Baseshment
I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.
Stoutor
It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.
Kinley
This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows
SimonJack
Other reviewers have noted how closely this story comes to Jean Harlow's real life. Not so much the nightlife as her personal life with a highly dysfunctional family. I also was surprised, as were a couple of other reviewers, at Hollywood's seeming transparency in the making of this film. If nothing else, "Bombshell" is a scathing expose of the hype and hoopla that the movie studios used to promote their stars. They even manufactured gossip and scandals to make the news and keep the stars in the limelight. But the limelight began to sour from some scandals, and the movie industry began to back away from and even cover up such publicity – that was no longer to the public's liking. "Bombshell" is a good movie in showing such a crazy life as Jean Harlow apparently had. She plays Lola Burns in this the movie. Harlow was a very good actress who had a markedly different stage persona than all other leading ladies of her day and for decades thereafter. She had a toughness and briskness in her manner. She seldom played a refined woman. In the few scenes in this or other films where she shows gentleness, kindness or softness, it's a real stretch because of that persona. Still, she is very good in this film. The movie has a nice list of top movie names of the day – Pat O'Brien, Franchot Tone, Frank Morgan, Una Merkel, Lee Tracy. But the movie is mostly about her, and Space Hanlon, played by Tracy. Tracy was an nearly film leading man known for his fast-talking, high-energy roles. The IMDb Web site biography on Tracy nails the guy and his persona. It reads, in part, "this actor with a voracious appetite for high living was a … representation of the racy and race-paced style of … Hollywood."It doesn't take long for one to thoroughly dislike Space Hanlon (a credit to the script and Tracy's acting); but after a while this film strikes one as awfully noisy. And, it goes on a bit too long. The cleverness in the film is in the manipulation and management of the press that Hanlon demonstrates. It is peppered with some witty lines here and there, but I think, far too few for a comedy. Some of the best lines in the movie are telltale about Hollywood – the industry, the life, and the culture. Here are some of my favorites. Pat O'Brien as Jim Brogan says to Lola, "Say listen, you can't raise a family and make five or six pictures a year."Tracy's Hanlon says to the press, "Well, listen. Don't you know that Lola Burns can't have a baby?" Some reporters, "No? No? Why?" Hanson, "It's not in her contract."Hanlon and Burns are talking. Hanlon, "Listen, you can't adopt a baby." Lola, "As if you or anybody else could stop me." Hanlon, "Yeah, but that isn't your line. The fans don't want to see the 'IF' girl surrounded by an aura of motherhood leaning over a cradle, sterilizing bottles. I dubbed you the Hollywood Bombshell, and that's the way they like you. Men! Scrapes! Dazzling clothes! A gorgeous personality. Not pattin' babies on the back to bring up bubbles." Lola, "There's a lot of other people in this business have happy healthy babies."Later, Hanlon says, "OK, baby, you win. But I'll tell you one thing. The house with your family is about as a fine a place to bring up a baby as an alligator farm."
classicsoncall
Well how do you pass on a movie with a title like "Bombshell", especially when Jean Harlow's in the cast. Up till now, my quintessential idea of a screwball comedy was Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell trading barbs in "His Girl Friday", but this one certainly gives the latter picture a good run for it's money. Harlow appears pretty much as her own persona, an actress at the top of her profession who's seemingly unable to balance the demands of stardom with the pressures of those around her seeking to take advantage of her wealth and fame. I didn't quite know how to react to Lee Tracy's character, smarmy business agent Space Hanlon, who manages to keep Lola's name in newspaper headlines. He's got an answer for everything, and I think it's only his delivery that keeps him from being an outright cad.This movie is probably a good candidate for seeing more than once, since it's almost impossible to keep up with the furious pace and dialog. If you stop long enough to laugh you'll probably miss something that's even funnier or more outlandish, so it's best to stay focused. Helping this all come together is a well selected cast that includes Frank Morgan, Pat O'Brien, Una Merkel, Ivan Lebedeff and Louise Beavers. I was a little puzzled by Ted Healey's selection to portray Lola's brother Junior, a role that probably should have gone to someone younger looking, but maybe it's just me. It might also have been a good idea to give Una Merkel a few more lines as Lola's secretary Mac; she looked like she could have held her own with this bunch.Best line of the picture, if not the corniest, has to go to Franchot Tone, who as Lola's newest love Gifford Middleton, exclaims that "I'd like to run barefoot through your hair". That sounds kind of sweet until you try to conjure up a mental picture to go with the description. Seeing as how old Gifford turned out to be a phony, I wonder who came up with the lines he used. It had to be Hanlon.
john-batt3
This shamefully neglected comedy classic is rarely shown on UK TV and is not available on DVD .That is a shame as it deserves to be appreciated by a wider audience as the best satire on the Hollywood studio system ever made.That it is superior to What Price Hollywood ?[ 1932 ] is due entirely to the screenplay written by John Lee Mahin and Jules Furthman and the performances of a stellar cast.Supposedly based on Clara Bow but eerily redolent of the life of Jean Harlow [ right down to her money grabbing family ]Bombshell proceeds at breakneck speed with enough memorable lines and double entendres for a dozen films. Had MGM tried to produce this film twelve months later the Hays Production Code would have rendered the script impotent.For example the following would not have survived.Lola [ Harlow ] to Hanlon [ Lee Tracy ]'You're chasing a wild goose' Hanlon 'Wearing those pants its a temptation'.As it is the humour is as fresh today as it was 75 years ago.The story of blonde bombshell Lola Burns fighting to protect her reputation and adopt a baby in the face of underhand manipulation by studio publicist Space Hanlon and opposition from a collection of family members and employees is superbly played by a collection of well known character actors.Louise Beavers as sassy maid Loretta, Una Merkel as the conniving pa Mac, Frank Morgan as the perpetually inebriated Pops,Pat O' Brien as the volcanic director Brogan and Franchot Tone as the playboy Gifford are all excellent.Watch out for Billy Dooley in a hilarious running gag and World Heavyweight Boxing Champion, Primo Carnera in the opening montage sequence.Special mention must be made of Lee Tracy who was born to play the fast talking, fast thinking, morally redundant Space Hanlon, a man who has a scam to suit all situations.But this film belongs to Jean Harlow who is quite simply sensational. At once vulnerable,sexy and funny then naive but knowing the 22 year old carries the film. The scene when she finally snaps and turns on her tormentors is a showstopper.It is arguably her finest performance.Hopefully Bombshell might receive the reappraisal and recognition it deserves in time for Harlow's centenary in March 2011. In the meantime catch the film if you can and marvel at one of the silver screens brightest stars at her best. And wonder at what she might have become.
falconcitypaul
I would call "The Bombshell" (UK: "The Blonde Bombshell") Jean Harlow's funniest comedy. She exhibits enormous acting range, from emotional anguish to maternal care to melting passion, all in the service of farce. The movie's frenetic dialogue and propulsive urgency also make athletic use of Lee Tracy, the fastest talking lead actor on the screen.In "Platinum Blonde" (1931) Harlow somewhat stiffly embodies genteel sex in service of a comedy. By 1933's "Dinner At Eight" she stands her own paired with two mighty talents. She spars lustily with Wallace Beery, a Falstaffian scene-seizer. Her lines as straight woman to Marie Dressler could not be more exquisitely rendered.To an extent Lola Burns in "The Bombshell" spoofs Harlow's own career and image. Her character even does a retake of the rain barrel scene from "Red Dust" (1932), a picture which had Harlow sunnily portraying a good-time girl along the Malay rivers. More broadly, she helps satirize an entire merciless industry which could cruelly grind up creative personnel's egos, private lives, and sanity.Yet, we don't have the corrosive movie-biz self-criticism of "What Price Hollywood?" (1932) or its "A Star Is Born" descendants. For all the muck it rakes up about the studio system, this remains a fun picture, a supremely good time, and a roisterous showcase for a talented star who died far too soon.Marilyn Monroe had wanted to play Harlow in a biopic. Both luminous women left impressive, abbreviated legacies.
