Rating: 
Summary: Heartwrenching erotic saga
Review: I found "The Josephine Baker Story" to be a very good video biography of the famous yet infamous Josephine Baker. This film brought this erotic icon to the suface for all to see and love. Lynn Whitfield gave a five star performance, and her vivid portrayal of the star indulges ones curiousity about Ms. Baker, this movie is definitely a keeper if I ever did see one.
Rating:
Summary: A movie I rented for a naughty reason
Review: I had ignored this movie on the rental shelf many times, thinking that it would be a very boreing bio about a forgotten old actress. Then one day I examined the pictures on the box and notices the star wearing the sexy "banana suit". So of-course, I rented it immediately !
It turned out to be a beautiful movie about the life of a fallen angel/fallen hero. It shows you how she became one of the richest black women in showbusiness, a member of the resistance in World War 2, and a fighter for civil rights.
I noticed a lot of symbolism in this movie. Like during the first 5 minutes of the movie, she does her provacative topless night dance. If you look really deep, you won't just focus on her body....what you will begin to focus on is HER EYES, her wild untameable eyes. During her life she was untameable, always fighting, not willing to giveup.
The star Lynn Whitfield is very entoxicating. If you're a guy, she'll make you forget all about Hally Berry.
Rating:
Summary: a must see
Review: I must say that I have an entirely new respect for Ms. Baker. Although I have to admit that I still don't (critically or objectively) understand the appeal of her as a singer or performer beyond the mere fact that she was a novelty to the over indulged european masses, she is certainly portrayed as an extrordinary human being.The most important idea this film expresses is how racism can become the central influence affecting and directing the lives of its' victims. In Ms. Baker's case it drove her to both phenomenal fame and wealth. It also prevented her from ever really being happy in her personal life because minorities both then and now are unrelentingly confronted by racism regardless of their fame or wealth. Golf's latest young tiger is a prime example of how nothing can erase the perceived stain of colored skin. Ms. Baker was so consumed by her endeavor to overcome racism and the poverty of children (amongst other things) that she bankrupt herself in the attempt. Very well acted by Ms. Whitfield and Reuben Blades in particular. Although looking at Ms. Whitfield is far superior to looking upon Ms. Baker. The film definitely makes its point but it is sometimes not the most entertainingly engaging of films.
Rating: 
Summary: Poignant look at how racism motivates, cripples and distorts
Review: I must say that I have an entirely new respect for Ms. Baker. Although I have to admit that I still don't (critically or objectively) understand the appeal of her as a singer or performer beyond the mere fact that she was a novelty to the over indulged european masses, she is certainly portrayed as an extrordinary human being. The most important idea this film expresses is how racism can become the central influence affecting and directing the lives of its' victims. In Ms. Baker's case it drove her to both phenomenal fame and wealth. It also prevented her from ever really being happy in her personal life because minorities both then and now are unrelentingly confronted by racism regardless of their fame or wealth. Golf's latest young tiger is a prime example of how nothing can erase the perceived stain of colored skin. Ms. Baker was so consumed by her endeavor to overcome racism and the poverty of children (amongst other things) that she bankrupt herself in the attempt. Very well acted by Ms. Whitfield and Reuben Blades in particular. Although looking at Ms. Whitfield is far superior to looking upon Ms. Baker. The film definitely makes its point but it is sometimes not the most entertainingly engaging of films.
Rating:
Summary: a thrilling performance by Lynn Whitfield
Review: Lynn Whitfields exciting portrayal of one of France's premiere entertainers inspires all to rediscover the glory of Josephine Baker's hey-day.
Rating:
Summary: " Bravo ! "
Review: Lynn Whitfields work in this movie was quite simply elegant, as always. I can honestly say that this movie was just breathtaking and beautifully made.
Rating:
Summary: a must see
Review: ms.baker broke ground and was an incredible entertainer.it's a shame that she had to make a living overseas but the film shows the ignorance and racist vibes that she had to encounter.lynn whitfield not only does a great job in the lead but she looks good as well.this is history.
Rating:
Summary: Probably wouldn't have worked with kiwi fruit
Review: THE JOSEPHINE BAKER STORY is a fast-forward, 2-hour plus life synopsis of the celebrated black entertainer from 1917, when she was eleven and running from murderous racial violence in St. Louis, to her death in 1975 in Paris. Lynn Whitfield stars in this HBO production. The film manages to catch the key points of her life: early vaudeville gigs in the U.S. as a very young girl, notoriety as an exotic dancer in 1920's Paris, rise to major world stardom in the late 20's/early 30's, disastrous return to the U.S. entertainment circuit in the late 30's, French Resistance war hero, a near-fatality from peritonitis, entertainer of U.S. troops in North Africa, post-war civil rights champion back in the U.S., loving mother of a dozen, adopted, multi-racial children on her French estate, financial destitution in the late 60's, and resurrection in the 70's with the help of Prince and Princess Rainier of Monaco. Since TJBS covers so many decades and events in such short a time, much is lost: the marriage to her first and third husbands (Willie Wells and Jean Lion respectively), her brief film career, her stint as a Red Cross nurse after the Nazi occupation of Belgium, her many legal imbroglios, her late-life relationship with American artist Robert Brady, and her presence in the 1963 Washington D.C. civil rights march led by Martin Luther King. Sometimes the viewer feels shortchanged, as when the scene shifts from late 30's New York to wartime France to 1942 North Africa in the blink of an eye. (Don't go to the kitchen for that pastrami sandwich and beer - you may miss something.) The gorgeous Whitfield is sparkling as Josephine, who's always driven to rise above her skin color, and, during different periods of her life, either manipulated or manipulative, selfish or generous, and insensitive or loving. And HBO doesn't shrink from depicting Baker's most notorious and exotic routine, the Jungle Banana Dance, in which she performs naked except for a girdle of bananas around her loins. We're talking full-frontal, topless, nudity here (which scores high in my book, Male Pig that I am). Perhaps the best feature of the movie is its emphasis on Baker's relationship, from 1926 to 1936, with the Sicilian Pepito Abatino (Ruben Blades), who styled himself a "count" and served as Josephine's lover and manager. If the script is to be believed, it was his persistent effort and canniness that transformed Josephine from a simple cabaret dancer to world class star by pushing her to diversify her talent. In any case, the majority of the Web bios of Baker that I've read don't give Abatino the credit he's apparently due, much less even mention him at all. David Dukes is excellent as jazz bandleader Jo Boullion, Josephine's fourth husband, who separated from her in 1957 after ten years of marriage, ostensibly due to her extravagant lifestyle and penchant for adopting every homeless child that she stumbled across. Despite its occasional unevenness, THE JOSEPHINE BAKER STORY is both excellent entertainment and an instructive piece about a scintillating entertainer virtually forgotten by large chunks of the American public.
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful Cinamatic masterpiece
Review: There are very few times that a movie can hold a flame to the life of the actual person that is intended to be portrayed but this movie does just that. It gives the ultimate respect and dignity that an artist of this calibur truly deserves. Her life is artfully displayed through from her turbulant rise to fame to her rocky downfall. It is a movie that can be enjoyed on all too many levels and should be marked as an ethereal masterpiece.
Rating:
Summary: A magnificent film
Review: This film is fantastic. I have scene this film many times,Yet I never get tired of it.Lynn Whitfield as Ms. Baker is phenomenal, she deserved more than just an Emmy for her protrayal. This movie captures the intricate and eccentric sides of Josephine Baker.
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