source: Bombshell

Bombshell

With it all, Jean Harlow gave quite a performance in this 1933 film. She portrays a volatile actress giving out constant outbursts with her staff. The film shows the effects of a publicity agent whose scheming has brought Lola (Harlow) to what she is. She desperately wants to be her own woman, but is caught up in the general Hollywood mayhem. The part where Harlow wanted to adopt a baby, but the people from the agency being scared off by the various Hollywood types including her outrageous father and pathetic brother/ The film also brings out how everything in tinsel land is so basically false. Her publicity agent really loves her and the film ends with her finding out about his latest scheme. These agents will stop at nothing to get their star ahead.

Movie star Lola Burns (Jean Harlow) is pissed off and her life is chaos. Her father Pops is an incompetent manager. She is angry at her studio publicist "Space" Hanlon (Lee Tracy). Her boyfriend gets arrested. She's tired of the business and tries to adopt a baby. The dialogue is rapid fire. It's a lot of yelling. I'm not in love with Lola and that's the biggest problem in this movie. I need to really get invested in her chaos but I don't really care that much. Her life gets much more chaotic and convoluted. I like the energy of the screwball chaos. The humor doesn't strike me as that funny.

I missed the first half of the film on TCM but saw enough to follow the story and enjoyed what I did watch--in fact, so much so that I'll have to catch the whole film next time. JEAN HARLOW seemed to be at the peak of her career as a blonde bombshell, just as she is in this story--and hating every moment of it. Seems she wants desperately to get away from the studio manipulations and particularly those of her ruthless press agent LEE TRACY. MGM obviously believed enough in the story to surround Harlow with some first-rate performers including Frank Morgan as her whiskey loving father and Franchot Tone as an amorous suitor who declares he wants to "run barefoot through her hair". It's a witty script and there's a bit of a surprise to the ending. All in all, a delightful romp for Harlow and surely her fans will appreciate her comic flair in this one.

Jean Harlow shines as a movie sex starlet who's tired of all the negative publicity drummed up by her studio's publicist (Tracy) to promote her career. she wants to adopt a baby and play "respectable" roles, but society's mavens continually reject her (this "picture girl") and everything she tries to do for herself is thwarted by Tracy, who (more or less) secretly loves her. Very funny and well directed by Fleming, not slapstick as some claim, but more like Hawks/Sturges/Wilder style "screwball."

Hysterical comedy with Jean Harlow playing Lola Burns--an actress being driven crazy by her dysfunctional family and her overzealous publicity man (Lee Tracy). VERY quick, very risque (this was pre-Code) and very funny spoof/satire on Hollywood, the studios and the stars. One liners fly fast and furious and the film almost never stops for breath. Harlow is just incredible--she's sexy, funny and one hell of an actress! She carries the whole picture on her shoulders. She's matched by Tracy who plays the role of a slimy publicity man to perfection. Frank Morgan and Franchot Tone offer great comedic support also (especially Tone with his "romantic" lines). Basically this is a true classic comedy. It deserves a lot more recognition than it gets. It's also a chance to see Harlow in her prime--she was an incredible actress who died tragically at a very young age. This is an absolute must-see. Don't miss it!