Starring Josephine Baker, Pierre Batcheff and Régina Dalthy
Andre Berval is a man with a problem.
He's in love with a beautiful woman named Denise, but unbeknownst to him, his employer and her godfather has designs on the young woman.
The villainous boss dispatches Berval to the Antilles under the pretext of surveying some land. In reality, it's part of a not-so-elaborate plot for another employee named Alvarez to remove Berval from the romantic equation.
Complicating matters is a young native girl in Antilles named Papitou. How does she complicate things? First, she falls for Berval and those feelings put her into a position to save him on more than one occasion. Second, Papitou is played by Josephine Baker and the movie becomes really uninterested in the original love triangle as it recognizes this side character has star power.
Can the rest of the cast wrest control back from the talent that is Baker? And will we even care who Berval chooses in the end? (Spoiler: The answer to both questions is "no.")
I'm torn.
The Siren of the Tropics is a directionless mess. On the one hand, it wants to be about a young couple in love whose blossoming romance is threatened in its cradle by the woman's godfather. The villain is infatuated with her and will resort to anything to keep them apart. But the film's eye is constantly wandering away from that central conflict, which could be frustrating.
However, the source of the film's distraction is Papitou, the character played by the extraordinary Josephine Baker.
Honestly, any director worth his salt would have made the same decision. The other characters in the film are staid and boring. Papitou is life and energy. The other characters sit in chairs and contemplate their next scheme or love. Papitou jumps onto the chair, the desk, random pieces of furniture. If you were casually watching all of these folks wander through life, your eye would be drawn to her too.
Of course, once the film focuses its attention on her, it has no idea what to do with her. One moment she is showing off her agility escaping from Alvarez. Next we see her dancing. Then she's pratfalling all over a ship bound for France. More dancing. Saving her unreciprocated lover. It's dizzying.
The force of Baker's personality stands out, but it's not hard to differentiate yourself when you are surrounded by an assembly of milquetoast characters. It's honestly pretty puzzling why Papitou would fall for Pierre Batcheff's Andre Berval; she spends half the movie saving him. Berval and Denise are perfect for one another as neither one has any personality to get in the way of their relationship.
The Siren of the Tropics is notable for Baker's authoritative arrival on the silver screen. Sadly it's in a dud of a movie. Her turn as a supporting character takes over the film and almost saves it. But only almost.
** out of *****
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