- – and the way those films and film stars looked both in the past and to later generations.“HOLLYWOOD BLACK – The Stars, The Films, The Filmmakers”, by Donald Bogle, Foreword byJohn Singleton. Hachette Book Group, Running Press: 2019, 7 1/2” x 9 ½”, 269 pages, hc; $35.Visit, www.runningpress.com, @ Running Press.Then, read a recently revealed fact of a little-known American entertainer considered by someof her older peers lower in rank or estimation of worth by her actions, escapades, and words.Strikingly attractive, Josephine Baker fought convention to make her name in the male-dominated field of black cinema. A fearless adventurer who sought opportunities to actualizeher vast sea of creative, imaginative, near genius level talents, she fled to France and provedher loyalty to America, regardless of its unabashed racism. No one knew, certainly not in theentertainment industry, that she risked her life as an operative for the Allies, in particular theBritish. Even author Damien Lewis’s decade of relentless research may not uncover the fullstory of Agent Josephine’s self-sacrifice to the Gestapo and SS occupiers of Paris to savemembers of the French resistance, and escaping Allied pilots, among others.“AGENT JOSEPHINE – American Beauty, French Hero, British Spy”, by Damien Lewis. PublicAffairs, Hachette Book Group: 2022, 6 ½” x 9 ½”, 466 pages, hc, $32. Visit,www.publicaffairsbooks.com, @Public_Affairs.Reading one after the other buffs of American cinema, as well as those interested is espionageexploits with new vistas to explore. In his rich, extraordinarily extensive review of theremarkable achievements of black performers and producers back to the era of silent films,including the advent of sound in the late 1920s, the Depression and World War II years to the
present, author Bogle knew nothing of Agent Josephine to mention her more than the three
sentences she appears in “HOLLYWOOD BLACK” (pp 15, 19, and 184). Had he, or any one of us,known that during the 1939-1945 years the Nazis banned her from the stage, along with all“negroes and Jews”, and instead of returning to America she vowed to stay and fight the Nazievil, we all would have relishes writing “Agent Josephine” ourselves. French hero, British spy? Inthe 1930s, the world’s most photographed woman spying against the Germans? The Americanmusic-hall diva renowned for her singing, acting, beauty, and sexuality? The highest-paidfemale performer in Europe? An American spy?Riveting reading, especially reading the brilliant presentation of the history of Hollywood’s blackmovie stars, including Josephine Baker, their films, and the usual black filmmakers who
contributed so much to our great cinema.
