ACTRESS AND INVENTOR HEDY LAMARR. SOURCE: GARTENBERG MEDIA ENTERPRISES.

On Friday, November 10th, 2023, at 4:30pm, and Saturday, November 11th, 2023, at 2:15pm, Alexandra Dean’s 2017 documentary about actress and inventor Hedy Lamarr, titled BOMBSHELL: THE HEDY LAMARR STORY, will play at Metrograph. Dean will be in attendance at the November 11th screening for an introduction and Q&A session. GME distributes BOMBSHELL: THE HEDY LAMARR STORY to the North American university market on Blu-Ray, DVD, and DSL.

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, her career as a movie star, and her creation of brilliant inventions for the allies in World War II.

OFFICIAL THEATRICAL RELEASE POSTER FOR ALEXANDRA DEAN’S 2017 DOCUMENTARY *BOMBSHELL: THE HEDY LAMARR STORY.* SOURCE: GARTENBERG MEDIA ENTERPRISES.

In Hollywood, Lamarr 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 Lamarr, 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.

Director Dean brings to light the full story of this astonishing woman — ignored, misunderstood, uncredited, yet satisfied at the end of her life that she changed the world by creating a communications system that we nowadays use in our Wifi, GPS and Bluetooth devices. In 2014, Lamarr was posthumously inducted into the National Inventors 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, Dean’s documentary is a bittersweet celebration and reclamation of Lamarr's journey from Hollywood legend to technological genius.

In the PBS Newshour interview below, director Dean discusses Lamarr’s life and career, and the making of her documentary: