Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story (2017)

July 12, 2018 9:41 PM

The life and career of the hailed Hollywood movie star and underappreciated genius inventor, Hedy Lamarr. From her childhood in Vienna, brief cinematic career in Czechoslovakia, to her life and times in the United States, the film features extended audio interview recordings with Hedy, and recent interviews with her children and a grandchild, as well as some of Hedy's friends and colleagues. [Trailer]

‘Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story’ presents a surprising picture of a screen star (Michael O'Sullivan for Washington Post, February 26, 2018)

It’s a fascinating story, if one that has been told before. Audio recordings of Lamarr, made by Forbes magazine writer Fleming Meeks for a 1990 article, form the spine of the film. The otherwise standard talking-head interviews with biographers, film historians and family members are supplemented with on-camera appearances by German-born actress Diane Kruger, who hopes to produce and star in a biopic about Lamarr.

That movie, if it ever gets made, should be a corker.

That 1990 article isn't online in full, but a 2013 Forbes.com article re-posted the first six paragraphs of the article, which is better than nothing.

Bombshell: Hedy Lamarr, movie star and scientist -- Review: Treat of a documentary about the actor and inventor who died broke (Donald Clarke for Irish Times, March 8, 2018)

Alexandra Dean’s picture talks us through these details with great lucidity. Bombshell suffers from some common complaints of modern documentary – too much music; unnecessary, if perfectly decent, animated sequences – but it does remind us of a class of personality that doesn’t exist anymore.

Interview: Alexandra Dean of ‘Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story’ (Hollywood Chicago, January 17, 2018)

posted by filthy light thief (4 comments total)

Miss Lamarr was featured in the Timeless episode about Hollywood.
posted by sammyo at 7:21 AM on July 13, 2018 [4 favorites]

As well as an early episode of Karina Longworth's excellent Hollywood history podcast You Must Remember This.
posted by Strange Interlude at 8:41 AM on July 13, 2018 [2 favorites]

And she's been mentioned on the Blue in at least 10 posts, as of writing this comment. Most of her story isn't news, but this was a pretty good comprehensive retelling.

That said, why did they include the Mel Brooks clips they did? 'When I was a kid, I saw her in Algiers, I said, "I'm gonna get to Hollywood and I'm gonna marry her. And if I don't get to marry her, I'll get to buy her dinner and feel her up under the table. Whatever I can get." '

Thanks for confirming everything Hedy said about being noting more than a pretty face, Mel and the whole team who decided that this was a good clip to keep.
posted by filthy light thief at 10:09 AM on July 13, 2018 [5 favorites]

I thought this was a really interesting movie. I didn’t know anything about her except this vague notion that she did something that they used to invent Wi-Fi. She seems like a very troubled person. It seemed like she kept getting a little success, falling back, getting another idea, having a little success, finding another rich husband, and losing it all again. Like in the part where they made it look like she invented the Aspen ski industry and then lost it all again.
posted by bleep at 9:08 PM on July 13, 2018