From the beginning of her 38-year acting career, Hedy Lamarr remolded the image women were allowed to portray in film. She was quickly recognized for her stunning beauty and thrust into the public eye. Her most controversial film, Ecstasy, established the perception of her as a sex symbol more than an actress.
Just A Pretty Face
In her subsequent films, her casting appeared to be an excuse to have her face on screen rather than to showcase her talent. Even critical reviews largely avoided assessing her technical skill and instead praised her beauty. The pressure to be beautiful was suffocating for Lamarr. She was one of the most renowned women in Hollywood and yet her craft was constantly discredited.
(Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story)
Critical reception of Boom Town equated
Hedy's performance to her beauty.
"One doesn't really notice if she can act—she's that beautiful!"
~ Film Critic on Ecstasy, 1933
A Glamorous Public Image
She had an important social position as a result of her fame, but it was incredibly fragile, since it rested solely on what people expected of a beautiful woman. Her story was manipulated and hidden from the public, even in her own autobiography.
"Any girl can be glamorous. All you have to do is stand still and look stupid."
~ Hedy Lamarr, in response to her frequent typecasting
"[My face has] brought me tragedy and heartache for five decades. My face is a mask I cannot remove: I must always live with it. I curse it."
~ Hedy Lamarr, Ecstasy and Me
Mars Film Corporation
When Lamarr was not cast in meaningful roles, she took matters into her own hands and started her own production company, Mars Film Corporation. She starred in films of her choosing, but the public was not yet ready to embrace a female producer. The lack of commercial success forced her back to MGM. The film that led her to fame branded her with a promiscuous reputation and few people understood that she could be more than just another brainless beauty.
(Britannica ImageQuest)
Hedy Lamarr (left), Judy Garland
Lana Turner in Ziegfeld Girl, produced
by MGM
(Britannica ImageQuest)
Hedy Lamarr and her co-star, George Sanders, in her
self-produced film, The Strange Woman
Despite her failures, her attempt shook the status quo, and the success of women later on remains tied to her work among the first female film producers.