Hedy and George – Music, Cinema, Scandals and Torpedoes
Abstract
The unusual combination of circumstances meant that in 1942 Hollywood star of the first order Hedy Lamarr and avant-garde composer George Antheil jointly developed and patented a remote control system for torpedoes, and the elements of that technology can be found in mobile phones and many other devices to this day. But the history of this couple includes many other fascinating episodes, such as 17 year old Hedy’s participation in the most scandalous film of the 1930s The Ecs tasy, or riots in 1923 Paris provoked by Antheil performance of his Mechanisms, which event was filmed by Marcel L’Herbier, and then later used in the 1924 film L’Inhumaine (The Inhuman Woman). Pol- ish researchers will also be interested in the little known detail of the composer’s life, namely his Polish ancestry and his two visits to Poland in the first quarter of the 20th century.
Keywords:
Hedy Lamarr, George Antheil, inventionReferences
Anger, Kenneth. Hollywood Babylon. New York 1981.
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Giżycki, Marcin. Balet z kamerą. Léger i jego film. In: Fernand Léger: od malarstwa do architektury, (katalog wystawy w Zachęcie). Warszawa 2006: 57-63.
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Rhodes, Richard. Hedy’s Folly. New York-London-Toronto-Sydney-Auckland 2011.
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Authors
Marcin Giżyckikwartalnik.filmowy@ispan.pl
Rhode Island School of Design United States
Krytyk i historyk sztuki; autor książek z dziedziny historii filmu i zjawisk kultury artystycznej. Wykładowca w Rhode Island School of Design w USA, profesor w Wyższej Szkole Technicznej w Katowicach. Opublikował m.in. Nie tylko Disney - rzecz o kinie animowanym (2000), Koniec i co dalej? (2001), Słownik kierunków, ruchów i kluczowych pojęć sztuki drugiej połowy XX wieku (2002), Wenders do domu! Europejskie filmy o Ameryce i ich recepcja w Stanach Zjednoczonych (2006).
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