One of those festivals is the Columbus Jewish Film Festival, which is going on now and continues through Nov. 16. During the festival, I happened to catch an excellent documentary about a fascinating woman who was one of the biggest show business legends of the 20th century: Sophie Tucker.
The Outrageous Sophie Tucker opens with a vintage clip from the early '30s of Tucker warbling a jazz number. My first impression was that her delivery was surprisingly soulful for a white woman.
As the documentary goes on to relate, Tucker, although she was Jewish, was known for singing jazz in a style popularized by African Americans. Black performers would tell her, "You know you're black, don't you?"
Interestingly, Tucker began her career by performing in blackface, imitating African-American singers. Because her voice was so strong and infused with soul, she was known as "the best of the coon-shouters."
Thankfully, Tucker soon outgrew this racist tradition and went on to become not only world-famous, but an open-minded individual who had friends of all races and wasn't afraid to stand up to racism. When Josephine Baker received bomb threats when she was scheduled to open for Tucker at the Copa club in Florida, Tucker spoke out and said she fully supported Baker, so they may as well bomb her, too. The show went off without a hitch.
Watching The Outrageous Sophie Tucker, it's easy to see that many female entertainers who have gained fame since her death in 1966 at the age of 80 owe her a debt of gratitude. Tucker was the Madonna of her day, a shrewd businesswoman and savvy marketer who endorsed products and gathered the contact information of everyone she met so that she could send them personal invitations to her concerts when she played their town.
As Tucker once famously said, "Success depends on your ability to make and keep friends."
Tucker was also known for bawdy humor that influenced the likes of Bette Midler, who appears in the documentary. A sample of Tucker's naughty wit: "I believe in tit for tat. And someone owes me a lot of tat."
As an unashamedly voluptuous woman in an industry that has always placed an overemphasis on being thin, Tucker was also a forerunner of women like Queen Latifah, Adele and Mo'Nique who aren't ashamed to celebrate their curves.
The Outrageous Sophie Tucker is just one of the outstanding films featured in this year's Columbus Jewish Film Festival. For more information, visit http://columbusjcc.org/cultural-arts/film-festival/.
No comments:
Post a Comment