The Week

INTRODUCING DOROTHY DANDRIDGE Halle Berry, Klaus Maria Brandauer (1999, HBO, 115 mins., R, also on DVD) There are harrowing scenes aplenty in this competent (if by-the-numbers) biopic of the first black actress ever to be nominated for a Best Actress Oscar (for 1954's Carmen Jones), but more depressing than anything in the film itself is how little things have changed: In the past 20 years, only Whoopi Goldberg and Angela Bassett have duplicated her feat. Director Martha Coolidge (Rambling Rose) captures the highlights of Dandridge's short, troubled life, but insight too often gives way to hagiography, and the obvious contemporary parallels are never addressed. Reel Goodies (0:48) Brandauer makes his first appearance as director Otto Preminger, described by Dandridge as a ''big fat bulldog.'' The Last Detail Halle Berry won a Golden Globe award for her performance, beating out portrayals of Ayn Rand, Lillian Hellman, and Joan of Arc. B-