Spuzzlightyear Fun Jean Harlow movie here as she plays a starlet pretty much created by the media via sensational headlines and her trying to get away from all of it (gee, how times change). The movie has that 1930's crackle where everyone is super hyper talking all at once, and you're struggling to catch up with all of it. Even though Harlow is the title Bombshell, I was really impressed with Lee Tracy as her publicist who seems to know Harlow more than she knows herself. It sort of does get monotonous towards the end, and the twist just doesn't really resolve anything, as a matter of fact, we're right back where we started. But it's still a fun sit through.

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.

blanche-2 Jean Harlow is the "Bombshell" of the 1933 film also starring Franchot Tone, Frank Morgan, Lee Tracy, Pat O'Brien, Una Merkel, Isabel Jewell, Louise Beavers, Ted Healy, and C. Aubrey Smith. Harlow plays a star, Lola Burns, who has a career very similar to Jean Harlow's - in fact, she starred in "Red Dust" with Clark Gable! She's the "It" girl where Harlow was the "If" girl. From the first time we meet Lola, it's obvious that she is overwhelmed by the pressures of her home life, which in turn puts pressure on her career duties. Her drunken father (Morgan) acts as her business manager but her bills aren't paid and she doesn't have any money; she constantly has to bail her brother out of trouble; there's a newspaper man who prints one lie after another about her; one of the people in her household wears her clothes and steals from her; she has three huge dogs; her brother shows up with a tramp; the assistant director on "Red Dust," Jim Brogan (Pat O'Brien) is in love with her and goes crazy when he sees Hugo, the Marqis de Pisa de Pisa on the set (and it's in his storyline that strong prejudice against immigrants is shown); and her agent (Lee Tracy) is a puppeteer in a sick puppet show - Lola's life.Lola wants out. She decides that she wants to adopt a child and falls in love with a baby at an orphanage but the home visit is a total disaster. Disgusted with her life and all the leaches around her, she takes off, seeking peace and quiet. It's in peaceful surroundings that she meets the wealthy Gifford Middleton. It's love at first sight. Just when she's meeting Gifford's parents, her father and brother appear.This is a very funny comedy and also very touching, as Lola's sweet personality and desire for a stable family is evident. She swears to Gifford that she's through with show business but becomes concerned when told there hasn't been anything about her in the papers lately. She's young and has no idea what she really wants. Her agent plays off of this and uses it to his own advantage. To most people, she's a blond gravy train.All of the actors are terrific. Franchot Tone is hilarious, totally and deliberately WAY over the top saying lines such as the one in the summary box. Harlow is surrounded with the best character actors - Lee Tracy, who despite a scandal in 1934 managed to enjoy a nearly 40-year career is great as Lola's fast-talking scam artist agent; Frank Morgan plays his usual role of a weak man, but not a bad one; Louise Beavers brings spark to the role of a maid; Pat O'Brien is in top form as the volatile Brogan.But it's Harlow's film, and she keeps up with the frantic pace of the film beautifully. Funny and vulnerable, she's hilarious when she pretends she's upper class, as she's often done in her films - no one has ever pulled that off quite like she has. Certainly one of the most lovable and charismatic actresses ever on screen. It's unbelievable that she didn't have a chance to live a full life. "Bombshell" is one of her best films among a lot of wonderful ones.

MartinHafer This film really was designed for the audiences of 1933 and many who watch it today will miss many of the pointed references or inside jokes. And, while IMDb says that the film was originally a thinly disguised parody of the wild off-screen life of Clara Bow, so much of this film seems like events from Jean Harlow's own life--so much so, that it seems, at times like a biography. Jean's own life off screen was a major mess--with a controlling mother, a greedy step-father, on and off-screen antics that filled the newspapers, a suspicious suicide of Jean's husband and ultimately her own suspicious death in 1937 (both deaths, by the way, were QUICKLY dealt with by MGM and so the whole truth behind them is unknown to this day). So here we have a case where you truly do wonder how much of this hit very close to home for the film's star.The fictional star in the film does indeed have a chaotic and troubled life--mostly due to her own inability to say NO to anyone. As a result, the film shows a greedy alcoholic/gambling father and brother, a thieving sister, two insanely large and unruly Old English Sheepdogs, super-fast-talking publicity agent, a European gigolo boyfriend AND her desire, out of the blue, to adopt a baby and bring it into this chaotic mess of a life. This was all wonderful parody of the lives of many Hollywood stars. For example, Joan Crawford and Bette Davis later both adopted "cute little orphans" (apparently for publicity photos) and the fictional director in the film seems a lot like the film's actual director, Victor Fleming (who was reportedly quite the lady's man--including affairs with Ms. Bow). And, to top off all this lampoonery, the film actually makes reference to Jean's own career--talking about how she needs to do some re-shoots for her recent film RED DUST.In addition to all these jabs at celebrity is an amazingly brisk pace that will probably wear out the viewer! Surprisingly, the film was faster paced than Cagney's ONE, TWO, THREE and didn't let up from start to finish. While this MIGHT be too much for most films, it did a great job of showing just how crazy and out of control the lives of celebrities are. There are also so many cute jokes and plot twists (particularly at the end) that the film will provide loads of entertainment for those "in the know".