Le pompier des Folies Bergères: A Very Strange 1928 Fever Dream

You should probably watch this if you have ten minutes and want to see what a Parisian fever dream looked like in 1928. It is definitely for people who like silent film history or just want to see Josephine Baker doing her thing before she became a massive icon.

If you hate old, grainy footage or get annoyed by movies that are basically just long advertisements, you will likely find this pretty boring. But for the rest of us, it is a fascinating little relic of a time when movies were still figuring out how to be weird.

The whole thing starts with this fireman leaving his post at the Folies Bergère. He looks absolutely exhausted, or maybe just completely overwhelmed by the sheer amount of skin he has had to look at all night.

His eyes are wide and he keeps rubbing them like he is trying to wipe away a hallucination. The funny thing is, the hallucination just follows him right out onto the street.

Everywhere this guy looks, regular people just turn into naked showgirls. It is not high-tech, obviously, but the way the film cuts from a group of men to a group of women in flesh-colored bodysuits is actually pretty smooth for the time.

I noticed the fireman’s hat sits a bit crooked on his head the whole time. It makes him look less like a hero and more like a guy who really needs a long nap in a dark room.

There is a scene in a bar where he sees the band and suddenly they are all showgirls playing instruments. The way they move is so synchronized it feels a bit robotic, but in a charming, old-school way.

It reminds me a bit of the strange transformations in The Perfect Woman, where the female form is treated as this weird, shifting spectacle. The movie does not really care about the fireman’s mental health, it just wants to show you more costumes and legs.

The best part of the whole thing is when he goes down into the Metro. It is dark and looks like a real subway station, not a set, which gives it a cool, gritty feeling.

And then, out of nowhere, there is Josephine Baker. She is just sweeping the floor with this really flimsy-looking broom like it is the most normal job in the world.

She is wearing a short skirt and a bra, which I guess was her uniform for the movie. She starts doing this gangling, goofy dance that is totally her style.

She is making these funny faces at the camera and moving her arms in ways that look like she has no bones. It is only a minute or so of footage, but she completely steals the movie from the poor fireman.

I kept wondering if the people in the background of the station were actual commuters or just extras. Some of them look genuinely confused by the lady dancing with a broom.

After he leaves the station, he goes back to the firehouse. You would think he’d be safe there, surrounded by his macho firemen friends.

But nope. They are all doing these rhythmic knee-bends and then—poof—they turn into showgirls doing the exact same exercises.

It is one of the most bizarre images I have seen in a silent short. The way the women are lined up makes it look like a strange gymnastics routine from a dream you’d have after eating too much cheese.

The film is really just a big ad for the Folies Bergère theater. It is not trying to be deep or tell a complex story about a man losing his mind.

It is just saying, "Hey, come to our show, we have lots of pretty women and also Josephine Baker." It is honest in its silliness, which I appreciate.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Le pompier des Folies Bergères (1928) through its definitive frames.

The film quality is pretty rough in the version I saw. There are scratches everywhere and the lighting in the outdoor scenes is a bit blown out.

But that adds to the charm, I think. It feels like you are looking at a secret diary from 1920s Paris that someone accidentally left in a basement.

I found myself focusing on the background details more than the "naked" women. Like the old cars driving by and the specific posters on the walls of the bar.

It’s a bit like Set Free in the way it captures a very specific vibe of the era without trying too hard. The fireman eventually just accepts his fate, I guess.

There is no big resolution where he gets cured. He just keeps seeing showgirls everywhere until the film ends.

It is a bit repetitive, honestly. Once you have seen three groups of people turn into dancers, you get the point.

But the Josephine Baker moment makes the whole thing worth it. She had so much energy compared to everyone else on screen.

The movie is a bit like a musical without any sound. You can almost hear the jazzy music playing in the background of the club scenes.

One shot of the fireman looking down a staircase lingers for a few seconds too long. It makes you think something scary is gonna happen, but then it just cuts to more dancing. 🎭

It is definitely a product of its time. You can’t really judge it by modern standards because it wasn't meant to be art.

It was meant to sell tickets to a variety show. And yet, here we are nearly a hundred years later, still talking about it.

If you like seeing how early cinema handled visual effects, you will have a good time. It is simple, but it works.

The way the fireman stumbles around Paris reminds me of how I feel after a long flight. Everything is just a bit too bright and everyone looks like they might be a hallucination.

I wish there was more of the city shown. Most of it is shot in tight spaces or against plain backgrounds.

But the Metro scene is gold. I could watch Josephine Baker sweep a floor for an hour and probably not get bored.

She has this way of looking at the camera that makes you feel like she is in on the joke. Like she knows the whole movie is ridiculous and she is just having fun with it.

Anyway, it is a short watch. You don't have to commit a whole evening to it.

Just put it on, enjoy the 1920s weirdness, and move on with your day. It is a nice little slice of history that doesn't take itself seriously at all. 🚒