Don't miss Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story opening in Los Angeles this December 8 exclusively at the Landmark NuArt Theater in Santa Monica. If you think Hedy Lamarr was beautiful star during the 1930s and 40s, you only know the half of it. This documentary will tell you the rest of the story.
Having premiered earlier this year to great audience response at the Tribeca Film Festival, Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story continues to wow audiences with the life's tale of Golden age actress Hedy Lamarr who was an icon of the silver screen and so much more. Directed by Alexandra Dean and executive produced by Susan Sarandon, Michael Kantor and Regina Scully, Bombshell finally gives Hedy Lamarr the chance to tell her own story in her own words through four never-before-heard audio tapes of the woman speaking on the record about her incredible life.
Hollywood star Hedy Lamarr (Ziegfeld Girl, Samson and Delilah) was known as the world's most beautiful woman. As a matter of fact, the cartoon characters, Snow White and Cat Woman were both based on her stunning look. However, her arresting looks and glamorous life stood in the way of being given the credit she deserved as an ingenious inventor whose pioneering work helped revolutionize what we know as modern communication. That's right, the beauty had a brain. And a rather amazing brain at that. But this was the Golden Age of Hollywood, and the country was at war. Faces like Lamarr's were expected to stay on the silver screen and away from think tanks.
Mislabeled as “just another pretty face,” Hedy’s true legacy is that of a technological trailblazing immigrant. She was an Austrian Jewish emigre who invented a covert communication system to try and help defeat the Nazis (technology that has impacted inventions of today). The brilliant babe then gave her patent outright to the Navy, but was ignored by the more "knowledgable" men of the day and told to sell kisses for war bonds instead. It was only towards the very end of her life that tech pioneers discovered her concept, which is now used as the basis for secure WiFi, GPS and Bluetooth. Take that 1940s male chauvinists!
Hedy never publicly talked about her life as an inventor and so her family thought her story died when she did. But in 2016, director Alexandra Dean and producer Adam Haggiag unearthed four never-before-heard audio tapes of Hedy speaking on the record about her incredible life. Combining this newly discovered interview with intimate reflections from her children, closest friends, family and admirers (including Mel Brooks and Robert Osborne), Bombshell finally gives Hedy Lamarr the chance to tell her own story. Isn't that wonderful? To see a teaser for the film just click on any of the pictures in this article to use as a link. And then go see the film and find out for yourself what a real bombshell is.
