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Introducing Dorothy Dandridge

Introducing Dorothy Dandridge

List Price: $9.97
Your Price: $6.99
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: The Danridge File!
Review: I think that Berry does a good job of Mrs Danridge. This is a very thought out movie bassed on her life. Do your self a favor, and pick this one up to night.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Halle Bare...ley worth seeing
Review: I thought "Introducing Dorthy Dandrige" would be a compelling biography about an actress I honestly never heard of before. I wanted to find out more about her and the life she lived in Hollywood, which always makes for a good story. Having been previously mesmorized by "The Josephine Baker Story" starring Lynn Whitfield, I thought "Introducing Dorthy Dandridge" would be of the same calibur. But it lacked direction and energy, disaccoiating the viewer from any sympathy or feeling for Dorthy, this in part due to the lackluster performance of Halle Barry. I honestly don't know why she won a Golden Globe for her portrayal. The musical numbers were glitzy and offered an upbeat tone to the film. I am assuming Halle was lip syncing, but she did well with the music, whatever she was doing, just keep on doing what your doing Halle. Just don't try and act, because I think she was playing Halle rather than Dorthy. I would have actually rather seen Whitney Houston play Dorthy, but I'm sure Hollywood caved into a pouting Halle Barry. Overall, a mildly amusing film with alot of boring interludes and dry plotlines, totally ungenuine in it's approach. Try renting "The Josephine Baker Story" for an involving drama.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Good movie
Review: I thought the movie was okay, but it certainly was not what I expected for an autobiography of Ms. Dandridge. Halle does an okay job certainly better than the Janet Jackson or Whitney Houston they need to stick to singing. I would like to clear the misconception that is printed in so many comments about Dorothy. She was not the first Black actress to be nominated for an for an academy award. That honor goes to Hattie McDaniel who also the first black to win the award for her performance in 1939's gone with the wind(best supporting actress). Dorothy was however, the first black actress to be nominated for Best Actress for her role in Carmen Jones and she lost to Grace Kelly I believe.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: As Dorothy, Halle is great!
Review: I'm happy for Halle Berry that she had the chance to star as her childhood idol Dorothy Dandridge. Reading about this movie was what got me interested in both women. For a long time I mulled buying this movie on VHS, but then I decided to jump on the DVD bandwagon. Once I had a player, I bought this movie on DVD. Now I'm glad I did, for in addition to the movie, I can view short biographies & filmographies of the people who played the biggest roles. There's also closed captioning that I can turn on/off. These side items make a good movie great!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Halle-lujah
Review: Oscar and Golden Globe winner Halle Berry has done an excellent job along with director Martha Coolidge (Angie).

The tell of a tragic story of the first African-American actress to be nominated for a best actress Oscar. Also, the sexual abuse her and sister Vivian had to face from their mother's "special friend". And, the racism she had to face from Hollywood and the hotels in those times.

Right woman,Right place,Wrong time.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: RENT "CARMEN JONES" FOR THE REAL THING!
Review: She was the true black superstar --- gorgeous, talented, sexy, vulnerable, a woman who became the first black to ever be nominated fore a Best Actress Oscar. Dorothy Dandridge also had a life of pain and suffering --- marriages and love affairs that would break her heart, abuse, addictions . . . death at too far an early age, with barely a penny in the bank. Halle Berry does an acceptable job filling Dorothy's shoes, but to truly understand what the fuss was all about, rent "Carmen Jones" or "Porgy and Bess."

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: RENT "CARMEN JONES" TO SEE THE REAL THING
Review: She was the true black superstar --- gorgeous, talented, sexy, vulnerable, a woman who became the first black to ever be nominated fore a Best Actress Oscar. Dorothy Dandridge
also had a life of pain and suffering --- marriages and love affairs that would break her heart, abuse, addictions . . . death at too far an early age, with barely a penny in the bank.
Halle Berry does an acceptable job filling Dorothy's shoes, but to truly understand what the fuss was all about, rent "Carmen Jones" or "Porgy and Bess."

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Good film, not so hot DVD.
Review: The movie was very captivating and dramatic and I enjoyed it very much, but I wouldn't recommend getting the DVD. For one, the DVD doesn't feature ANYTHING EXTRA. All it is is just the movie and that's it. It's not worth it. Also the picture and sound on this DVD is VHS quality, it's not even widescreen! Just buy the VHS version if you like this movie that much. I wouldn't watch it too many times though because you're likely to get depressed. Also, this isn't a feel-good movie or a movie you watch with your date because it's full of Drama, Drama, Drama.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Good vehicle for Berry
Review: The problem with film bio's is that you always end up feeling a little cheated. There's always the question of how much was left out, altered or downright fictionalized. When the bio is of someone whose life and works may be less well known to the contemporary viewing public--which may be fairly said of Dorothy Dandridge, I believe, a full 35 years after her death--the questions of veracity become even more problematic.

A screen biography of this trailblazing actress/singer is not inappropriate. As the first African-American woman to be nominated for an Academy Award, the first to insist on and receive a star's remuneration, she certainly warrants the attention of film lovers and scholars. And her own life was certainly dramatic, involving possible sexual abuse from an "auntie," multiple marriages, a mentally retarded child and a secret interracial relationships with a prominent director (Otto Preminger).

"Introducing Dorothy Dandridge" pretty much lives up to its title. It is an introduction to the life of a talented, troubled performer, who broke through barriers but who ultimately ended up broken and broke. Halle Berry has the role of her career here and deserves the acclaim she has received so far. Still you wonder if the movie could have been a little less formulaic, a little less choppy ("Oh, it's five years later!") and sketchy on the details.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: this is great
Review: This is a beautiful little film which shows aspects of a tragic story extremely well. Halle Berry is superb as the lovely Dorothy, and I feel the technique of telling the story through her phone call to a friend is very effective. In the end though, I felt more for the manager Earl Mills than for Dorothy - he appeared to be the only man who really cared for her, and the only man who didn't get the chance to love her. The performance by Brent Spiner might have something to do with that - he is so good you don't really notice him at all. I completely forgot he had even been in a certain science fiction show after the first couple of minutes!
This is not a film I would watch regularly - once a year at the most - as it is so serious, but I am definitely glad I have it on the shelf.



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