Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story (2017)
91%RT Audience Score: 85%
Awards & Nominations: 8 wins & 6 nominations
Inspiring and tragic, Bombshell is a bittersweet celebration and reclamation of Hedy Lemarr’s journey from Hollywood legend to technology genius.
If you’re looking for a documentary that’s not your typical snooze-fest, then Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story is the one for you. This film tells the story of a woman who was so much more than just a pretty face on the silver screen. Hedy Lamarr was a brilliant inventor, and this documentary does an excellent job of showcasing her incredible mind. Sure, there are some unnecessary animated sequences and a bit too much music, but overall, this film is a fascinating look at a woman who was ahead of her time. Plus, who doesn’t love a good bombshell?
Production Company(ies)
John Ford Productions,
Distributor
Kino Lorber, Zeitgeist Films
Release Type
Theatrical, Theatrical (Limited)
Filming Location(s)
Vienna, Austria
MPAA / Certificate
Year of Release
2018
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby
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Aspect ratio:1.85 : 1
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Runtime:1h 30m
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Language(s):English, German, French
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Nov 24, 2017 Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 24, 2018
Genre(s)
Documentary
Keyword(s)
Bombsell, Hedy Lamarr, documentary, inspiring, tragic, Hollywood, technology, inventor, Bluetooth, English, Alexandra Dean, Adam Haggiag, Katherine Drew, written by Alexandra Dean, Mel Brooks, Diane Kruger, Peter Bogdanovich, Richard Rhodes, Bob Osborne, Kino Lorber, Zeitgeist Films, $819.7K, MPAA rating, critic reviews, reviewed by J.R Jones, Brad Newsome, Steve Greene, Wendy Ide, Donald Clarke, Peter Bradshaw, Taylor Baker, Jason Adams, Gisela Savdie, Jason Best, Joanne Laurier, audience score, directed by Alexandra Dean, produced by Adam Haggiag, Katherine Drew, Alexandra Dean
Worldwide gross: $1,092,277
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $1,285,363
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,536
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 140,170
US/Canada gross: $820,300
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $965,308
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,197
US/Canada opening weekend: $8,000
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $9,414
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,715
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $1,500,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $1,765,161
Production budget ranking: 2,041
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $950,539
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): -$1,430,337
ROI to date (est.): -53%
ROI ranking: 1,707
Diane Kruger – Self
Peter Bogdanovich – Self
Richard Rhodes – Self
Bob Osborne – Self
Hedy Lamarr – Self
Alexandra Dean – Director, Writer
Adam Haggiag – Producer
Katherine Drew – Producer
Director(s)
Alexandra Dean
Writer(s)
Alexandra Dean
Producer(s)
Adam Haggiag, Katherine Drew, Alexandra Dean
Film Festivals
Sundance
Awards & Nominations
8 wins & 6 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (95) | Top Critics (33) | Fresh (90) | Rotten (5)
Not your usual silver-screen documentary.
March 25, 2020
J. R. Jones
Chicago Reader
TOP CRITIC
A fascinating documentary about Hedy Lamarr, an extraordinary woman who was so much more than the moviegoing public ever imagined.
February 22, 2019
Brad Newsome
Sydney Morning Herald
TOP CRITIC
It’s a reminder that, even for world-famous icons, it’s pointless to reduce people to a single piece of notoriety.
May 21, 2018 | Rating: B+
Steve Greene
indieWire
TOP CRITIC
Dean explores a fascinating life full of contradictions.
March 13, 2018 | Rating: 4/5
Wendy Ide
Observer (UK)
TOP CRITIC
Bombshell suffers from some common complaints of modern documentary — too much music; unnecessary, if perfectly decent, animated sequences — but it does remind us of a class of personality that doesn’t exist anymore.
March 13, 2018 | Rating: 4/5
Donald Clarke
Irish Times
TOP CRITIC
Lamarr was an enigma: a great brain trapped in a silly, spurious image of glamour, while her real talent was allowed to wither. A sad but fascinating story.
March 9, 2018 | Rating: 5/5
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian
TOP CRITIC
Episode 14: Doc Talk
September 1, 2021 | Rating: 50/100
Taylor Baker
Drink in the Movies
Bombshell is a movie a million years in the making. Bombshell is a hand grenade tossed into our current gas-fire of a situation – it’s the movie we need, the story we need, to tell right now
July 2, 2021
Jason Adams
My New Plaid Pants
Another story of a smart woman whose talent was unrecognized sufficiently during her lifetime [Full Review in Spanish]
November 8, 2020
Gisela Savdie
El Heraldo
Athough a string of famous talking heads – from Mel Brooks to Diane Kruger – pop up here to celebrate Lamarr’s remarkable achievements, the sense of wasted gifts gives director Alexandra Dean’s film an underlying sadness.
October 19, 2020 | Rating: 4/5
Jason Best
Movie Talk
Bombshell suggests that Lamarr was largely wasted by the film industry, which could make little use of her personality and intellect. ”
August 7, 2020
Joanne Laurier
World Socialist Web Site
Director Alexandra Dean gets the most out of a peculiar mix of on-camera interviews, archival footage and recently discovered audiotapes of Lamarr explaining herself posthumously.
June 2, 2020
David Lamble
Bay Area Reporter…
Plot
Hedy Lamarr was a Hollywood movie star who was hailed as the most beautiful and glamorous in the world. However, that was only the surface that tragically obscured her astounding true talents. Foremost of them was her inventive genius that a world blinded by her beauty could not recognize as far back as her youth in Austria with her homemade gadgets. This film explores Lamarr’s life which included escaping a loveless marriage on the eve of Nazi Germany’s conquest of her nation to a new career in Hollywood. However, her intellectual contributions were denied their due even when she offered them in the service of her new home during World War II. Only after years of career and personal decline in her troubled life would Lamarr learn that her staggering aptitude created brilliant engineering concepts that revolutionized telecommunications, which forced the world to realize the hidden abilities of a woman it had so unfairly underestimated.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Mel Brooks and Diane Kruger are among the famous talking heads featured in the documentary.
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