"Bombshell" is a breezy, very funny and unpredictable romp about Lola Burns(Jean Harlow), a popular movie star whose famous image clashes with her chaotic personal life, starting with her neer-do-well father(Frank Morgan) and her latest flame, Hugo(Ivan Lebedeff), supposedly a marquis. And that's where Space
Hanlon(Lee Tracy), who handles publicity for Monarch Pictures, comes in, as he tries to maintain Lola's image for her devoted public. Of course, how he goes about that might seem a little underhanded as he tries to get Hugo deported. But he means well, not wanting her to make any mistakes that could wreck her career where she makes five movies a year.
What's most surprising about "Bombshell" is how far ahead of its time it is in the department of metafiction. See, the movie that Lola is working on is called "Red Dust" with Clark Gable and there are some reshoots that have to be made under the direction of James Brogan(Pat O'Brien). It's the barrel scene, if you must know.
March 7, 2010
