Actuakers One of my all time favorites.

XoWizIama Excellent adaptation.

Intcatinfo A Masterpiece!

Nayan Gough A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

SimonJack Other reviewers have noted how closely this story comes to Jean Harlow's real life. Not so much the nightlife as her personal life with a highly dysfunctional family. I also was surprised, as were a couple of other reviewers, at Hollywood's seeming transparency in the making of this film. If nothing else, "Bombshell" is a scathing expose of the hype and hoopla that the movie studios used to promote their stars. They even manufactured gossip and scandals to make the news and keep the stars in the limelight. But the limelight began to sour from some scandals, and the movie industry began to back away from and even cover up such publicity – that was no longer to the public's liking. "Bombshell" is a good movie in showing such a crazy life as Jean Harlow apparently had. She plays Lola Burns in this the movie. Harlow was a very good actress who had a markedly different stage persona than all other leading ladies of her day and for decades thereafter. She had a toughness and briskness in her manner. She seldom played a refined woman. In the few scenes in this or other films where she shows gentleness, kindness or softness, it's a real stretch because of that persona. Still, she is very good in this film. The movie has a nice list of top movie names of the day – Pat O'Brien, Franchot Tone, Frank Morgan, Una Merkel, Lee Tracy. But the movie is mostly about her, and Space Hanlon, played by Tracy. Tracy was an nearly film leading man known for his fast-talking, high-energy roles. The IMDb Web site biography on Tracy nails the guy and his persona. It reads, in part, "this actor with a voracious appetite for high living was a … representation of the racy and race-paced style of … Hollywood."It doesn't take long for one to thoroughly dislike Space Hanlon (a credit to the script and Tracy's acting); but after a while this film strikes one as awfully noisy. And, it goes on a bit too long. The cleverness in the film is in the manipulation and management of the press that Hanlon demonstrates. It is peppered with some witty lines here and there, but I think, far too few for a comedy. Some of the best lines in the movie are telltale about Hollywood – the industry, the life, and the culture. Here are some of my favorites. Pat O'Brien as Jim Brogan says to Lola, "Say listen, you can't raise a family and make five or six pictures a year."Tracy's Hanlon says to the press, "Well, listen. Don't you know that Lola Burns can't have a baby?" Some reporters, "No? No? Why?" Hanson, "It's not in her contract."Hanlon and Burns are talking. Hanlon, "Listen, you can't adopt a baby." Lola, "As if you or anybody else could stop me." Hanlon, "Yeah, but that isn't your line. The fans don't want to see the 'IF' girl surrounded by an aura of motherhood leaning over a cradle, sterilizing bottles. I dubbed you the Hollywood Bombshell, and that's the way they like you. Men! Scrapes! Dazzling clothes! A gorgeous personality. Not pattin' babies on the back to bring up bubbles." Lola, "There's a lot of other people in this business have happy healthy babies."Later, Hanlon says, "OK, baby, you win. But I'll tell you one thing. The house with your family is about as a fine a place to bring up a baby as an alligator farm."

Spuzzlightyear Fun Jean Harlow movie here as she plays a starlet pretty much created by the media via sensational headlines and her trying to get away from all of it (gee, how times change). The movie has that 1930's crackle where everyone is super hyper talking all at once, and you're struggling to catch up with all of it. Even though Harlow is the title Bombshell, I was really impressed with Lee Tracy as her publicist who seems to know Harlow more than she knows herself. It sort of does get monotonous towards the end, and the twist just doesn't really resolve anything, as a matter of fact, we're right back where we started. But it's still a fun sit through.

chuck-reilly Jean Harlow, the "Bombshell" of the title, is at her best in this fast-talking and fast-moving picture. She's aided and abetted by Lee Tracy as her agent (Hanlon) who can out-talk and out-think most of humanity while he's multi-tasking and doing his conniving best. The plot is simple: Harlow is a superstar and her agent Tracy will do everything he can to keep her on top of the heap. That means he'll use every trick in the book (and then some) to accomplish his mission. The rest of the cast is filled with famous names although most of them were just beginning their careers way back when this early "talkie" was made. Pat O'Brien, Franchot Tone, Una Merkel, C. Aubrey Smith are just a few of the characters that populate this entertaining film. Director Victor Fleming (uncredited) keeps the action and the dialog moving at break-neck speed. There's no question that Howard Hawks adopted this hyper-style for his famous "His Gal Friday" a few years later. Alas, poor Jean was to live only a few more years afterward. But there's no doubt in any film historian's mind that she was the original Blonde Bombshell and everyone else that followed her were mere impostors. Ms. Harlow has been the subject of many biographies (both books and films) and there's a new "coffee table" volume out on the market that does her justice. She's been gone a long time but very well-remembered.

blanche-2 Jean Harlow is the "Bombshell" of the 1933 film also starring Franchot Tone, Frank Morgan, Lee Tracy, Pat O'Brien, Una Merkel, Isabel Jewell, Louise Beavers, Ted Healy, and C. Aubrey Smith. Harlow plays a star, Lola Burns, who has a career very similar to Jean Harlow's - in fact, she starred in "Red Dust" with Clark Gable! She's the "It" girl where Harlow was the "If" girl. From the first time we meet Lola, it's obvious that she is overwhelmed by the pressures of her home life, which in turn puts pressure on her career duties. Her drunken father (Morgan) acts as her business manager but her bills aren't paid and she doesn't have any money; she constantly has to bail her brother out of trouble; there's a newspaper man who prints one lie after another about her; one of the people in her household wears her clothes and steals from her; she has three huge dogs; her brother shows up with a tramp; the assistant director on "Red Dust," Jim Brogan (Pat O'Brien) is in love with her and goes crazy when he sees Hugo, the Marqis de Pisa de Pisa on the set (and it's in his storyline that strong prejudice against immigrants is shown); and her agent (Lee Tracy) is a puppeteer in a sick puppet show - Lola's life.Lola wants out. She decides that she wants to adopt a child and falls in love with a baby at an orphanage but the home visit is a total disaster. Disgusted with her life and all the leaches around her, she takes off, seeking peace and quiet. It's in peaceful surroundings that she meets the wealthy Gifford Middleton. It's love at first sight. Just when she's meeting Gifford's parents, her father and brother appear.This is a very funny comedy and also very touching, as Lola's sweet personality and desire for a stable family is evident. She swears to Gifford that she's through with show business but becomes concerned when told there hasn't been anything about her in the papers lately. She's young and has no idea what she really wants. Her agent plays off of this and uses it to his own advantage. To most people, she's a blond gravy train.All of the actors are terrific. Franchot Tone is hilarious, totally and deliberately WAY over the top saying lines such as the one in the summary box. Harlow is surrounded with the best character actors - Lee Tracy, who despite a scandal in 1934 managed to enjoy a nearly 40-year career is great as Lola's fast-talking scam artist agent; Frank Morgan plays his usual role of a weak man, but not a bad one; Louise Beavers brings spark to the role of a maid; Pat O'Brien is in top form as the volatile Brogan.But it's Harlow's film, and she keeps up with the frantic pace of the film beautifully. Funny and vulnerable, she's hilarious when she pretends she's upper class, as she's often done in her films - no one has ever pulled that off quite like she has. Certainly one of the most lovable and charismatic actresses ever on screen. It's unbelievable that she didn't have a chance to live a full life. "Bombshell" is one of her best films among a lot of wonderful ones.