brilliant and brave dancer, singer, actress, comic, spy, activist, and cultural commentator, there was nobody like her.
From subtext to blatant adoration, classic peplum movies have been queer from the beginning of cinema.
Surrealism can be found in any kind of film from any period, genre, country, or producer, but there’s nothing quite like the way Classic Hollywood embraced this artistic form. Its influence on the themes, imagery, and landscapes of studio age films is both bizarre and striking.
There are a lot of familiar patterns and themes in classic pre-Code Hollywood movies (the time period roughly between 1930-34), as can be seen in this collection of clips. Censors found it too racy, but these classic films were also honest, humorous, and adult.
