Hedy Lamarr is one of a kind. A true jewel that will be forever remembered for her beauty, but hopefully more people will now remember her for her intelligence and determination and also what she had contributed to society that goes beyond what she had done as an actress. A wonderful documentary from filmmaker Alexandra Dean, “Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story” is highly recommended!
© 2018 Kino Lorber Inc. All Rights Reserved.
TITLE: Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story
DATE OF FILM RELEASE: 2017
DURATION: 88 Minutes
BLU-RAY INFORMATION: 1080p (1:78:1 Aspect Ratio), English DTS HD Master Audio 5.1 and 2.0, Subtitles: English SDH
COMPANY: Kino Lorber
RATED: Not Rated
RELEASE DATE: March 13, 2018
Directed by Alexandra Dean
Written by Alexandra Dean
Executive Producer: Michael Kantor
Producer: Alexandra Dean, Katherine Drew, Adam Haggiag
Co-Producer: Dan Braun, David Koh
Associate Producer: Aaron Duffy
Music by Jeremy Bullock, Keegan DeWitt
Cinematography by Buddy Squires, Alex Stikich
Edited by Alexandra Dean, Penelope Falk, Lindy Jankura
Starring:
Hedy Lamarr
Peter Bogdanovich
Mel Brooks
Jan-Chrostopher Horak
Diane Kruger
Anthony Loder
Jimmy Loder
Lodi Loder
Denise Loder-DeLuca
Robert Osborne
Stephen Michael Shearer
Anne Helen Petersen.
What do the most ravishingly beautiful actress of the 1930s and 40s and the inventor whose concepts were the basis of cell phone and bluetooth technology have in common? They are both Hedy Lamarr, the glamour icon whose ravishing visage was the inspiration for Snow White and Cat Woman and a technological trailblazer who perfected a radio system to throw Nazi torpedoes off course during WWII. Weaving interviews and clips with never-before-heard audio tapes of Hedy speaking on the record about her incredible life—from her beginnings as an Austrian Jewish emigre to her scandalous nude scene in the 1933 film Ecstasy to her glittering Hollywood life to her ground-breaking, but completely uncredited inventions to her latter years when she became a recluse, impoverished and almost forgotten—BOMBSHELL: THE HEDY LAMARR STORY brings to light the story of an unusual and accomplished woman, spurned as too beautiful to be smart, but a role model to this day.
Actress Hedy Lamarr may be remembered for her beautiful face, her controversial 1933 film “Ecstasy” and numerous Hollywood films which include “Algiers”, “Boom Town”, “Samson and Delilah”, “Comrade X”, to name a few.
But while most actors and actresses would seek the limelight, Hedy Lamarr was more interested in inventing.
But Hedy Lamarr is also known for co-developing a radio guidance system with composer George Antheil, a technology for Allied torpedoes using spread spectrum and frequency hopping technology to defeat the threat of jamming the Axis powers . While it was not adopted by the US until the 1960’s, this technology would be incorporated to what is known today as Bluetooth technology and methods used in legacy versions of CDMA and Wi-Fi.
But as a fascinating actress, a fascinating inventor, she also lived a a life not as glamorous as one would think, she was misunderstood and would later live a life in seclusion when she was older.
Nevertheless, her story is fascinating and is the focus in the documentary “Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story” written and directed by Alexandra Dean.
VIDEO:
“Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story” is presented in 1:78:1. The documentary utilizes a lot of archived source material, may it be in Hollywood, World War II, newspaper articles, photos and more. Picture quality as one would expect from documentaries, varies in terms of the footage shown but for the most part, picture quality is good. Modern footage is in digital and crystal clear.
AUDIO & SUBTITLES:
“Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story” is presented in English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and 2.0. The film is primarily dialogue and music-driven and both are crystal clear.
Subtitles are in English SDH.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story” comes with the following special features:
- Interview with Director Alexandra Dean – (3:16) Alexandra Dean talks about why she wanted to showcase Hedy Lamarr’s true story.
- Outtakes – Featuring outtakes with Gillian Jacobs, Mel Brooks and Robert Osborne.
“Bombshell: Hedy Lamarr’s Story” is fascinating and explores the true story of Hedy Lamarr, including her life as an inventor, which Hedy Lamarr never really spoke much about.
While known for her beautiful face, known for roles in Hollywood films, Hedy Lamarr is also a person that has earned her place in science as an inventor, and it’s something that most people probably can’t imagine, because what is generally known about her is her Hollywood films, the men she’s been with or married and how she lived as a recluse when she got older.
But life was not perfect for Hedy Lamarr. Her life was often escaping from the Hollywood glam lifestyle and working on inventions and developing technology. And that technology is something that many of us use today, especially when we are talking with family or friends on a phone inside your car using Bluetooth technology. Technology that would be utilize in the legacy versions of Wi-Fi.
Unfortunately, despite her brilliance, some found it hard to believe she could invent anything because of her Hollywood career and the fact that she is known for being a bombshell. A 1942 publication would feature the following, “It does seem incredible that anyone as beautiful and as fragile-looking as the luscious Hedy could be mechanically minded. She can sing, has a flare for designing and interior decorating”.
It’s a shame that society back then were unwelcoming for someone with a brilliant mind. One can only wonder what if she was given that chance to continue inventing, recognized and financially compensated for her work, how life would have been different.
The documentary also explores so much more to her life, good and bad, that makes Hedy Lamarr fascinating but also showing to viewers of the documentary, “Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story”, that life as she matured, was difficult. Especially during the drug-laden ’60s, that would affect Hedy Lamarr which includes arrests for shoplifting and violent behavior. And it’s something that would affect her career and her family relationship.
And with this documentary, we get to hear from her children and her friends who give us a perspective of how Hedy Lamarr was during those times. What happened when she worked on a tell-all book with a ghost-writer and there was an image of her being beautiful and glamorous and always trying to maintain her older image as she gotten older and having multiple plastic surgeries.
And those pressures of trying to live up to that image would lead her to a life of being a recluse, distancing herself from everyone including her family.
There is so much that is featured in this film, filmmaker Alexandra Dean did wonderful research, but also showing Hedy Lamarr, not just as the glamorous actress but also as a intelligent woman who invented technology but also to showcase Hedy as human. A person that make mistakes. A person that lived through troubles that are not as surprising to us today, considering we see many other big name talents today get into similar troubles that Hedy experienced during her difficult years.
But you don’t find many talent who would go on to invent technology that would be used by the military, the space program and all of us who have used that technology, may it be for GPS or using Bluetooth technology.
Suffice to say, Hedy Lamarr is one of a kind.
A true jewel that will be forever remembered for her beauty, but hopefully more people will now remember her for her intelligence and determination and also what she had contributed to society that goes beyond what she had done as an actress.
A wonderful documentary from filmmaker Alexandra Dean, “Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story” is highly recommended!
