''Bombshell'' is a 1933 American pre-Code

romantic Romantic may refer to: Genres and eras * The Romantic era, an artistic, literary, musical and intellectual movement of the 18th and 19th centuries ** Romantic music, of that era ** Romantic poetry, of that era ** Romanticism in science, of that e ...

screwball comedy film directed by

Victor Fleming Victor Lonzo Fleming (February 23, 1889 – January 6, 1949) was an American film director, cinematographer, and producer. His most popular films were ''Gone with the Wind (film), Gone with the Wind'', for which he won an Academy Award for Best ...

and starring Jean Harlow, Lee Tracy, Frank Morgan, C. Aubrey Smith, Mary Forbes and Franchot Tone. It is based on the unproduced play of the same name by Caroline Francke and Mack Crane, and was adapted for the screen by

John Lee Mahin John Lee Mahin (August 23, 1902, Evanston, Illinois – April 18, 1984, Los Angeles) was an American screenwriter and producer of films who was active in Hollywood from the 1930s to the 1960s. He was known as the favorite writer of Clark Gable a ...

and Jules Furthman.

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 provocative stories about her. Lola's family and staff are another cause of distress for her, as everybody is always trying to take her money. All Burns 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 attempts a few romances and tries to adopt a baby, but Hanlon, who secretly loves her, thwarts all her plans. Burns decides she can't stand any more of such a life, and flees. 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 Burns and her bad press. They soon fall in love, and Gifford proposes marriage. Burns is to meet her fiancé's parents, but everything collapses when her family finds her, and the Middletons find out she is a movie star. Burns feels hurt by the rude way Gifford and his parents dump her, and accepts Hanlon's suggestion to return to Hollywood with no regrets. She does not know that the three Middletons were all actors hired by Hanlon himself. At the studio, Burns and Hanlon are kissing when the “Middletons” walk by her dressing room. They have been given jobs on the next Barrymore picture as a reward for helping to bring Lola back to the fold. Infuriated, Burns flees. Hanlon jumps into the moving car. They are about to kiss when the supposed lunatic who has been pursuing her throughout the film, claiming to be her husband, sticks his head in the window. He greets Hanlon and asks “How’m I doin’?” Fade out on the battling couple.

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 Binelli 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

Critical reception

Critical reviews were generally positive. '' Motion Picture Herald'' called the film "a comedy wow of the first water", and "one of the funniest, speediest, most nonsensical pictures ever to hit a screen". ''The Daily News Standard'' from Pennsylvania gave praise to the film, saying that "Jean Harlow and Lee Tracy together for the first time as co-stars are said to have provided the biggest truckload of laughs to roll out of Hollywood in the hilarious picture". However, Mordaunt Hall for '' The New York Times'' said ''Bombshell'' has moments where "the comedy is too rambunctious and scenes which are not precisely convincing". He did say it is merry for the most part, and said that Jean Harlow was thoroughly "in her element" as the character Lola Burns.

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. Director Victor Fleming was Bow's fiancée in 1926.''Bombshell: the Life and Death of Jean Harlow'' by David Stenn, page 150-152 The ''Laredo Times'' from Laredo, Texas, quotes Harlow in an interview about filming saying, "Thank goodness, it was not necessary for me to get in the rain barrel in Bombshell. I had to pick too many splinters out of myself the last time", referring to the 1932 film ''Red Dust'', in which Harlow takes a bath in a rain barrel. The success of the film led to Jean Harlow being widely known as a "Blonde Bombshell". Early in the film, Lola Burns is told she has to shoot re-takes of '' Red Dust'' — the title of an actual Harlow/Gable vehicle from the year before. In fact, there's a brief kissing scene with Gable, in the frenetic opening sequence of photos, scenes, and shots of fans, taken from '' Hold Your Man'' (1933). According to the Worldwide Guide to Movie Locations, scenes in ''Bombshell'' were shot at MGM studios in Culver City. The nightclub scene was filmed at Cocoanut Grove at the Ambassador Hotel in mid-town Los Angeles. It was demolished in 2006.

References

External links

* * * * {{Norman Krasna 1933 films 1930s romantic comedy-drama films American romantic comedy-drama films American black-and-white films Films about actors Films about filmmaking American films based on plays Films directed by Victor Fleming Films produced by Irving Thalberg Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films Films with screenplays by Jules Furthman 1933 comedy films 1933 drama films 1930s English-language films 1930s American films