| Lee Tracy as a pugnacious PR man & Jean Harlow as the dervish movie diva, in 1933's screwball comedy "Bombshell." |
Bombshell was
one of the first movies that Jean Harlow showed she had a flair for comedy,
with Red-Headed Woman and Red Dust as the intro the year before. MGM’s Bombshell, from 1933, is a still-funny comedy, with Hollywood getting skewered even
then.
Director Victor Fleming and screenwriters John
Lee Mahin and Jules Furthman were inspired by the scandalous life and media
frenzy surrounding “It” girl Clara Bow. Fleming was once engaged to Bow and familiar
with her life story.
But Bombshell
also spoofs Jean Harlow's own life and career, from her own family of
hangers-on, the sex bomb reputation versus the real Harlow, and some zingers
even aimed at MGM. It's a smart, clever movie still and you realize how things
don't really change all that much in showbiz. Look at today's stars who are
more famous for their scandal ridden “personal” lives than any particular
talent.
| Jean Harlow as movie star Lola Burns & Lee Tracy as PR flack "Space" Hanlon make a terrific team in MGM's "Bombshell." |
Jean Harlow was a live
wire in Bombshell, with a natural
sense of humor, and a good-hearted screen persona. As Lola Burns, I love how
her character puts on studio-trained ladylike airs, but in the next scene she's
yowling at her ingrate family, scoundrel press agent, and problematic
boyfriends. Yet, Jean never goes overboard, and keeps it real. Harlow was a
working class Carole Lombard, once Jean got to lighten up her femme fatale
image, and played the sex bomb and her scripts for laughs. The movie blurs the
on-screen Lola Burns with real-life Jean Harlow by having Burns do re-takes for
Red Dust and showing Harlow with
Gable in Hold Your Man.
| Jean Harlow as Lola Burns in MGM's Hollywood satire, 1933's "Bombshell." |
Lee Tracy is
personifies the fast-talking wise-cracker, studio PR hound “Space Hanlon.”
Tracy practically trademarked this archetype when he became a Broadway smash as
“Hildy” Johnson in the original The Front
Page. He is hilarious, changing his tune on a dime, with a “Can you believe
I’m getting away with this?” attitude. There's something very appealing about
him. He’s impishly baby-faced, yet looks like he’s seen a few late nights, and
not from colic. You totally believe Jean falling for him. One also forgets how
handsome Pat O' Brien was in his young days, no-nonsense as always, as the director
who is sweet on Lola. Oh so handsome Franchot Tone amusingly spoofs his
cultivated gentleman image as the suitor who seemingly comes out of nowhere.
| Lee Tracy reminds me a little of Michael Keaton in this photo. Tracy's a motor mouth riot as "Space" Hanlon to Jean Harlow's movie "Bombshell." |
Frank Morgan's a hoot
as Jean's irrepressible father, a lovable blowhard always in need of cash
for booze and horses. Louise Beavers gets off some pre-code one-liners as
Jean's good-hearted maid.
| Frank Morgan's one of many scene-stealers to Jean Harlow's exasperated "Bombshell!" |
There are some sly
zingers about Hollywood and the whole dog and pony show of presenting stars to
the press and gossip columnists in the best light, and hoping they don’t dig
too deep beneath the shiny surface.
But this is ultimately
a great vehicle for Jean Harlow, stylishly done in high spirits, right from the
opening credits by MGM's top studio director Victor Fleming, to the stars still
battling it out at the finale.
FYI: I put all the movie overflow on my public FB movie
page.
Check it out & join! https://www.facebook.com/groups/178488909366865/
| "Bombshell" director Victor Fleming with star Jean Harlow. |