Extraordinary women. Season 1, Episode 8, Hedy Lamarr / produced by WMR Productions ; in association with BBC Worldwide ; produced & directed by Johanna Gibbon.

Format:

Video

Contributor:

Gibbon, Johanna, director, producer.

Okonedo, Sophie, narrator.

WMR Productions (Firm), production company.

Series:

Academic Video Online

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Lamarr, Hedy, 1913-2000.

Lamarr, Hedy.

Women--Biography.

Women.

Actresses--Biography.

Actresses.

Genre:

Documentary films.

Biographical films.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (51 minutes)

Place of Publication:

London, England : British Broadcasting Corporation, 2011.

Language Note:

In English.

Original language in English.

System Details:

data file

Summary:

With her smouldering femme fatale looks, Austrian Hedy Lamarr was known as the most beautiful woman in film. She was also one of the most controversial. Hedvig Kiesler, as she was born, launched her film career by performing cinema’s very first nude scenes. Released in 1932, 'Ecstasy', in which she played the central role, 'Eva', shocked audiences and brought condemnation from critics across the world - it was banned in Germany, in America and by even the Pope. Her notoriety continued as she travelled from Europe to Hollywood. Although she would star in a string of box office hits, such as Cecil B Demille's sumptuous technicolour extravaganza 'Samson and Delilah', her endless pursuit of love and stability led to 6 disastrous, high-profile marriages. And her desperate struggle to combine career and motherhood led to her rejecting her children. Then, as her looks faded so did her career. She resorted to drastic plastic surgery and found a new way to make headlines - shoplifting. This could have been the tragic end to a once glamorous life on the silver screen. Yet, one aspect of her life remained largely a secret. Hedy Lamarr was an inventor. Fuelled by a deep hatred of the Nazi regime and her fervent desire to help her fellow Austrian Jews back home, Hedy Lamarr propelled herself into the war effort: she volunteered at the Hollywood Canteen for American troops and raised millions of dollars in war bonds. But, that's not all Hedy did. Most impressive of all, she invented a secret communication system designed to allow Allied submarines to guide torpedoes more accurately toward their enemy targets. Although the idea was not taken up by the Allied commanders at the time, her invention did eventually place her amongst the greatest minds at the forefront of modern communication technology. Her invention was developed to form the basis of all our wireless communications today.

Notes:

Title from resource description page (viewed February 03, 2017).

OCLC:

974293492