SummarySexpot film star Lola Burns seeks a new image and tries marrying a marquis and adopting a baby - all sorts of schemes which go awry.
Directed By:Victor Fleming
Written By:John Lee Mahin, Jules Furthman, Caroline Francke, Mack Crane, C. Graham Baker, Norman Krasna, Gene Towne
Bombshell
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
81
User score
Mixed or Average
5.8
My Score
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Top Cast
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
81
100% Positive
9 Reviews
9 Reviews
0% Mixed
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
100
This early precursor to Sunset Boulevard and The Bad and the Beautiful was so inside that many people outside the movie business didn't catch the nuances, and it still packs a considerable comic punch.
90
I have a weakness for inside Hollywood films, and this smart and fearless item starring Jean Harlow as an amalgam of herself and Clara Bow is not as well-known as it should be. [03 Apr 2020, p.E1]
80
Allegedly based on the career of Clara Bow (who, like Lola, had a parasitic family and a duplicitous private secretary), Bombshell is a prime example of Jean Harlow at her comic best.
80
Great fun in the uninhibited early-30s style, made at M-G-M before fear of church pressure groups turned the studio respectable and pompous.
80
Here's a crackling comedy built out of the low down on Hollywood, elaborately dressed up with a lot of inside stuff, written with fine jaunty insouciance and acted with luscious abandon by a tip top cast. [24 Oct 1933, p.17]
75
One of Jean Harlow's best pictures, this 1933 feature is a merciless satire of Hollywood, with Harlow as a movie star and Lee Tracy as her publicity agent.
70
Although there are moments when the comedy is too rambunctious and scenes which are not precisely convincing, it is for the most part a merry, fast-paced diversion.
User score
Mixed or Average
5.8
40% Positive
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
40% Mixed
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
20% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
Jul 18, 2023
7
Amusing, fast paced satire on Hollywood and the PR machine, Jean Harlow appears to be having a good time, spoofing her image, and sending up actual productions like Red Dust. It was also nice of the film to examine the incredible fan adoration of movie stars in the 1930s,
Production Company:
- Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
Release Date:Oct 13, 1933
Duration:1 h 36 m
Rating:TV-G
Tagline:An explosion of laughter...with beautiful Jean Harlow as the female fire-cracker of filmdom! (Newspaper ad).
Awards
Photoplay Awards
• 3 Wins & 3 Nominations
