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 21 wins & 27 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 Jackson	...	Auntie (as LaTanya Richardson)
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:

racial prejudice | movie star | film star | black american | racial discrimination | 

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Taglines:

She was everything America wanted a movie star to be... except white.

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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:

Introducing 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:

HBO Films, Esparza / Katz Productions, Vincent Cirrincione Associates

Technical Specs

Runtime:

120 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Dorothy Dandridge was the first African-American woman to be nominated for a Best Actress Academy Award (Carmen Jones (1954)). Halle Berry is the first African-American to win a Best Actress Academy Award (Monster's Ball (2001)).

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Goofs

Minutes before she is to take the stage in Miami, Dorothy Dandridge discovers that the club is still under construction. Her act involved a good deal of choreography and perhaps even rehearsal, so she should have been aware. At the very least, she would have checked out the stage to get the physical layout of the performance space before she made her entrance.

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Quotes

Dorothy Dandridge: [angrily] Tonight, I'll take my bows and exit stage rear, go through the kitchen, past the casino, around the pool, which I'm apparently too dirty to swim in, up the service elevator, into my luxurious penthouse, sip my complimentary champagne, and pee in a brand new Dixie cup!
Earl Mills: I take that walk with you every night, you know.
Dorothy Dandridge: But the difference is, Earl, you don't HAVE to!

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Connections

Featured in The 52nd Annual Primetime Emmy Awards (2000)

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Soundtracks

Chattanooga Choo Choo
Music by Harry Warren
Lyrics by Mack Gordon

User Reviews

Halle Berry is brilliant...

This movie is all about Halle Berry - to look at it from any other point of view would be to overlook the most powerful force in the movie. Berry is brilliant in her portrayal of Dorothy Dandridge - her acting is flawless and we witness the greatness of Dandrige and exprience the pain of her downfall with Halle Berry as our guide. What a tremendous coincedence that Halle Berry would play the first African-American woman to be nominated for an Academy Award when she herself would later become the first African-american woman to actually receive the prestegious award! She is supported by a strong cast which all help to make this a movie to remember. 7/10