Synopsis
In the clever opening scenes of Bombshell, film fans are seen fantasizing about the imagined, romantic life of Lola Burns (Harlow), movie star, imagining her as exotic and romantic, living in paradise with gorgeous men. Her name and face are plastered over all the movie mags and newspapers, which her fans devour eagerly, thinking how lucky she is.
But her real life is quite different—
Her maid, Loretta (Louise Beavers), wakes Lola up at 6am, prompting her to complain about running a milk route. But Lola and her maid have a great, close relationship, demonstrated through some risqué dialogue (Lola: Hey, I didn't give you that for a negligee, it's an evening wrap! Loretta: I know, Miss Lola, but the negligee what you give me got all tore up, night before last. Lola: Your day off is sure brutal on your lingerie.)
But the rest of the gang are not so pleasant to poor Lola. She and her personal secretary , Mac (Merkel), exchange barbs, the new butler brings her sauerkraut juice (Lola: It’s like dipping your tongue in lox.) and her hair and make-up artists get into a fight and end up knocking make-up all over her and the bed, while burning a hole through the covers with the curler.
Getting up is no better, Lola’s father (Morgan) is caught by her sneaking in from an all-nighter, still soused and wearing yesterday’s clothes. Her brother (Ted Healy) has taken her roadster down to Tijuana to look over a crop of ‘fillies’ and the cook took the station wagon, leaving Lola without a car. She flies off the handle for a moment (Lola: What am I supposed to go in, a kiddy car!?), until Ms. Caroll from Photoplay is allowed to enter, since Space Hanlon (Tracy) has promised her an interview. She is shown to another room and Lola rants about Space for a moment, but puts on a facade when in the interview. Her father, however, is a windbag and takes over the whole proceeding. And then the secretary comes in with a new script and retakes that Lola is unprepared for and will require a whole new make-up and hairdo. She can’t help herself and rants a little in front of the reporter. The last (well, almost) of the menagerie is introduced when Loretta appears with four giant sheepdogs. Lola leaves her house yelling, “Well, here goes to another day's work and I'm dead on my feet already! What’s the way out of this squirrel cage? Who knows? Who cares?”
Next up is the introduction of Space Hanlon. Another star, Alice Cole (June Brewster), comes busting into the office, screaming at him (Alice: I’ll stay out here if it takes a million jeers!) about a news article about her being at the bedside of a sick aviator and staying all night. He insists he had nothing to do with it and yells at a lawyer over the phone about it. He swears he’ll straighten it all out. But as soon as she leaves, he has his secretary call a paper to let them know Alice will be back that night.
Lola is going into the studio, but is accosted at the gate by a man who declares himself to be her husband. She screams for help until he’s tossed. She’s instantly beset by a studio assistant and three different salesmen. Space shows up soon after and refuses to leave, though they come to a laughing truce, while still clashing over his publicity for her. She wants to play more ladylike parts. Still, Space asks her out and she’s sorry not to go with him, though she’s happy in going with her Marquis (Ivan Lebedeff). They then yell about him, too, with her finally getting the last word (Space: Listen, Sugar, I know I'm no prize out of a Cracker Jack box. But, at least I don't allow a procession of dames to lead me around by the nose. Lola: That's because somebody forgot to put a ring in it!), while shoving him out of her room by the hair.
She gets on set to find that an old flame of hers, Jim Brogan (O’Brien), is going to be directing the retakes. She’s glad to see him, but doesn’t want to renew their romance. He is also very unimpressed with the Marquis, who comes to visit. Lola and the Marquis goof off together until Brogan gets upset and throws the script into the water barrel. Then the three of them get into an argument (Lola: He's got royal blood in his veins. Brogan: I don't care if he's got a royal flush in his kidneys. Tell him to scram! I can't stand him, I tell you. Tell him to get off!), made worse when her father shows up. Brogan turns his attention on him instead. Finally, Space comes on the set, smirks, and takes things into his hands. He sweet talks Brogan off the ledge, puffs up the Marquis and tells the father he needs to get some photographs taken. Problem solved. But before that, Lola ends up signing a check for $400 for her no good brother to get him out of more trouble (Lola: Oh, what the heck. Ma liked him).
Flash to the Cocoanut Grove, where Lola Burns is dancing with the Marquis. Even there, she’s surrounded by fans who want autographs, which she generously signs. And then the Feds show up from the Immigration Office and drag the Marquis off the scene, which Space has arranged for a case of fancy booze. He pretends to protest, but it’s perfect publicity for him. The Marquis is dragged off, leaving Lola frantic to get his bail. Space and Lola share a private moment, but then Lola hears the newspaper already has the story, and she blows up at him. His protestations fall on deaf ears, until she darts from the cab to escape.
Her ‘husband’ greets her at her house, until she darts inside and discovers her secretary using her home for a party. Lola is grumpy at her, especially when she notes that her secretary is ‘taking pretty good care of her wardrobe.’ Even the dog’s area is taken up by partiers. Meanwhile, her father is nowhere to be found.
So, Lola calls Brogan to ask for the $3,000 for the Marquis, though she lies that it’s for her brother. In a snit, Lola demands Space’s head for the stunt.
Space and the head of the studio meet to discuss the story, and as always, Space talks his way out of it. He hurries to her home and catches Lola falling out with the Marquis, who calls her ‘cheap,’ to which she calls him a ‘peanut vendor.’ But Space knows Lola and how to play her. He feeds her a ridiculous story about disappearing into the South Seas or somewhere. And she falls for it, especially when he says he wants to give her nice publicity. He has a reporter from the ‘Woman’s Home Companion’ outside to do a more personal interview. And as he anticipates, she calls the head of the studio and says that the demand for his resignation was a joke. There is obvious regard for him in her. For like two seconds. But then Jim Brogan comes up and another fight breaks out. (Space: Anytime Jim Brogan does anything out of pure friendship for a dame, I'll call the undertaker, he's dead!) And she throws him out again.
She dresses up ridiculously plain for the reporter, who is overly matronly. And that does rub off on Lola, especially when she mentions the ‘patter of little feet’ and the ‘right of all womanhood.’ Lola instantly gets dreamy about the idea and off she goes. Lola plays a scene with Brogan, declaring ‘an American must be the father of my child.’ She asks him to marry her, and he’s excited until she mentions lots of ‘little babies.’ He gets all concerned, but realizes that she’s fooling herself. Still, he’d like to have her back and makes a joke about her ‘renting’ a baby.
Bad move.
The joke’s on him. She goes straight to the adoption home and chooses a little guy. (It is obvious she is genuinely taken by the baby and feels strongly about him.) Unfortunately, they have to screen her home, and she asks them to come right away.
The reporters burst into Space’s office and demand to know about the baby, and he heads off to get a denial. But Lola has bought a ton of baby items already and is overwhelming everyone with her enthusiasm. Space gets the wrong idea when Lola tells him about a baby and is tender toward her (Space: Oh, Lola, honey, baby girl, you don't have to keep a stiff upper lip with me. You know - hey, listen - what's his name? That's all I wanna know! Don't tell me it's that - it's that…. Lola: Don't be silly! I don't even know his name yet. Space: You don't know his name? You mean you - you know - well, holy smoke, when are you gonna find out?), until he learns she means to adopt a baby. Then he gets upset about the idea ruining his ‘bombshell,’ not to mention trying to raise a baby in her insane home. She throws him out again. But he’s right about her home being a terrible place to bring up a baby and promptly runs off to prove it.
The ladies from the Foundling Home show up to interview her and look around. Lola admits the idea was a whim at first, but she’s obviously very taken now and wants the baby desperately.
And then her brother arrives with a woman in tow, more than slightly soused and loud. Her father manages to wrangle them away for the moment, though not without flirting with the ladies from the home. And Brogan enters shortly after, shooting off his face. It only gets worse, with the arrival of Space and some reporters (though Space gets very angry when one suggests the adoption is a cover for Lola’s pregnancy) and then the Marquis and his lawyer. Space sets them all loose on Lola, which devolves into a brawl between Brogan and the Marquis, complicated by barking dogs, her father and the woman her brother dragged home (Woman: I’m gettin’ sober, ain’t you?). The poor women from the Foundling Home creep out, while Lola tries to save her fish, Fanny, whose bowl has been knocked over in the fight.
Lola is distraught and even more so when she catches Space building up the story and declaring that he did it deliberately to prevent the adoption. And for once, his words aren’t enough to soothe her. She’s truly upset about the whole thing. And he finally feels a some regret, telling her he more than likes her.
At this declaration, she finally explodes at them all for being a pack of leeches. Each of them (with the exception of Loretta) gets a royal scathing, before Lola storms out, but Space gets the worst of it. (Lola: Is that the way you prove you just more than care for me? Treating me like a strip act in a burlesque show! A glamorous Bombshell, eh? A glorified chump, that's what I've been!)
The Studio and her father and brother are worried for their own ends, but Space finds her soon enough and sets out to bring her back.
Lola has run off to Desert Springs, where she is staying a swanky hotel. Space arrives and he hands her the fired line again. She cold shoulders him, but he just grins about it. He feeds her a line about an ‘Alice and Wonderland’ film, and it’s obvious she’s interested. However, when she confuses Alice and Cinderella, they get into yet another fight. She storms out this time.
During a horseback ride, Lola’s ‘husband’ appears again, but is driven off by the handsome Gifford Middleton (Tone). He offers to ride with her, and she’s taken by his appearance and charm. But he doesn’t like movies and knows nothing about Lola Burns. He gives her some sweet lines, which she swallows hard. (Gifford: Your hair is like a field of silver daisies. I'd like to run barefoot through your hair!) They spend the day together, but Space intrudes. Lola confesses that she’s a movie star, and Gifford promises to take her away from it all. She blossoms under the attention and plans to meet his parents the next day. She basks in the night, but Space interrupts again. He doesn’t buy Gifford’s line and gets tossed again. (The most recurring theme of the film is everyone trading off tossing each other or storming out of rooms with killer last lines.)
Gifford and Lola go to meet his parents (C. Aubrey Smith, Mary Forbes), who are totally square snobs. Even as things seem to go smoothly, her father and brother show up. And of course, they make a scene. Topping it off, a young girl shows up wanting an autograph, and Lola, as always, is sweet about it. Gifford has not told his parents, and they react with distress, especially as they’ve read the papers. Gifford follows after them, promising to take care of everything.
But he doesn’t.
When Lola, with father and brother in tow arrive at the arranged meeting, they find Space talking to the Middletons and trying to convince them that she’s a good person. But they’re having none of it, since the Middleton line goes back to Bunker Hill. And Gifford is with them, disgusted by the headlines. Poor Lola. Like with everyone else in her life, she bursts out and tells them off. (Lola: You can take your Boston's and your Bunker Hill's and your bloodline's and stuff a codfish with 'em! And then you know what you can do with the codfish!) She runs out, crying, but Space consoles her and basically makes her accept her family again. And pictures. And especially, her fans. Before she knows it, she’s running back to Hollywood.
Leaving Space grinning in triumph. He returns to the ‘Middletons’ who are actors, playing roles for Space to get Lola to go back to Hollywood.
And so she has. Happy to be back with everyone fawning over her for the moment. Still, she’s worried about Space, not knowing he wasn’t fired. She ignores all of her hangers on, fussing over where Space has gone. Until he bursts in on her asking her secretary to try and find him, not wanting him to go without getting to talk to him at least once.
He pulls her into the quiet of her empty dressing room, and they end up sharing a kiss. But then familiar voices intrude— the ‘Middletons’ coming to the studio. And Space is back in the doghouse. But only temporarily, as he follows her into her car, fast talking all of the way. He declares his love while hanging off her car door. But as soon as she’s forgiven him, her ‘husband’ shows up one last time, misses Space desperately waving him off and reveals he’s another trick of the publicity agent.
And so the film ends with them screaming at each other for a final time as the scene goes dark.
Discussion
Bombshell is a darkly hilarious smite of Hollywood’s dream machine and stars. Lola Burns is an immensely sympathetic character beset on all sides with people after her money and fame. And played by Jean Harlow, this character is even more poignant through the wisecracks. Harlow’s life was famously rocky and tragically short, with her main studio, MGM, fretting about her publicity throughout her career. (They would never have countenanced the risqué and downright scandalous tripe Space Hanlon sells.). In 1933, it was impossible to know that in three short years she’d die of complications due to kidney failure, but viewing this film through the lens of time, it is difficult not to wonder just how happy was the life of the lovely star, a real-life bombshell.
Choosing the strongest aspect of the film is difficult, but the screenplay definitely deserves consideration. Credited to five screenwriters, John Lee Mahin, Norman Krasna, Jules Furthman, C. Graham Baker, and Gene Towns, and based on the unpublished play of two other writers, Caroline Francke and Mack Crane, the whole thing could easily have ended up as a complete mess. Instead, built on a narrow main story of the few days in the life of a beleaguered film star, the pre-Code dialogue between everyone crackles with wit, sass and at times, pathos and genuine emotion. The characters spend the majority of the time pitching fits at each other, and even the smallest roles are gifted with superb one-liners. And dominating all of them is a master of dialogue, Lee Tracy. No stranger to warp-speed insults and double-talk, he is almost matched here by Jean Harlow, who gets to have some terrific emotional swings from screams to sweetness and back again all in a few well-scripted words. And because both of them were such superb actors, they manage to win the audience’s affections. An easier task for Harlow, whose Lola, though uneducated and a bit crass, is obviously kind and deserving of much more consideration than she receives from anyone in her life. Tracy’s job is more difficult, since Space is inherently a rat, but there is a vein of goodness in him, too, which he exploits to the maximum when the moment comes. Especially when he finally gets to take Harlow into a clinch, certainly the most glamorous of his on-screen partners. He lets out a little moan before the kiss.
The rest of the cast are no slouches, either. Frank Morgan is delightful as Lola’s pretentious, alcoholic father. He blends the characteristics of his by then stereotypical roles with a vein of drunken swagger, combined with affection for both his children and well-meaning, if rather pathetic, attempts to be supportive of Lola’s career. Ted Healy, as her unpretentiously soused brother, does not have many scenes, but slurs, inappropriately comments (saying of Lola: She's a corker! She's all wool and flat on the table.), and farbles across the screen excellently in those he does have. Pat O’Brien carries his role in typical style, including two spectacular blow-ups (one a rather spectacular fist fight with the Marquis) that allow him a few moments to shine. He’s particularly fine in verbally tearing up Lola’s very temporary boyfriend, the Marquis. Louise Beavers is a steady presence as the one reliable person in Lola’s life, the only person Lola takes with her when she throws the rest of them over (however temporarily). Una Merkel also makes the best of her small role, including getting into a very catty fight with Loretta, which she loses.
However, the best is saved for last, when Franchot Tone, C. Aubrey Smith and Mary Forbes show up as the Middletons. Franchot Tone was in his seventh film of a 36 year career, but he probably never got to speak such ridiculous lines again (Gifford: I've known you in every ripple of moonlight I've ever seen. In every symphony I've ever heard. In every perfume I've ever smelt.). And how he gets to play it up when Gifford realizes his newly beloved is not only a film star, but one tarnished by scandal. C. Aubrey Smith and Mary Forbes join the fun in time for an extremely awkward lunch with Lola’s father and brother (who show up uninvited). Their ridiculous snobbery is countered beautifully by Morgan and Healy’s cringeworthy boorishness. And poor Lola in the middle. Then they reveal themselves at the end to be nothing more than three mostly out-of-work actors for a nice final twist on their entire performance.Guiding the film is the steady hand of Victor Fleming, necessary for the madness on the screen. By 1933, he was a seasoned director and had already steered Harlow in Red Dust (1932) (which is kidded about in Bombshell) and would direct her again in Reckless (with William Powell, Franchot Tone and Rosalind Russell). Fleming had a reputation as a ‘man’s director,’ due to his directing a series of Douglas Fairbanks silents, including When the Clouds Roll By (1919) but he’d directed a couple of Clara Bow (to whom he was engaged at one point) comedies, including Mantrap (1926), as well. Those probably served as excellent preparation for this film, since the screenplay was supposedly based in part on her life. He was to go on before the end of the decade to direct his two most famous pictures, The Wizard of Oz (1939) (along with uncredited co-directors George Cukor, King Vidor, and Mervyn Leroy) and Gone With the Wind (1939) (with uncredited co-direction by Cukor and Sam Wood), but he passed away before the end of the next decade, in 1949. Joan of Arc (1948 ) was his last film, also starring a strong female lead in Ingrid Bergman.
Another essential element of the film are Harlow’s costumes, designed by Adrian. Harlow seldom looked better than she did in this film, dressed almost exclusively in white gowns that matched both her mood and bleach blonde hair. One was a centerpiece at a 2014 showing of gowns and jewelry from Hollywood. Both the title and her appearance in this film earned Harlow the public nickname of the Blonde Bombshell. Adrian had been working for eight years by the time of Bombshell and had already created iconic looks for actresses like Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, Norma Shearer and Ruth Chatterton. He worked with Harlow multiple times, including for the aforementioned Red Dust (where her dresses were risqué to say the least). He would go on to design for other glamorous stars, including Lana Turner, Greer Garson, Judy Garland and Katherine Hepburn. Although he designed many a fabulous outfit, Adrian’s best know work, just like Victor Fleming, is the Wizard of Oz (1939), although he also had his hands full that year designing all the garments for the stars of Cukor's The Women.
Bombshell received generally good reviews at the time of its release, with the Motion Picture Herald calling it one of the funniest, speediest, most nonsensical pictures ever to hit a screen.
The difficult-to-please Mordaunt Hall of the New York Times was less impressed, however, calling some scenes not precisely convincing,
which rather seems to miss the entire vibe of the picture. Convincing
is not quite what the screenplay was aiming for.
Beyond the sheer expertise with which this film was made, its most lingering legacy is the simple truth that the life of the people on the screen is not the glamorous fantasies their fans believe. From the beginning of acting, people have favored certain actors and made them stars. But stardom comes with a price— the total loss of your privacy and ability to simply exist. Everywhere Lola Burns goes, her fans recognize her and ask for autographs. Her publicist trumpets every element of her life and ruins her simplest dreams. Her career stresses her out and makes unhealthy demands of her time. Her family mooches off her shamelessly, and everyone she meets is just out for a piece of the pie (see Marquis). And in 1933, there was no internet, no 24 hour cable news, and no cell phones. Today’s actors must be even more conscious of hiding from paparazzi and fans and every bit of scandal or gossip about them is splashed everywhere for the whole world to see.
Bombshell’s black humor, therefore, is as relevant now as then.
Further Reading