Bombshell (1933)

Starring: Jean Harlow, Lee Tracy, Frank Morgan, Franchot Tone, Pat O'Brien, Una Merkel, Ted Healy, Ivan Lebedeff, Louise Beavers
Directed by: Victor Fleming
Rating: Passed
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
1933

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A famous Hollywood actress (Jean Harlow) must deal with studio interference, her manipulative family, and much more in the circus that is her life.

Review:

Tim: Bombshell is supposed to be a humorous look at the life of a Hollywood star, modeled after the life of Clara Bow. It's a little different watching this movie in 2021, about 90 years after it was released. There's a bit more realization of the more troubling aspects of the story. I tried not to focus too much on this, but it was hard not to. I get why this movie was well received in the 1930s. I thought it was a good movie, but certainly not one of my favorites.

The movie does a terrific job of portraying what the life of a Hollywood star is like. Here, we see the main character's family continually use her for her money and the rub-off status they get from being associated with a star. That still happens today. We see the studio's interference in her personal life, the complete disregard for her as a person and a focus on her as an asset only. That still happens today. We see the intense pressures stars are under to hold onto their status at all costs. Still accurate. We see the challenges of maintaining a romantic relationship, the additional stress that is placed on it when it's in the spotlight, the constant questions about whether it's real or if people have ulterior motives. We see the role the media plays, treating stars as stories instead of human beings. Sadly, still true today. It's remarkable how much of this movie resonates in today's world. That is a huge plus for the film and a huge minus for our society.

What bothered me the most was the image of all these people circling the protagonist, like hungry sharks in the water. There's blatant disregard for her as a person almost continually throughout the film. The manipulation, the gaslighting that takes place in this film is stunning. Even worse, it's all played for laughs. This was humor in the 1930s and for decades afterwards. In the Me Too era, it's much harder to stomach these scenes. I tried not to let that affect me too much- I do believe movies need to be watched with as much of the context as the era as you can (within reason, of course). Still, I liked this movie less because of this cavalier attitude towards this woman. I could never completely disconnect from that.

A lot of what I read about this movie praised the performance of Jean Harlow. I suppose that yes, she did an admirable job in the lead role. I like that the film focused on her as the protagonist. I'm not sure I am much of a Harlow fan, though. I know her name and I always have this initial excitement about seeing her on screen. There's just something about her that bothers me, though. Maybe it's just subtle things about her overacting, but I didn't love her performance here. I felt for her character as representative of what many women in Hollywood experience, but I never felt an emotional connection with her character. She's certainly not blameless, although it's hard to assign too much fault when you exist in a system rigged against you. Still, Harlow might have been good, but I couldn't quite love her performance.

I liked Lee Tracy's performance better, although I disliked his character. He gets this funny screwball comedy role- he's larger than life, he's slimy, manipulative, charming. He is so believable as this studio publicist. You know there's countless guys in reality very similar to this. I'm sure audiences fell in love with him in the 1930s. Most of his actions are despicable by today's standards. Still, going with the context, I get how his fast-paced, manic performance would have won people over. Frank Morgan was decent as Harlow's father. Una Merkel did some nice supporting work, too. The cast as a whole was fine, everyone played their parts well.

The movie as a whole offers a solid look at what it meant to be a star in Hollywood decades ago. It has quite a few humorous moments, as the gags kind of stack up as the film progresses. There's a humorous scene of protagonist Lola Burns trying to adopt a baby (on the spur of the moment) and her zany family, studio interference, and romantic partners all creating a catastrophe for her. That was entertaining. There's a few surprising twists that the script takes, some of which I was not expecting. You don't always anticipate plot twists in a comedy like this. Victor Fleming was a really talented director and you can see his ability show up throughout this film.

Bombshell might not be my favorite film, but it's an undoubtedly good one. It's a bit hard to watch in today's context, but it serves as an interesting reminder of the prevalent attitudes and believes in Hollywood's past. This film is certainly worth seeing.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7



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