La Plus Belle Femme du Monde

Hedy Lamarr: An Incredible Life #1-2

by William Roy (Contributor), Sylvain Dorange (illustrator)

"La plus belle femme du monde..." ! Surnommée ainsi par son producteur, Hedy Lamarr se voit ouvrir les portes d'Hollywood après avoir fui l'Autriche nazie et un premier mari marchand d’armes. Femme de caractère, séduisante et croqueuse d'hommes (6 maris et de nombreux amants célèbres), Hedy aura du mal à exister pour autre chose que sa beauté... dans une industrie cinématographique régie exclusivement par des hommes, dans l'Amérique des années 1940-50. Et pourtant Hedy n’est pas juste belle, elle est aussi curieuse, intelligente, et adore imaginer des inventions, sérieuses ou farfelues !

Genres: Graphic Novels, Biography, Nonfiction, Comics, History, Bande Dessinée, Biography Memoir

176 pages, Hardcover

First published November 6, 2018

Reviews

[✘✘ Sarah ✘✘ (former Nefarious Breeder of Murderous Crustaceans) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to write a full review for this one but then realized I had better more nefarious things to do with my life so let’s get this over with as painlessly quickly as possible, shall we?

This graphic novel? Hedy Lamarr’s life, ridiculously oversimplified. The author puts way too much a lot of focus on Lamarr’s childhood, unleashes all the clichés about a beautiful Hollywood actress you can think of and completely skims over her career as an inventor. All this without giving any solid information about Lamarr and basically portraying her as a babe with a brain but too many husbands 🙄🙄. The cherry on the cake shrimp on the paella? This graphic novel feels as if it was aimed at juvenile simpletons.



My thoughts exactly.

There are tens of online articles that offer more in-depth information about Lamarr than this book (I recommend this one) and the 2017 documentary Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story can be watched online for free, so waste your time and ill-gotten gains money on this graphic novel you should not. You’re welcome and stuff.



[Pre-review nonsense]

Well this was ever-so-slightly fascinating.



Pretty much, yes.

➽ Review to come and stuff.

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hedy Lamarr lived a fascinating life. The bio spends a lot of time with her early life in Austria where she made some questionable choices before fleeing to Hollywood and becoming a star. I would have liked to see more time spent with her inventions, one of which, frequency hopping, became the basis for wireless technology.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

In diesem Herbst ist als biografische Graphic Novel neben ANDY: A FACTUAL FAIRYTALE (LEBEN UND WERK VON ANDY WARHOL) auch HEDY LAMARR – AN INDREDIBLE LIFE erschienen; die Lebensgeschichte von Hedwig Kiesler, österreichische Jüdin, die aus einer bedrückenden Ehe floh (was sie nicht hinderte, noch etliche Male zu heiraten) und im Hollywood der späten 30er und 40er Jahre eine kometenhafte Karriere als Schauspielerin erlebte. Sie galt als die schönste Frau Hollywoods, ein Etikett, das schmeichelhaft sein mag, es aber Hedy Lamarr, wie sie sich nun nannte, auch schwer gemacht hat, als Individuum und intelligente Frau wahrgenommen zu werden.

Was diese Graphic Novel unter anderem sehr deutlich zeigt, ist, wie eng ihr Leben mit den Zeitläuften verbunden war: Nationalsozialismus und Weltkrieg wirken – wenn auch indirekt – bestimmend auf ihr Leben ein. Und obwohl Hedy Lamarr selbstbewusst und nicht auf den Mund gefallen ist, muss sie sich mit dem Rollenklischee, das Frauen von Männern oktroyiert wird, auseinandersetzen und sich ihm in vielen Punkten ergeben. Hier wird ihr blendendes Aussehen zum Bumerang, auch im Film wird sie auf einen Typus reduziert, der – hollywood-typisch - an ihre Jugend gebunden ist.
Ebenso wenig nachhaltig ist für sie persönlich ihre Rolle als Erfinderin. Jahrzehnte werden vergehen, bis 1996 die Bedeutung ihrer Erfindung anerkannt wird, ohne die es kein WiFi gäbe. Doch zu diesem Zeitpunkt lebt Hedy Lamarr bereits lange Zeit zurückgezogen von der Welt, der sie ihr gealtertes Gesicht nicht mehr zeigen mag.

Dass mir die Graphic Novel so gut gefallen hat, verdankt sich zum großen Teil natürlich der interessanten Biografie von Hedy Lamarr, die von William Roy und Sylvain Dorange allerdings auch sehr gut in Szene gesetzt worden ist – graphisch wie auch inhaltlich. Die Zeichnungen und die Kolorierung finde ich ausgesprochen sympathisch. Die Artwork könnte fast aus den fünfziger Jahren stammen, wirkt aber keinesfalls altbacken und ist der Geschichte angemessen. Und eben diese Lebensgeschichte hat mich sehr berührt, umso mehr, als in der Darstellung auf Effekthascherei und unnötiges Pathos verzichtet wird und geschickte Cuts Längen vermeiden.
Hedy Lamarr wird hier nicht zur Ikone stilisiert, sondern es wird ihr mit Respekt, Interesse und Zuneigung begegnet. Das Buch ist der gelungene Fall, eine Biografie in Comic-Form zu präsentieren.

[Rod Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hedy Lamarr was a fascinating woman with many dimensions, from iconic beauty and actress to immigrant to an inventor whose patent is used in today's wifi technology.

Bonus points go to this biography for forgoing the caption-heavy tactic so many graphic novels fall into, instead dramatizing her life solely through dialogue. That keeps things moving along quickly, though sometimes causing the book to skim over events I'd be interested in learning more about.

[Billie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The art is stunning, but I wish it were longer and a little more in-depth. This would be a good introduction, though, for anyone who is unfamiliar with Ms. Lamarr and her life and work.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Films have a certain place in a certain time period. Technology is forever." - Hedy Lamarr

This graphic novel explores the life of Hedy Lamar - the most beautiful woman in the world! Following her childhood in Austria, this book details certain events and relationships in her life up until her death, with a little epilogue to show her lasting legacy on society.

Hedy was a Hollywood Star in 1938 until 1958; thus she was actress during the Golden Age of Hollywood. I really enjoyed the theme of this book; you routinely saw the struggle she had because of her looks - everyone thought she was just a dumb girl who couldn't do anything but be pretty. (It was that mentality of her studio that destroyed her career - because she kept being type casted into the same roles). But Hedy was brilliant - even getting a patent for a frequency hopping device; but when she explained to the US military how it could be applied to their machines, she was told it wasn't real science and to stick with using her pretty face to sell war bonds. But even doing what they told her to do wasn't enough and she eventually faded from the Hollywood lights and has been relatively forgotten by the majority of society.

The artistry of this book evokes the 1930's - 1950's feel through its drawing and use of colors. The colors are almost muted, which allows the drawings and script to really shine. Despite how pretty it is, I think this book glossed over how difficult it was for an actor/actress in that time period, especially with Hollywood studios owning actors through contracts (i.e. the infamous star system). The book also really skipped through her career, only hinting at the movies, husbands, and the effect WWII had on her life. I feel like more could have been said/drawn about her life and career.

However, with that said - if you never knew who Hedy Lamar was before this book, it is a great introduction and hopefully a gateway into to learning more about this woman who defied her "role" in life.

[Glen Farrelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good, short bio of Lamarr that covers the major points of her life. However, it leaves out some of the other accomplishments of Lamarr and does not offer any real insight into Lamarr. It really needed to be at least 20 pages longer. The artwork and story are good, but it is the amazing life of Lamarr herself that earns this 4 stars.

[Lata · Rating 3 out of 5]

Liked the artwork. I knew Hedy Lamarr was really smart, and one of her ideas was a basis for wifi. I didn’t know much about her Hollywood work, though, so I guess that says something about my interests... : )

[Bandit · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve watched at least one or two documentaries about Ms. Lamarr, once known as The Most Beautiful Woman in the World, and in later years undone by sordid rumors, tastelessly quick romantic romances, and failed pursuit of beauty preservation. It is a classic story of stardom, fame, and all that. With a spin. For this beauty also had the brains.
The brains of an inventor, now immortalized in technology we use daily to communicate via wireless. The genius of this technology wasn’t obvious at the time – unlike Lamarr’s beauty, and so it got shelved. For decades. Only at the very zenith of her life did she get the recognition she deserved for it.
But her youth had it all – love, money, devoted parents, dreams, scandal, fame, tragedy, international travel, romances. Difficult to say if, smart as she was, stunning as she was, Lamarr was ever really happy. There seemed to be a sort of restlessness about her, a permanent sense of dissatisfaction. But still, her life hit the peaks of…positively cinematic dimensions. Makes for a good story, at least.
Does this graphic novel add something new to what I already knew about Lamarr? No, not really. It repeats the same known facts with a smidge of speculation necessary for dramatization of events. The art is serviceable and brightly colored, but cartoonish in a way, with a distinct European style.
If you know nothing about this remarkable person and her remarkable life, it’s a good primer. If you know biographical basics and looking to learn more, it’s just an ok read.
And if you’re just looking to read for the sake of reading, it’s a quick and entertaining story.

[Keen Reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars!

“Americans are a strange people: how can you be both so puritanical and obsessed with sex?”

This style of art work does absolutely nothing for me whatsoever but it seems to work well with the subject matter. Lamarr is not someone I knew much about at all, so it was good to come to this fresh.

We cover much of her interesting and varied life, from her jealous and possessive arm dealing first husband to her bid to become a Hollywood star. Her truly appalling taste in men would haunt her for much of her life, as she clocked up an astonishing six husbands, almost all marriages were incredibly shortlived too. We also get to learn about her penchant for tinkering with inventions which turned out to be a lot more useful and sagacious than most anticipated.

So this was a really interesting biography, though it could have benefited from a bit more continuity and depth in areas, but still I learned a lot and would certainly recommend this to anyone with a passing interest in the subject.

“I’m a very simple…complicated person.”

[Leigh · Rating 2 out of 5]

There's something about this book that doesn't seem accurate. Maybe it's the glossing over of later life, maybe it's that the author made her out as a martyred saint who was hindered by every man in her life, maybe it's the lack of reference or source material credited.

There's so much of the book that is told from OTHER people's perspective of Lamarr, making her larger than life but also not giving any solid information about her other than "Beautiful, smart, married many times." Much of that could be said of MANY actresses or movie stars. And while this is a graphic novel and can't go into as much detail as a biography, I feel like it skimmed over so much. I wish the author had focused in on her journey as an inventor, or as an actress, or a specific part that they could really dig into instead of briefly visiting all and never actually telling the reader anything of value.

[Mariangel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well done graphic novel about the life of Hedy Lamarr, focusing more on in her early life and late recognition than on her Hollywood years.

[Tracey · Rating 2 out of 5]

graphic biography (1940s/50s actress and underappreciated inventor)
I like the idea of graphic biographies about lesser known people, but was wanting more from the story--was Hedy being offered lame roles because that's truly what the MGM guy felt fit her best (due to societal stereotypes or whatever), or was there something else going on? It also felt disappointing to learn that Hedy gave up on inventing so quickly after being turned down by the military when she clearly felt strongly about it and had worked hard on it--if this were fiction, she would have found a way (a pen name, or a male scientist to present her ideas for her, etc.). There was more to this story too, if only in the form of internal anguish/frustration.
Most of this story (with the exception of Hedy's first marriage to and escape from the tyrannous Nazi sympathizer) I picked up just from listening to NPR's story on Hedy, so I was really hoping for some more insight or detail or something.

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This biography of Hedy Lamarr is artistically gorgeous, a real marvel to page through, but it falls somewhat short when it comes to the basics of Lamarr's life. Her younger years are extensively outlined, and though they're fascinating, it feels like a let-down when her Hollywood life and career as an inventor get short shrift. Instead of delving into the details of her film career, we're shown a parade of posters and costars. Her inventive nature is given more attention, though it's only a surface-level examination. Still, Hedy Lamarr's glamorous and fascinating life provides more than enough material for an eye-catching biography, even if some details are lacking.

[Melisa Marlen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Últimamente he estado fascinada con la biografía de Hedy Lamarr. Este libro, escrito en formato de novela gráfica, es una introducción muy ligera a la vida de la multifacética estrella de cine e inventora, quien sentó las bases para el wi-fi. En algunas partes considero que fue algo superficial, pero es una lectura que sin duda se puede disfrutar y terminar en "un sentón". Las ilustraciones son bellísimas y me hubiera encantado tener el libro en físico, pero decidí comprar la versión Kindle por ser más barata y fácil de conseguir.

[Roberta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ho letto la storia di Lamarr - l'inventrice, non l'attrice - già 5 o 6 volte, in formati diversi. Questa graphic novel mi è servita per colmare delle lacune, soprattutto su come avesse iniziato la carriera e cosa avesse fatto prima di emigrare negli USA.
La figura più interessante è il padre, che sprona la figlia all'emancipazione, mentre molti altri uomini dell'epoca non vedevano di buon occhio le libertà femminili della società post prima guerra mondiale.

[Francesca Corno]

«La donna più straordinaria del mondo»: questo è il sottotitolo della biografia illustrata a opera di William Roy e Sylvain Dorange, in Italia grazie a Edizioni DB.
E, in effetti, Hedy Lamarr è davvero così: intelligentissima, curiosa, bella da far girare la testa, decisa e consapevole. Straordinaria, in una parola, in grado di trasformare qualsiasi cosa toccasse – grazie alla propria mente – e qualsiasi ruolo interpretasse – grazie alla propria bellezza. Continua a leggere su Tropismi.

[Millie Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting peek at the life of inventor and actress Hedy Lamarr. The book was well drawn and the dialogue was interesting. As it was a graphic novel, it was fairly short and condensed, but it gave an overall decent view of her life. She had to deal with so much in Hollywood because she wanted to be taken seriously, both as an actress and inventor. Sadly, the mentality of "You're pretty and a woman, so you must not have a brain at all" overpowered anything. I felt bad for her, especially in her later years as she became more and more eccentric. Still, this was a good read and a good look at one of Hollywood's most intelligent and beautiful women.

[Carly Jerome · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s a fine graphic novel detailing the life of inventor and actress Hedy Lamarr. It was a bit one noted - it seemed to give an overview of her life without actually discussing the type of person Hedy was. She was one dimensional, unfortunately. There were glimpses of her motivations and conflicts, but nothing more. Truly unfortunate, as there was so much potential.

[Mohan Vemulapalli · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Hedy Lamarr: An Incredible Life" is a well written , beautifully illustrated biography that focuses on the earlier life and engineering accomplishments of Hedwig Kiesler aka Hedy Lamarr. Although this book covers the better known aspects of her life, including her multiple marriages/ divorces and scandals the real focus is on her challenges to be taken seriously as an individual and an inventor.

[amy boese · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am completely enamored of Hedy Lamarr - but this graphic, although a nice tidy story, does not satisfy. She was an amazing inventor, pushed back against traditional roles, but the story seems to be mostly about the men in her life and how she interacted with them, not about her. I'm disappointed!

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hedwig Kiesler, aka Hedy Lamarr, has a fascinating background. Although she was dubbed the most beautiful woman in the world, she was also an inventor. She has shown up in three books I’ve read this year, and I’ve enjoyed learning about her.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Head and shoulders above a recent novel based on Hedy Lamarr's life. It presents her as the complicated woman she was. Vain, foolish in love, disillusioned by Hollywood, and a curious mind that led her to invent a critical piece of technology that affects our lives everyday.

[Elisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una storia che un po conoscevo gia.
Ben narrata tra parole e disegni.
Una donna molto avanti per il suo tempo che non dovrebbero essere sottovalutata dai nostri contemporanei.
Inoltre un’attrice con un super cervello. Strano?! NO. Non dovrebbe stupirci ancora nel 2024.

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actress, bombshell, wifi pioneer! Finally, Hedy is starting to get the respect for her smarts she's deserved all along.

[Thomas · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eine Comic-Biographie von Hedy Lamarr. War mir zur oberflächlich, ich hab nicht das Gefühl, viel über die Person gelernt zu haben.

[Dustyloup]

doublon. critique écrit précédemment.

[Kim Gorman she-her · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting story, fantastic art.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Art was great, story is great. She seemed like an amazing woman.

[Rabbit · Rating 3 out of 5]

Art⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Story⭐️⭐️