Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story

Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story (2017)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Exceptionally entertaining documentary that takes a look at the life and career of Hedy Lamarr, the actress who many consider to be the greatest looking woman to ever appear in movies. The documentary covers her early childhood, the notoriety that came with her nude scenes in ECSTASY as well as her time in Hollywood and a controversial dealing with the U.S. government.

If you're a fan of Lamarr then you'll certainly want to check this documentary out. It starts off talking about the actress in her later years as well as a book she was to write about herself but that never materialized. The film's main draw is the fact that Lamarr did give an interview later in her life and those audio tapes were recently discovered and on display here.

I really enjoyed this documentary because it did a very good job at covering various aspects of Lamarr's life and it didn't shy away from some of the bad stuff. I respect the documentary for being open and honest on these subjects and a lot of credit goes to her children who are interviewed here and shine a light on what was going on in their mother's life at the time all of this was going on.

The documentary certainly pays close attention to her movies including the controversial nudity that she did and her reasoning's for it once she came to Hollywood. The good portion of the running time is devoted to how smart Lamarr actually was and how she designed a very important item during WWII and one that should have brought her riches but didn't.

BOMBSHELL: THE HEDY LAMARR STORY is well-researched and contains a lot of great information on the actress. The interviews with her family as well as fans (like Mel Brooks) makes this a must-see.

Fascinating documentary on the gorgeous, brilliant, and complicated screen star Hedy Lamarr. Her beauty was known to all, even serving as the inspiration for the face of Disney's Snow White. Yet few, including myself , knew of her inventing genius, and how one of her patents (frequency hopping) would serve in later years as an important part of cell phone, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and military technology.

All in all, I thought this was an exceptional documentary filled with surprises.

A well directed documentary on the life of Hollywood icon Hedy Lamarr. Viewing her life in its entirety, the documentaries main focus is to shed light on who she was outside of the limelight. Most notably her contribution to science. The doc doesn't shy away from the bad times either, and goes through her decline after her Hollywood years were over. A truly beautiful but complicated woman. An interesting watch.

Fascinating look at the life and work of Hedy Lamarr. About five years ago, I distinctly remember reading in an electrical engineering journal about the inventions of Hedy in the field of telecommunications. I rushed to the local library and sure enough there were several books about her. It was such a pleasure to see this documentary. It tied it all together for me. We learn a good deal about her early life and upbringing and her start in the European Film business. Like many European artists, Hedy was alarmed at the rise of Fascism and decided for a better life in America. We also learn about the early studio system, both the positive aspects and also about some of the negative ones, which are front and centre with the public these days. Hedy was a multi faceted artist/inventor and we see her forming collaborative relationships with all sorts of people from avant-garde pianists to airplane designers! She was certainly a modern day Ada Lovelace.

I mentioned that the documentary was even-handed because all too often, I've seen biographies of various celebrities which either only focus on the bad or only the good about folks. Folks have positive and negative qualities...and Hedy Lamarr is no exception.

The film is a biography of the actress that also focuses on her inventing the concept of rotating frequencies...enabling a sub, for example, to launch a radio-guided torpedo without worries about the enemy jamming the signal. It's a strange invention for an actress to have made...and the film helps to show that Lamarr was not just a pretty face. It also, sadly, talks about her personal life...which was filled with husband and husband and disappointment after disappointment. And, it talks about Lamarr's drug use (created by the studio) and her odd personality quirks. All put together, it makes for an intriguing look at a fascinating lady. Well worth seeing...and a nice film about a feminist in 1930s-40s Hollywood.