selenoid I think one would easily fall in love with Dorothy Dandridge depiction of drop-dead-gorgeous Halle Berry. Thus, the scenes, especially sentimental shots, make remarkable effects on the audience themselves. Given that, the audience can easily put themselves in several characters' shoes which makes the scenes more sentimental, even heart pounding at times. All characters are defined in a simplistic but sufficiently detailed manner, that would never hinder the enchanting effect of Dorothy Dandridge, accompanied with the music and the images of the era depicted throughout the entire movie. A must see for everyone that likes musical and cinematographic history.

Isaac5855 Halle Berry won an Emmy for her performance in INTRODUCING DOPROTHY DANDRIDGE, a lavish TV movie (that should have been a theatrical release) that chronicles the tragic life and seesaw show business career of the legendary Dorothy Dandridge, Hollywood's first true African American movie star and the first black actress to ever receive an Oscar nomination for Best Actress in a Leading Role (for CARMEN JONES). This film economically chronicles Dandridge's humble beginnings as a child of sexual abuse who becomes a nightclub singer and eventually a major film star despite her race, which threw up all kinds of road blocks along the way. In addition to her show business struggles, we see her romances with one of the Nicholas Brothers as well as an affair with CARMEN JONES director Otto Preminger. Berry finally found a role where her natural beauty worked for her...her resemblance to Dandridge is quite striking, especially in one scene where she is filming a scene for CARMEN JONES. The film also reveals Dandridge's inner demons, which manifested themselves through drugs and alcohol and eventually led to her tragic early death. HBO spared no expense in bringing this tragic star's life to the screen and it paid off in a lush and entertaining film worthy of theatrical release.

Kritically Kind 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

Erik_2003 I had no idea what this movie was about when I rented it; I just thought it was a Halle Berry picture that somehow slipped below my radar screen. I wasn't sure this was a made for TV until I checked IMDB. Halle gives, of course, a near-perfect performance and she's backed up by an excellent cast except for Mr. Spiner. While he does achieve a few moments of brilliance, overall his performance was, for lack of a better word, robotic. His reach exceeds his grasp, particularly in the scene where he sings to Halle. Overacting.Despite this one blemish, this is a picture worth your time. It's not preachy, like others in the African-American biography genre. It doesn't dehumanize the entertainment industry, doesn't canonize its while heroes (Spiner), but instead gives a gritty, honest look at what life was like for African-Americans in the business in the 1950's. If you've seen Halle in some of her less important but more hyped roles (James Bond, X-Men, Swordfish), you'll be refreshed by the emotion she poured into this role.