Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story Page #2

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I think it was the first time

anybody had ever done that.

I mean, in some ways,

it was analogous to a sex tape.

This was so scandalous

and really marked her

as this certain type of woman.

I don't know

if you ever saw that.

I don't believe I have.

There was a scene

in which I was totally alone

but it was cut so that it

showed that it was

a very hot sex scene,

which it wasn't.

You must have seen

a picture of that, right?

Yes, ma'am.

And I said, "Why do I have

to put my arms together?"

And they said,

"Don't ask so many questions."

"If you don't do what I say

then I put the needle

through the couch

so you do what I tell you."

And I was...

I didn't want to make any

commotion, so I did that.

And when I came back to Vienna

my father... I mean...

it was horrendous.

He wanted to kill me

practically.

What I did though...

right after that

I said, "I'll show them."

Fritz Kreisler

composed a musical called

'Elisabeth of Austria, '

the Queen of Austria,

and I had a big, big, big

success with that.

On stage.

I had ovations

and my father cried.

And then I got married

right after that.

Hedwig, as an actress,

drew, of course,

the attention of many people,

and one of those was

a man named Fritz Mandl.

I was married to

a munitions tycoon in Austria!

He is the Henry Ford of Austria.

He, at that point,

is 14 years her senior.

He is allied with the Nazis

because he's

an armaments manufacturer.

As it is the same today,

a lot of wealthy men would like

to decorate themselves

with beautiful women,

and I think she was,

for a minute,

fascinated with that as well.

We had a country house

with 25 guest rooms.

And we went hunting.

And I loved that.

Do you know guns?

Yes.

I had a Browning

and I shot a stag into the neck

350 meters.

Meters? Very long.

I'm a good shot

so be careful!

Hedy was Mandl's armpiece

at the banquets that he served

for admirals

in the German and Italian Navy.

She sat there and it was

her job to be beautiful,

but she was bored

out of her mind.

Fritz Mandl was,

by German measures, Jewish,

and therefore,

Hitler was concerned

not to be seen with him,

and I doubt very much

if Hitler was a guest

at one of their houses,

but Mussolini was.

I assume that

your first husband

was supplying arms to the...

To the Germans.

But he never let me in on...

He never even let me

come into the factory.

I disturbed the people.

I didn't know why...

Fritz did not like the effect

that his beautiful wife had

on other men.

He was immensely jealous

and paranoid about his wife.

He was constantly convinced

that she might be having

an affair.

The big mistake

my husband at the time did

he bought up prints of that...

dumb picture!

Mandl had the problem

of this film,

this dirty picture

which he tried to buy up,

and they started cranking

them out by the dozens,

and he eventually gave up

because, obviously,

they could make as many copies

as he chose to buy.

He turned out to be someone

who had the maids listen in

on her phone calls.

She had everything

she could ever want,

except the one thing that

Hedwig Kiesler always wanted

which was freedom.

By 1937,

the war was inevitable,

and she was

in a desperate situation.

Because after all,

Hitler had everything

in the palm of his hand.

When Ecstasy was released,

Hitler told the American press

he was banning it

because the lead actress

was Jewish.

Jewish people were not allowed

out on streets

at certain times of the day

and, gradually,

they were denied

more and more civil rights.

And this is one thing that led

to Hedy's father Emil's death

was his stress and worry

about what was happening.

He died suddenly

from a heart attack.

And I think that was

the turning point for her.

Deep traumatic experiences

change us,

and she came out the other side

remembering what her father

had advised her from childhood:

"Be yourself.

Choose and take what you want,"

which was certainly

Hedy's quality all her life.

There are stories,

whether they're apocryphal

or not,

who knows, but almost like

a prison escape.

Hedy had people watching her

all the time.

There was no way

to break loose.

So, one night,

they were having a dinner party,

and my mother

helped choose the maids

and caretakers,

and so she found someone

that looked like her a lot

'cause she had this in mind.

So, she had

this sleeping powder,

and she made this tea

and she switched the cups

with the maid,

and the maid drank it

and kind of fell asleep.

Now my mother's all ready.

She took all her jewels,

put 'em in the lining

of her coats.

She put on the maid's costume.

She jumped on her bicycle

and rode off.

My parents had friends

in England.

So I went there.

Pre-war London

was a safe haven.

Hedy spent several months there

trying to figure out

her next steps.

We one day went to a movie.

I forgot even what it was.

And they happened

to have a lion.

You know, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

So I said,

"Oh I want to be in that!"

She quickly found

an American film agent.

Somebody took me to a hotel

and there was

a little man there.

I didn't know who he was,

what he was.

I couldn't speak English,

obviously.

Louis B. Mayer

was the little man.

That was Louis B. Mayer?

With his entourage, yeah.

Louis B. Mayer,

of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer,

had come to Europe to buy up

all the actors and actresses

who were escaping Nazi Germany.

He figured he could take them

back to Hollywood

and enslave them in

his Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer empire

for a cheap price.

He offered her $125 a week

and reminded her

that she had to keep

her clothes on.

And she said, "I'm sorry,

that's not good enough,"

and walked out.

She impressed him, I'm sure.

People didn't usually turn down

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

But minutes

after she walked out,

she had second thoughts

and quickly booked passage

on the Normandie,

the ship Mayer was sailing

back to New York.

She, I think,

probably rather cleverly

made sure that she saw him

about the decks

in her tennis clothes

and so forth,

in her bathing suit.

On the first

or second night out,

Hedy went

to her very modest cabin

and pulled out

her designer couturier gown

and she put on

the last baubles that she owned

and she walked

through the dining room

of the Normandie,

past Louis B. Mayer's table.

There's Douglas Fairbanks Jr.

sitting right there,

and his eyes are glued

to Hedy Lamarr,

as are the eyes

of every man and woman

in that dining room.

And Louis B. Mayer knew

he had to have her.

He snapped his fingers

and I didn't know why,

I didn't know what...

all of a sudden

I got $500 every week.

Hedy Kiesler,

Hedy Kiesler, Kiesler.

We gotta do something

about the name.

So, Louis B. Mayer's wife

was there and she said,

"Well, Barbara La Marr

is one of my favorites.

Why not Hedy Lamarr?"

Lamarr, the sea, perfect.

Let's be Hedy Lamarr.

She didn't speak

a word of English.

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