Bombshell (1933)

Sexpot film star Lola Burns seeks a new image and tries marrying a marquis and adopting a baby - all sorts of schemes which go awry.

Director:

Victor Fleming (uncredited)

Writers:

John Lee Mahin (screenplay), Jules Furthman (screenplay)

Stars:

Jean Harlow, Lee Tracy, Frank Morgan

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Jean Harlow	...	Lola
Lee Tracy	...	Space
Frank Morgan	...	Pops
Franchot Tone	...	Gifford
Pat O'Brien	...	Brogan
Una Merkel	...	Mac
Ted Healy	...	Junior
Ivan Lebedeff	...	Marquis
Isabel Jewell	...	A Girl Friend (as Isobel Jewell)
Louise Beavers	...	Loretta
Leonard Carey	...	Winters
Mary Forbes	...	Mrs. Middleton
C. Aubrey Smith	...	Mr. Middleton
June Brewster	...	Alice Cole
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Nils Asther	...	Undetermined Role (scenes deleted)

Storyline

Lola Burns is at the top of the pile in Hollywood. But life ain't easy, what with her father and brother always hanging around for handouts, and devious studio publicity honcho Space Hanlon cooking up endless lurid newspaper stories. Makes a girl want to give up pictures.

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Plot Keywords:

screwball comedy | publicity | hollywood | marquis | movie star | 

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Taglines:

A romance of the cinema star whose headaches make headlines. (Newspaper ad).

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 October 1933 (USA)

Also Known As:

Akta er för gnistor!

Filming Locations:

Pioneer Hotel, downtown Tucson, Arizona, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$344,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The Three Stooges (Larry Fine, Curly Howard and Moe Howard) were to be in the movie but never appeared.

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Goofs

Saguaro cactus do not grow in California but from central Arizona to northern Mexico.

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Quotes

Space Hanlon: I'm from the telephone company. You might not know it but there is something a matter with your telephone. Where is it?
Yokahama: Phone? There! I talk phone just now. Work good.
Space Hanlon: [to the Asian butler] Probably what happened to it - you "confused" it.

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Connections

References Red Dust (1932)

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Soundtracks

Estrellita
(uncredited)
Music by Manuel M. Ponce

User Reviews

Super entertainment

Count me in. This slam-bang, snap-crackle-pop picture is a doozy, never pausing for breath as it zips along its nifty, irreverent way, superbly cast so as to let everyone do what he/she does best.

As if its entertainment value were not enough, it has something to say, so cleverly that it mocks itself along with a half-dozen other victims. Where the movie business is concerned, nothing is what it seems to be - except when it is. At the center of it all are a press agent to whom lies come so naturally that he would require a moment of intense concentration before he could utter a word of truth - if he wanted to; and a colossal star, neither educated nor bright, a small-town girl who, without half-trying, becomes what every woman yearns to become - except that she yearns to be something else.

Jean Harlow was considerably more than a glamor girl. Limited (as many studio players were) to one type of screen persona, she brought it off with success in both comedy and drama, perfecting the mannerisms, gestures and nuances. Lee Tracy, born to play the kind of role he was given here (and elsewhere), is without peer as the fast-talking, shifty-eyed conniver, a rascal beholden to no ethical sense but his own. Their supporting cast - with a special nod to Frank Morgan's tipsy, dithering poseur - is uniformly excellent. Don't miss this one.