Popular reviews

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  Review by Janica ★★

  Sexy pre-Code film, and actually a pretty disturbing picture of the (at first) generally acerbic awfulness of starlets, and then (later) the fickle, superficial whims that drive them, all of which makes someone like Jean Harlow like putty in the hands of the manipulative publicity man (who is also the romantic lead!?). What keeps this working, though (and despite the overlong running time), is that odd sense that everyone is sort of making everything up, the blocking and direction improvisatory around a generic MGM set, the actors given mostly free reign to be loose, casual, and carefree. The result, especially with the sheep dogs and Harlow’s combo of unclassy acting + classy and unsexy outfits + bralessness makes for general hilariousness.

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  Review by sarah ★★ 2

  Someone should have told all these 1930s actors that the invention and commercialization of sound film doesn't mean YOUHAVETOSHOUTALLYOURLINESLIKETHIS.

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  Review by nora ★★ 4

  oh my LORD just leave jean harlow the fuck alone!!!!!!!! the most irritating cast of intrusive men i have ever seen and for WHAT!!!! yes this works as a parody of the 30s star industrial complex and celebrity journalism but god am i exhausted watching my queen ms. harlow fend off all these locals for 90 minutes

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  Review by sakana1 ★★★½ 6

  There are several angles from which to watch and consider Bombshell.

  On one hand, it's a frantic comedy about a film star (Lola, played by Jean Harlow) and the endless challenges she faces, both in her own home and with her career in general. The supporting cast is sometimes quite funny (Franchot Tone, in particular, is perfectly pitched as the Flawless Poet Suitor), and it's fun to see Lola refuse to be beaten by the endless obstacles that are placed before her. Also, the dogs and the way Harlow deals with them are freaking great.

  On another hand, it's a wonderful vehicle for Jean Harlow. She's an intensely dynamic comedic performer -- her enraged hair flips become a central, particularly…

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  Review by PUNQ ★★★★

  A frustrating satire on Hollywood and movie star life! And I mean that is a positive way. It's so filled with obnoxious people all over. There is hardly a positive person in this movie. Everyone is a selfish son of a bitch and it's hilarious to watch. Not so much in a 'Ha-ha' kind of way, but it's funny in a honest and exaggerated way.

  
  Bombshell is a crowning performance for Jean Harlow as she has to be louder then every loud person in Hollywood to shine through and she does it! The story is loosely based on the 'It girl' Clara Bow and Harlow is even called the 'It girl' here so they didn't hide it. And you can…

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  Review by reed 🎄 ★★★½

  Other than everyone’s constant and shrill shouting.. this is great! This was my introduction to Jean Harlow.. and what a woman she was! The plays this part perfectly. After reading up on her it sounds like this part was basically MADE for her! 

  This movie ultimately just tells its audience that men really aren’t shit! I don’t know if audiences back then thought it was hilarious to watch this woman be stolen from by the people around her but I kept getting so annoyed. As a whole the movie is quite entertaining but I hate some of the plot lines.. maybe the director was trying to capture what it was like in that time period? Because I could see that. Either way I don’t know but Jean Harlow is dreamy. 🙂

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  Review by Anna Imhof 🌸

  I just love how real Jean Harlow is. When she blows her nose, she actually blows her nose. Puts her finger right up that thing, sparkly dress and all.

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  Review by Gentry ★★★½ 1

  “Who put all the prune whip on your pan?”

  Sheepdogs at the one hour mark—definitely a screwball. Comedic Jean Harlow stars in a meta take on early 30s Hollywood, her character loosely based on Clara Bow (Lola Burns, same three syllables) and herself (the all white mansion, wearing dresses without a brassiere), even spoofing her own rain barrel scene from Red Dust (“Hiya, slaves, back in Indochina again!”), her gold digger parents and her love for goldfish (RIP Fanny).

  She just wants a baby, but PR worm Lee Tracy doesn’t want his bombshell to turn into a rubber nipple. She’s lured back from her mental health break/sabbatical by the promise of a role in an adaptation of Alice in Wonderland…

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  Review by Greg Tiller ★★★

  Manipulation: The Movie

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  Review by Neill Shaughness ★★★★ 4

  Master manipulators
  1: Iago
  2: Richard III
  3: Space Hanlon

  This is an incredible indictment of Hollywood from the precode era. Every scene is dripping with cynicism. Harlow's shallow and mercurial starlet is a timeless trope of tinseltown as is the exploitive stage parent, and of course the unrepentant, machiavellian publicist, Space Hanlon.

  Not a lot of guys named Space these days.

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  Review by Filipe Furtado ★★★★

  Victor Fleming's Jean Harlow movies > Victor Fleming's 1939 movies

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  Review by Cineanalyst ★★★½ 5

  Bowed Down to Harlowdown and Screwballed Over

  “Bombshell” anticipated “Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?” (1957) like the sex-symbol stardom of Clara Bow preceded that of Marilyn Monroe, each film parodying the respective (or lack thereof) actress of their era (the biggest stars of their respective (again, or lack thereof) eras) with, albeit top-notch ones as far as it goes, knockoffs—Jean Harlow here and Jayne Mansfield in the latter. Both even incorporate the knockoff’s stardom into the roles otherwise mocking the knocked-offs. Mansfield’s prior picture “The Girl Can’t Help It” (1956) referenced in the later one, and Harlow preparing for the rain barrel scene from “Red Dust” (1932) here. Both, too, were made by a prominent collaborator of the star, playwright…