Introducing Dorothy Dandridge (1999)

This biography of Dorothy Dandridge follows her career through early days on the club circuit with her sister to her turn in movies, including becoming the first black actress to win a Best... See full summary »

Director:

Martha Coolidge

Writers:

Earl Mills (book), Shonda Rhimes (teleplay),

Stars:

Halle Berry, Brent Spiner, Klaus Maria Brandauer

Won 1 Golden Globe. Another 17 wins & 18 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Halle Berry	...	Dorothy Dandridge
Brent Spiner	...	Earl Mills
Klaus Maria Brandauer	...	Otto Preminger
Obba Babatundé	...	Harold Nicholas (as Obba Babatunde)
Loretta Devine	...	Ruby Dandridge
Cynda Williams	...	Vivian Dandridge
LaTanya Richardson	...	Auntie
Tamara Taylor	...	Geri Nicholas
William Atherton	...	Darryl Zanuck
D.B. Sweeney	...	Jack Denison
Don Gettinger	...	Hotel Clerk
Nicholas Hormann	...	Oscar Emcee
Sharon Brown	...	Etta Jones
Darrian C. Ford	...	Fayard Nicholas
M.J. Sawyer	...	B&W Movie Actress

Storyline

This biography of Dorothy Dandridge follows her career through early days on the club circuit with her sister to her turn in movies, including becoming the first black actress to win a Best Actress Nomination in 1954 for "Carmen Jones", to her final demise to prescription drugs, which was debated whether it was suicide or accidental. Brent Spiner plays her faithful manager who stood beside her through all of the roller coaster of her career. The film also examines her love affair with director Otto Preminger, which is shown to have probably initially helped her career, but later probably led her to some wrong decisions. The film also examines 50's racism as the black star is not permitted to use white bathrooms or the Vegas pool. In the first situation, she was given a bathroom cup to pee in. In the second situation, the hotel drained the pool and scrubbed it after she dared put her foot in the water.

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Plot Keywords:

career | actress | suicide | overdose | dandridge sisters | 

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Taglines:

Right woman. Right place. Wrong time.

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | Music | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and sexual content

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 August 1999 (USA)

Also Known As:

Dorothy Dandridge

Filming Locations:

Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel - 7000 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$9,200,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

City Entertainment, Esparza / Katz Productions, Home Box Office (HBO)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

120 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Whitney Houston, Janet Jackson, and Jasmine Guy all personally vied for the part of Dorothy Dandridge.

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Goofs

Moments before she is set to take the stage of a Miami nightclub to perform her act, Dorothy is outraged to discover the club is still under construction. Surely she would have known this earlier since her act involved a good deal of choreography and perhaps even rehearsal and she would have, at the very least, checked out the stage to get the physical layout of the performance space prior to making her entrance.

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Quotes

Earl Mills: [notices thick makeup on Dorothy's face] What happened to your face?
Dorothy Dandridge: Guess I wasn't black enough to lead the tribe.

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Connections

References Tamango (1958)

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Soundtracks

"Chattanooga Choo Choo"
Music by Harry Warren
Lyrics by Mack Gordon

User Reviews

Guess I wasn't black enough to lead the tribe.

Long before Barack Obama wasn't considered "Black" enough, Dorothy Dandridge suffered the same criticism. Black or not, she was beautiful and could sing like a meadowlark.

Looking at old pictures of Dandridge, you could see why Halle Berry was chosen. She is Dandridge brought back to life. She may not have the pipes of Dandridge, but she sure can act, and has the Emmy and Golden Globe to prove it! Playing the First African American actress to get an Best Actress nomination (for Carmen Jones) was the First African American actress to win the Oscar for Best Actress (for Monster's Ball).

Klaus Maria Brandauer (Out of Africa) was magnificent as Otto Preminger, one of the men who used Dandridge.

This film is extremely important, not only for the fact that is chronicles the life of one of America's best, but also for the reminder that most of us never had to pee in a cup or watch a pool drained because we put our toe in it.