DVD Review: Bombshell: The Hedy LaMarr Story
Documentaries on Hollywood greats are always preferable to movie bios in which unlikely stars attempt to portray their betters. Film bios like “Chaplin,” “The Buster Keaton Story,” “Gable and Lombard,” and so many others do little more than disparage the memory of these great stars. Documentaries allow for footage of the actual star to reveal his or her life in more realistic detail. And when a documentary is done particularly well, it is cause for celebration. Such is the case with “Bombshell: The Hedy LaMarr Story.”
Hedy LaMarr was a fascinating, complex person. An actress and a scientist, with several layers to her talent and her personality, Hedy LaMarr’s life and work is investigated in “Bombshell” with contributions by family, friends, and admirers. Drawing information from recently discovered recorded interviews, “Bombshell” allows us to look past the movie star and into the person.
Her early life in Vienna, where she first discovered a childhood interest in the arts, was the foundation was her education and her cultural enlightenment. She also made a few fleeing movie appearance as a teenager in Viennese movies, including “Ecstasy” (1933) in which 19 year old Hedy appears nude, “and there is a scene where I was totally alone and it is a sex scene.” This was a horrendously scandalous film, and was also her last for five years. She married a man much older than she was, the first of six marriages. When her first marriage ended in divorce in 1937, Hedy came to America and embarked on her film career. It is MGM that changed Hedy’s last name of Kiesler to LaMarr, inspired by silent screen actress Barbara LaMarr who had died in 1926 at the age of only 29.
In her first American first, “Algiers” (1938), she co-starred with Charles Boyer. She later made such films as “Boom Town,” “Ziegfeld Girl,” “Tortilla Flat,” “Samson and Delilah,” and “My Favorite Spy,” acting with such luminaries as Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, Judy Garland, Bob Hope, Judy Garland, Lana Turner, and William Powell.
She invented a method of radio communications on different frequencies that she gave to the US military. This method is use for many things even today, including cell phones. She received no royalties for this groundbreaking idea.
Through all of this, Hedy LaMarr comes off as skilled, intelligent, and creative, but also someone who is secure, laughs easily, and has never been reticent about investigating past whatever imaginary parameters that may have surrounded her.
Of course the documentary fills in far more details, offering a fascinating, informative documentary. The story is supplemented by film footage and rare photos. Special Features include an interview with the documentary’s director, Alexandra Dean, and some interview outtakes.
“Bombshell: The Hedy LaMarr Story” is one of the quintessential documentaries on a Hollywood star, telling her story in rich detail an allowing us to understand and respect its subject at a far greater level. It is most highly recommended.
The blu ray is available here.