It's the 1955 Academy Awards in NYC. Dorothy Dandridge (Halle Berry) is the first colored nominee for best actress despite rampant racism. She flashes back to the 40s as Dorothy is performance in the Dandridge Sisters at the Cotton Club. She, her sister Vivian (Cynda Williams) and mother Ruby (Loretta Devine) are all managed by the cruel dictatorial 'Auntie'. She marries fellow performer Harold Nicholas (Obba Babatundé). Their daughter is mentally handicap which ruptures their marriage. Earl Mills (Brent Spiner) becomes her loyal manager. She wins over director Otto Preminger (Klaus Maria Brandauer) for the lead of Carmen Jones.This is a pretty straight forward biopic of a tumultuous life. It's a worthwhile movie about a fascinating period of history. This could be another TV movie but Halle Berry delivers a terrific performance which raises this above most other TV biopics. It feels personal to her and that adds importance to her work here.

There is a lot to recommend here -- audiences unfamiliar with the history of African American entertainers in Hollywood will get a good introduction to Dorothy Dandridge, and a decent introduction to other figures of the era such as the Nicholas Brothers. Halle Berry was born to play Dandridge -- the physical resemblance is remarkable, and her acting skills are top notch. The production values are good enough that it probably could have, and should have, been released to theaters instead of cable. Many scenes manage to distill the indignity of life as a black entertainer in that era -- and some (think: Dixie Cup Bathroom) even manage to do so with a good dose of dark humor.Although Brent Spiner is a very good actor, and his character is engaging, I think that the presence of an approving and sympathetic white character in almost every scene is a weakness for the film. I was not surprised to see that the film was based on Spiner's character's memoirs, because his character appears as a sort of white saint -- an apology, if you will, and a sop for white audiences who might otherwise feel alienated by the negative portrayals of white characters (particularly Klaus Maria Brandauer's excellent performance as sadistic director Otto Preminger).Another minor problem is the pace of the film; by attempting to show the entire life of Dandridge, the later parts where she is burdened by depression and drug addiction come too swiftly. It makes the whole aspect of her story seem a bit cliché, although Berry really plays "strung out" pretty convincingly.So, it's not a masterpiece, but it's a lot better than a made-for-cable movie has a right to be. It will be of great interest to those who enjoy Hollywood history but have not discovered the joys of "Carmen Jones" and such. And it's a triumph for Berry, who would go on of course to win the famous Academy Award that Ms. Dandridge was the first black woman nominated for.

In the 1990s, HBO made some wonderful films about famous and not so famous Black Americans and I own copies of several of these films. THE TUSKEGEE AIRMEN and MISS EVERS' BOYS are probably the best, but they also made THE JOSEPHINE BAKER STORY and INTRODUCING DOROTHY DANDRIDGE--quite an impressive record for a relatively small production company.Of the four films listed, INTRODUCING DOROTHY DANDRIDGE was my least favorite. While still a good film and one to watch, it seemed to suffer in two respects. First, despite being a biography, I never really felt connected to the main character and the film seemed rather episodic. I think the film would have been better had it not try to cram her entire life into one film--perhaps a mini-series or adding an hour to the film would have helped. Second, the film began with such an intense and unnecessarily brutal scene in which Dorothy was digitally raped--something that could have been alluded to or done a bit less explicitly. This made the film rated R and that is a real shame, as kids should see all four of these films--they are all important historical lessons for the 20th century. However, with that scene, there is no way that I would let my kids see the film--it was just too much for kids (let alone adults) to see. You can know it's happening without having to see it happen.Also, as for this assaultive character, Dorothy's "aunt". If you ARE going to include this in the film, at least then hash out exactly who this woman was as well as her relationship with Dot's mother. It seemed like they were perhaps trying to imply these two older women were lesbians, but they never really followed up on this--it was just a dangling plot point that they seemed to have forgotten. Also, other than this horrible scene, what was this woman's relationship with the kids? This character just left a whole lot of unanswered questions.To be fair, I must admit that THE JOSEPHINE BAKER STORY features some nudity, but it was all part of Miss Baker's real-life act--you couldn't exactly discuss her life without featuring her most famous routine. It was not sexual in nature, but artistic and I'd have a much easier time letting kids see this film because it lacks the violence of the digital rape scene of INTRODUCING DOROTHY DANDRIDGE.Other than these complaints, the actors seemed to try very hard to make this film and it was rather interesting. As for Brent Spiner, he looked and talked a lot like his "Data" character--I couldn't get past this and it just shows how being so strongly associated with one role makes it tough for others to accept you in a different one. For my time I say see the other films first--then this one without the kids.

There's a really interesting story here of a woman not allowed to soar to the stratosphere of stardom due to racism. Unfortunately, the film is rather standard-issue TV bio drama. Halle Berry is a very beautiful woman and tries very hard and succeeds at times to make Dorothy Dandridge a complex figure but many of the other characters are stereotypes.