If you missed Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story when it appeared in theaters, then definitely try to check it out when it is broadcast or streamed on PBS. First time director Alexandra Dean chronicles how Lamarr finally released her version of her life then details that life story advancing the idea that she is more than a pretty face. I watch a lot of movies, and before watching this documentary, I’ve always considered Lamarr more of an inventor than a famous classic Hollywood actor (I only remember her from Samson and Delilah) so I suppose that ultimately Lamarr posthumously won.
Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story is like a modern day, more amoral retelling of Esther. An underage woman is manipulated into displaying her beauty then becomes a trophy wife to a controlling husband complicit in the destruction of her people. Instead of praying and fasting, she escapes her harem and is motivated to invent devices to thwart the Nazi war machine. Unlike Esther, she receives no accolades for her contribution, still hides her Jewish identity, is imprisoned in another gilded cage by drugs and lack of intellectual stimulation. She ultimately fell victim to the psychological ramifications of exploitation and like many former famous great beauties, hid in isolation from the public and those who loved her for fear of being compared to her younger self and found wanting, which is not a delusion, but a reality. No one stays hot forever, but she actually looked better than she probably thought and became a pioneer in making advancements in plastic surgery.
Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story is a fairly straightforward, expository documentary. As it unfolds, it begins to feel rushed to cram the details of her life after her divorce to a Texas tycoon. My criticisms of the documentary are minor. Snow White was modeled on Kristin Solvadottir, an Icelandic woman who was engaged to Charlie Thorsson, a Walt Disney illustrator, who designed Snow White after his former fiancée. The uneven humor provided by Mel Brooks was unnecessary and only detracted from the portrait. Even though the film noted that she missed Austria, I regret that it never explicitly stated whether or not she returned home post WWII.
Even if you already read about Lamarr’s life, Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story is still worth watching because you get to hear her voice and see her during interviews. Viewers will get a sense of her personality and drive as a great mind, but a bad businesswoman not based on a deficiency in her character. Her ignorance of the law, the systematic and deliberate exploitation of her immigrant status (she was not an American) and contempt of her gender resulted in robbing her of an estimated $30 billion worth of revenue from the resulting use of her invention of frequency hopping: Wifi, Bluetooth, GPS, and cell phones. It may not have been a conscious conspiracy to enrich themselves at her expense, but that is how systematic, institutionalized oppression works. How many great minds are overlooked and advances are left untouched just because of confident ignorance and bias equated as fact?