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Just as Alla Nazimova (THE RED LANTERN, 1919, CAMILLE, 1921, and SALOMÉ, 1922) was an exotic star of the silent screen, so too did Hedy Lamarr predominate the silver screen as a ravishing Hollywood icon of the sound film era (ALGIERS, 1938; ZIEGFELD GIRL, 1941; and SAMSON AND DELILAH, 1948).  At age 19, she became famous for her scandalous erotic scenes in ECSTASY (1933, Czechosolvakia, Gustav Machatý).  She had a stunning face that inspired the creation of Snow White and Catwoman.  She eventually produced her own films, including the epic LOVES OF THREE QUEENS (1954), in which she played in one film Helen of Troy, Empress Josephine, and medieval heroine Genevieve de Brabant.   

Known as one of the most beautiful women in Hollywood, it was virtually unknown that she had a mind far more extraordinary than her public image.  In BOMBSHELL, THE HEDY LAMARR STORY (2017), director Alexandra Dean weaves together live interviews with Lamarr’s children, friends and Hollywood figures; newsreels and still photographs; graphs, diagrams, and animation; as well as newly-discovered audio interviews of Lamarr telling in her own words the background story about her life both on and off the silver screen. In 2016, former Forbes writer Fleming Meeks discovered several cassette tapes of a 1990 phone interview with Lamarr, and these provide a way for BOMBSHELL to set itself apart; we hear a great deal from these tapes, with a world-weary but good humored Lamarr recounting the story of her life in all its highs and lows (the latter including bouts with depression, drugs, shoplifting, and failed marriages).

BOMBSHELL: THE HEDY LAMARR STORY recounts Lamarr’s experiences, from her beginnings as the trophy wife of a weapons manufacturer for Hitler, to her escape to America and the creation of brilliant inventions for the allies in WWII.  In Hollywood, she dated Howard Hughes, and he encouraged her work on inventions.  In 1940, she met composer George Antheil (BALLET MÉCANIQUE, 1924) at a dinner party.  They spoke about the looming war, and Hedy, formerly married to a munitions manufacturer, recounted to Antheil that “she did not feel very comfortable, sitting there in Hollywood making lots of money when things were in such a state.” They began to tinker together with ideas to combat the Axis powers, and settled on a secure radio guidance system for torpedoes, which they patented.

The director brings to light the full story of this astonishing woman – ignored, misunderstood, and uncredited, and yet satisfied, at the end of her life, that she did change the world by creating a communications system that we use in our Wi-FI, GPS and Bluetooth devices in the present day.  In 2014, she was posthumously inducted into the National Inventories Hall of Fame for the development of her frequency hopping technology.  BOMBSHELL paints a picture of a headstrong individual who was trying to live her life in a way that took advantage of the achievements for which she wanted to be known – far beyond her surface beauty.  Inspiring and tragic, BOMBSHELL is a bittersweet celebration and reclamation of Hedy Lamarr's journey from Hollywood legend to technology genius.

“A masterful portrait of a most complex character... Restores Lamarr’s rightful place in the history not only of film, but of science as well.” 

– Yael Friedman, The Economist  

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