Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story

Hedy Lamarr was one of the most glamorous movie stars of her day, an Austrian-born actress who became notorious for nude scenes in the 1933 erotic Czechoslovakian drama Ecstasy and later fled Nazi Europe to become a star in Hollywood, famed for her beauty. It wasn't until the 1990s, however, that her greatest accomplishment became known. A brilliant woman with a private laboratory and a passion for inventing, Lamarr developed (with composer George Antheil, a fellow European exile in Los Angeles) the technology of frequency hopping for the American Navy to make radio-controlled torpedoes. Never applied at the time, the technology later became the foundation for Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and cell phones. Filmmaker Alexandra Dean’s documentary covers all aspects of Lamarr’s life: actress, inventor, doting mother, independent producer, and toward the end a recluse addicted to drugs and plastic surgery. A rare 1990 audio interview discovered in 2016 allows Lamarr to tell her own story throughout, along with letters read by actress Diane Kruger, and comments from Lamarr's children, granddaughter, and biographers. The resulting portrait presents a brilliant, complicated woman whose legacy was once judged solely on her appearance, box-office receipts, and scandals. A fine companion to Richard Rhodes’s 2011 book Hedy’s Folly, extras include extended interviews and an interview with Dean. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (S. Axmaker)