Zou Zou

Zou Zou is one of a handful of French musical films made by the flamboyant African-American entertainer Josephine Baker. The star plays a Creole laundress who becomes an overnight stage success when she subs for a tempestuous diva. She goes on to experience the requisite professional highs and ...more

It's 1934, and in America the movie industry is about to get all head up about morality and decency on screen, and -- fearing separate legal and censorship entanglements in each of 48 states -- the studios were about to weave themselves a straightjacket called the Production Code, banning most overt expressions of sexuality or even a hint of unpunished immorality. Meanwhile, in France, they were making movies like Zou Zou, which took an American-style backstage musical framework and threw into ...more