Bombshell (film)
| Bombshell | |
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| Directed by | Victor Fleming |
| Produced by | Hunt Stromberg Irving Thalberg |
| Written by | Caroline Francke Mack Crane John Lee Mahin Jules Furthman Norman Krasna |
| Starring | Jean Harlow Lee Tracy Frank Morgan Franchot Tone Pat O'Brien Una Merkel Ted Healy Mary Forbes C. Aubrey Smith |
| Cinematography | Harold Rosson Chester A. Lyons |
| Editing by | Margaret Booth |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
| Release date(s) | October 13, 1933 |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $344,000 (estimated) |
Bombshell (1933) is a Pre-Code film directed by Victor Fleming and starring Jean Harlow, Lee Tracy, Frank Morgan, C. Aubrey Smith, Mary Forbes and Franchot Tone.
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[edit] Plot
Movie star Lola Burns (Jean Harlow) is angry with her studio publicist E.J. "Space" Hanlon (Lee Tracy), who feeds the press with endless fake scandals about her. Lola's family (Frank Morgan plays her father, Pops Burns) and staff are another cause of distress for her, as everybody is always trying to scrape money from the actress. All she really wants is to live a normal life and prove to the public that she's not a sexy vamp but a proper lady. She tries to adopt a baby, but Hanlon, who secretly loves her, thwarts all her plans.
Lola decides she can't stand any more of such a life, and flees Hollywood. Far from the movie fluff, she meets wealthy and romantic Gifford Middleton (Franchot Tone), who hates the movies and therefore has never heard about Lola and her bad press. They soon fall in love and Gifford proposes marriage. Lola is to meet her fiancé's snobby parents, but everything collapses when Hanlon together with Lola's family finds her, and tells the Middletons the truth. Lola feels hurt by the rude way Gifford and his parents dump her, and accepts Hanlon's suggestion to return to Hollywood with no regrets: it is, after all, her life. ... Little does she know that the three Middletons were all actors hired by Hanlon himself.
[edit] Cast
- Jean Harlow as Lola Burns
- Lee Tracy as E.J."Space"Hanlon
- Frank Morgan as Pops Burns
- Franchot Tone as Gifford Middleton
- Pat O'Brien as Jim Brogan
- Una Merkel as Mac
- Ted Healy as Junior Burns
- Ivan Lebedeff as Hugo, Marquis Di Pisa Di Pisa
- Isabel Jewell as Lily, Junior's Girl Friend (as Isobel Jewell)
- Louise Beavers as Loretta
- Leonard Carey as Winters
- Mary Forbes as Mrs. Middleton
- C. Aubrey Smith as Mr. Wendell Middleton
- June Brewster as Alice Cole
[edit] Production
Bombshell is a pre-code screwball comedy. The story satirizes the stardom years of Clara Bow: "Lola Burns" – Clara Bow, "E.J. Hanlon" – B.P. Schulberg, "Pops Burns" – Robert Bow, "Mac" – Daisy DeVoe, "Gifford Middleton" – Rex Bell. Victor Fleming was Bow's fiancee in 1926.[1]
The success of the film led to Jean Harlow being widely known as a "Blonde Bombshell".[2]
[edit] References
- ^ Bombshell: the Life and Death of Jean Harlow by David Stenn, page 150-152
- ^ Bombshell: the Life and Death of Jean Harlow by David Stenn, page 151, 162
