‘Bombshell’ Tells the Amazing Story of Hedy Lamarr, the Star and Inventor

 

“Any girl can be glamorous,” the actress Hedy Lamarr once said. “All you have to do is stand still and look stupid.” It’s a withering observation, especially for a Hollywood star once known as “the most beautiful woman in the world.” Beauty brought Lamarr fame, at least until everything fell spectacularly apart; as with too many actresses, beauty was also her gilded cage. The new documentary “Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story” shows how hard and how long she struggled to escape it — including through her invention in the 1940s of a groundbreaking communication system that underlies modern encryption."   

read review by Manohla Dargis