美国国家公共电台 NPR In 'Bombshell,' The Double Identity Of Hollywood Star Hedy Lamarr

 

LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST:

If you're hearing my voice through some kind of Bluetooth of Wi-Fi gadget¹, here's an interesting fact. Some ideas behind that technology can be traced back to an invention by a famous actress from the 1930s - her name, Hedy Lamarr.

(SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, "BOMBSHELL")

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As character) You never got very much out of this, did you?

HEDY LAMARR: (As herself) I got plenty - all I ask for, except the frosting. And I knew in my heart I'll never get that. A man told me so once.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: The story of this stunning² beauty of the silver screen is told in the new documentary "Bombshell." From a scandalous debut³ in the pre-war European film "Ecstasy⁴" to Hollywood films, including "Algiers" and "Samson And Delilah," there are little-known details of how she has worked grueling days by Hollywood producers and spent her nights in her own laboratory, where she loved to invent. Alexandra Dean is the director of "Bombshell," and she joins us now. Hi, there.

ALEXANDRA DEAN: Hi.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: This is an amazing story. At a certain point, Hedy Lamarr was among the biggest stars in Hollywood. But you start from her very beginnings. And I'd like to start there. She grew up in pre-war Austria, and she was Jewish.

DEAN: That's right. She grew up Jewish in an assimilated family in sort of an upper-middle class area of Vienna. And her father was a banker.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: And then she made her way to London after running away from her wealthy fascist⁵ husband. And this is where she meets Louis B. Mayer, the very famous head of the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios.

DEAN: That's right, yeah. And she's in mid-flight from the Nazis⁶. That's the incredible thing. She meets Louis B. Mayer in a hotel in London. And she knows she has this one shot to convince him that she could be a star in Hollywood. And it's not an easy discussion.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Right, she basically turns him down. He offered too little money, and then she regrets it. And she was incredibly audacious. I never knew this story. She booked passage on the same boat with Mayer after turning down his initial offer.

DEAN: Yeah, you've got to love this. So she's on the back foot already, right? She's fleeing the Nazis. Mayer thinks he can scoop⁷ her up at a discount price, like he's doing with all the other Jewish actors and actresses fleeing the Nazis. He offers her this lowball offer. She storms out. And immediately, her agent says to her, you're in big trouble. He's off to New York in the morning on this big ship, the Normandy, and the tickets are sold out. And she goes, you know what? I'm going to find a way on that ship.

And this is how she is. She's got this incredible mind. And the first thing she thinks is, who can I impersonate? And she impersonates the governess for a young prodigy⁸ - a musical prodigy that the agent also represented, who did not need a governess in anyway. I believe he was 17 or something.

But she impersonated his governess, got on board and, as soon as she was on board, dressed herself as the megastar she wanted Louis B. Mayer to see her as - paraded herself in front of him until he was so dazzled at the reaction she was getting from the men on the ship that he offered a factor of five times more for the same contract at his studio, and also the guarantee that she would be treated as a star.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: And she becomes a big star, celebrated⁹ for her incredible beauty. But she had brains, and she had this other life. Tell us about that.

DEAN: That's right. She had this double identity that is so fascinating to all of us. She was on soundstages all day with Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, Jimmy Stewart - I mean, the biggest stars. And at night, she was going home and inventing. And she was inventing with her sometime-boyfriend Howard Hughes.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: And he gave her this tiny laboratory that she would - that she had as well. You have pictures of it. It's extraordinary.

DEAN: Yeah, he gave her the laboratory. He gave her access to his chemists. So she had people helping¹⁰ her with her ideas.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: What attracted you to this story?

DEAN: You know, I was doing a series on inventors for two years for Bloomberg Television called "Innovators." And it really gave me this moment to meditate¹¹ on - who are the inventors who create our world? How do we celebrate them? What are the obstacles that they face? And one of the obstacles that a lot of the inventors that were not the typical classical inventor you'd have in your mind when you close your eyes...

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Ben Franklin.

DEAN: By that, I mean women or diverse candidates.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Yeah.

DEAN: They would say to me, look, it's a little harder for us to get taken seriously to get funding. That's why there's less of us. And that really, you know, bothered me, stayed with me. And I saw Richard Rhodes's book "Hedy's Folly," which was given to me by Katherine Drew, a great producer in our office. And I realized this was the answer to my question. You know, some people are intentionally¹² - you know, they're erased¹³ - or not intentionally erased from the cultural dialogue because they just don't seem like inventors.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: They don't seem to be the right person. She invented, we should say, frequency-hopping signals, which is a form of encryption, with the composer George Antheil. And she gets the patent for guiding torpedoes¹⁵ essentially¹⁶ during World War II. But the Navy shelves it until much later.

LAMARR: That's right. The Navy shelved it because the Navy didn't understand it. In fact, when we look at the history of torpedoes during the Second World War, it's clear that the Allies were way behind the Nazis when it came to the kind of torpedoes that we had. We, in fact, hadn't put very much money into torpedo¹⁴ technology at all. So what she presented them with was leaps and bounds beyond, in fact, their comprehension at the time. But they just dismissed it out of hand thinking this was something that a musician and a gorgeous movie star came up with.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Yeah. What struck me about the way you portray¹⁷ her is how complicated she was. She became addicted¹⁸ to meth through the infamous¹⁹ Dr. Feelgood. And it made her, according to her own children, a monster. She abandoned her adopted son. But you portray her as a victim of the very system that built her up.

DEAN: That's right because what we learn about the system, when we study Hedy's story, is that the system really worked these actresses like they were, you know, in a stable. They were racehorses in a stable. They were worked from morning to night. And the way that they got them to do that was to feed them drugs - downers and uppers. It was not uncommon²⁰ at the time - a lot of speed. And Hedy got hooked on these drugs. And in the end, that's what destroyed her.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: She got no money for her great big invention, which ended up being used by the military and is now the basis for encrypted Wi-Fi, Bluetooth. And she died poor and a recluse²¹.

DEAN: Yeah, she did have actually $3 million when she died. But that was only right before she died. And she got it from a lawsuit²² with the Corel company. They were putting her face on a graphics²³ box. And she sued them because they thought she was dead. They didn't know she was living as a recluse in Florida. And so she won $3 million in that suit. And to offset²⁴ the taxes on that, she thought I'll give the Smithsonian the paper upon which my patent has been written. And the Smithsonian had that paper valued for her. And unfortunately, they didn't get back to her before she died. But I did find the man that took it to the Smithsonian for her. And I found out that the patent itself, in 2000, was valued at $6 million, which was twice her face.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: So what does this story mean to you? I mean, there is a wider point. Especially right now, women are talking about powerful men and their abuses being sidelined. What is the takeaway for you from her life?

DEAN: You know, the takeaway for me is really the poem that she reads at the end of the movie.

(SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, "BOMBSHELL")

LAMARR: (As herself, reading) People are unreasonable²⁵, illogical and self-centered. Love them anyway.

DEAN: You'll see she reads this poem, which is very moving, because she's had so much disappointment and felt so overlooked in her life.

(SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, "BOMBSHELL")

LAMARR: (As herself, reading) The biggest people with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest people with the smallest minds. Think big anyway.

DEAN: Even if you feel that you've been kicked in the teeth, and the world never gave you the applause you deserved...

(SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, "BOMBSHELL")

LAMARR: (As herself, reading) Build anyway.

DEAN: ...Do it anyway because it's in changing the world that you'll find meaning at the end of your life. It's in trying to make your mark. And I love that. And I think everybody should listen to that. It's in the work, the doing, that you'll find meaning not in the applause.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Alexandra Dean is the director of "Bombshell." Thank you very much.

DEAN: Thank you.

(SOUNDBITE OF KARL BOHM & WIENER PHILHARMONIKER'S "J. STRAUSS II: AN DER SCHONEN BLAUEN DONAU, OP.314")

1 gadget   

n.小巧的机械，精巧的装置，小玩意儿

参考例句：

• This gadget isn't much good.这小机械没什么用处。
• She has invented a nifty little gadget for undoing stubborn nuts and bolts.她发明了一种灵巧的小工具用来松开紧固的螺母和螺栓。

2 stunning   

adj.极好的；使人晕倒的

参考例句：

• His plays are distinguished only by their stunning mediocrity.他的戏剧与众不同之处就是平凡得出奇。
• The finished effect was absolutely stunning.完工后的效果非常美。

3 debut   

n.首次演出，初次露面

参考例句：

• That same year he made his Broadway debut, playing a suave radio journalist.在那同一年里，他初次在百老汇登台，扮演一个温文而雅的电台记者。
• The actress made her debut in the new comedy.这位演员在那出新喜剧中首次登台演出。

4 ecstasy   

n.狂喜，心醉神怡，入迷

参考例句：

• He listened to the music with ecstasy.他听音乐听得入了神。
• Speechless with ecstasy,the little boys gazed at the toys.小孩注视着那些玩具，高兴得说不出话来。

5 fascist   

adj.法西斯主义的；法西斯党的；n.法西斯主义者，法西斯分子

参考例句：

• The strikers were roughed up by the fascist cops.罢工工人遭到法西斯警察的殴打。
• They succeeded in overthrowing the fascist dictatorship.他们成功推翻了法西斯独裁统治。

6 Nazis   

n.（德国的）纳粹党员( Nazi的名词复数 )；纳粹主义

参考例句：

• The Nazis worked them over with gun butts. 纳粹分子用枪托毒打他们。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Nazis were responsible for the mass murder of Jews during World War Ⅱ. 纳粹必须为第二次世界大战中对犹太人的大屠杀负责。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 scoop   

n.铲子，舀取，独家新闻；v.汲取，舀取，抢先登出

参考例句：

• In the morning he must get his boy to scoop it out.早上一定得叫佣人把它剜出来。
• Uh,one scoop of coffee and one scoop of chocolate for me.我要一勺咖啡的和一勺巧克力的。

8 prodigy   

n.惊人的事物，奇迹，神童，天才，预兆

参考例句：

• She was a child prodigy on the violin.她是神童小提琴手。
• He was always a Negro prodigy who played barbarously and wonderfully.他始终是一个黑人的奇才，这种奇才弹奏起来粗野而惊人。

9 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

10 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

11 meditate   

v.想，考虑，（尤指宗教上的）沉思，冥想

参考例句：

• It is important to meditate on the meaning of life.思考人生的意义很重要。
• I was meditating,and reached a higher state of consciousness.我在冥想，并进入了一个更高的意识境界。

12 intentionally   

ad.故意地，有意地

参考例句：

• I didn't say it intentionally. 我是无心说的。
• The local authority ruled that he had made himself intentionally homeless and was therefore not entitled to be rehoused. 当地政府裁定他是有意居无定所，因此没有资格再获得提供住房。

13 erased   

v.擦掉( erase的过去式和过去分词 )；抹去；清除

参考例句：

• He erased the wrong answer and wrote in the right one. 他擦去了错误答案，写上了正确答案。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He removed the dogmatism from politics; he erased the party line. 他根除了政治中的教条主义，消除了政党界限。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 torpedo   

n.水雷，地雷；v.用鱼雷破坏

参考例句：

• His ship was blown up by a torpedo.他的船被一枚鱼雷炸毁了。
• Torpedo boats played an important role during World War Two.鱼雷艇在第二次世界大战中发挥了重要作用。

15 torpedoes   

鱼雷( torpedo的名词复数 )； 油井爆破筒； 刺客； 掼炮

参考例句：

• We top off, take on provisions and torpedoes, and go. 我们维修完，装上给养和鱼雷就出发。
• The torpedoes hit amidship, and there followed a series of crashing explosions. 鱼雷击中了船腹，引起了一阵隆隆的爆炸声。

16 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

17 portray   

v.描写，描述；画(人物、景象等)

参考例句：

• It is difficult to portray feelings in words.感情很难用言语来描写。
• Can you portray the best and worst aspects of this job?您能描述一下这份工作最好与最坏的方面吗？

18 addicted   

adj.沉溺于....的，对...上瘾的

参考例句：

• He was addicted to heroin at the age of 17.他17岁的时候对海洛因上了瘾。
• She's become addicted to love stories.她迷上了爱情小说。

19 infamous   

adj.声名狼藉的，臭名昭著的，邪恶的

参考例句：

• He was infamous for his anti-feminist attitudes.他因反对女性主义而声名狼藉。
• I was shocked by her infamous behaviour.她的无耻行径令我震惊。

20 uncommon   

adj.罕见的，非凡的，不平常的

参考例句：

• Such attitudes were not at all uncommon thirty years ago.这些看法在30年前很常见。
• Phil has uncommon intelligence.菲尔智力超群。

21 recluse   

n.隐居者

参考例句：

• The old recluse secluded himself from the outside world.这位老隐士与外面的世界隔绝了。
• His widow became a virtual recluse for the remainder of her life.他的寡妻孤寂地度过了余生。

22 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

23 graphics   

n.制图法，制图学；图形显示

参考例句：

• You've leveraged your graphics experience into the video area.你们把图形设计业务的经验运用到录像业务中去。
• Improved graphics took computer games into a new era.经改进的制图技术将电脑游戏带进了一个新时代。

24 offset   

n.分支，补偿；v.抵消，补偿

参考例句：

• Their wage increases would be offset by higher prices.他们增加的工资会被物价上涨所抵消。
• He put up his prices to offset the increased cost of materials.他提高了售价以补偿材料成本的增加。

25 unreasonable   

adj.不讲道理的，不合情理的，过度的

参考例句：

• I know that they made the most unreasonable demands on you.我知道他们对你提出了最不合理的要求。
• They spend an unreasonable amount of money on clothes.他们花在衣服上的钱太多了。