For years I've been wishing and hoping to see Dorothy Dandridge in "Remains to be Seen" on DVD. I've only seen a short clip of Dorothy's stunning night club number and it is a visual knock out! Lena Horne's movie appearances were largely confined to such cameo scenes which could easily be extracted for southern audiences whose only acceptable image of a black woman was an grinning eye popping big black mammy in a head rag serving "Miss Charlotte". Still Ruby Dandridge (Dorothy's "Mommie Dearest") made a good point when she quipped, "It's better to play a maid than BE a maid." Maybe daughter Dorothy used the same logic years later when she decided to PLAY a slave in "Tomango"...or maybe it was a simple choice "to work or not to work" since DD was offered no leading roles after "Carmen". There was just no decent work for a beautiful colored girl in Hollywood in those days and things haven't really changed that much. Halle Berry, Dorothy Dandridge reincarnated, still faces and fights racism and typecasting at the myth factory. Why doesn't MGM release this dud solely for avid Dandrige fans like me who would gobble it up? I also look forward to seeing a restored "Tomango" and "Porgy and Bess" on DVD. Other Dandridge movies that have not been released on DVD include "Blues for a Junkman"(TV)/"Murder Men"(European version w/nude scenes)" "The Decks Ran Red" "Bright Road" "Four Shall Die" "Malaga" and "Marco Polo".
Review of Remains to Be Seen
