INSPIRATION
Though actress Hedy Lamarr and aviator Howard Hughes are both well-known, their relationship is largely unknown. It remains a mystery. WHEN HEDY MET HOWIE explores their first encounter as it may have happened one evening at Hollywood's most notable nightclub, incorporating actual events that preceded it and foreshadowing those that followed.
UNLIKELY ORIGINS
Inspired by Steve Martin’s Picasso at the Lapin Agile, an imagined conversation between Pablo Picasso and Albert Einstein at a Paris bar in 1904, with a nod to Nora Ephron’s When Harry Met Sally, and the snappy exchanges of the titular characters, WHEN HEDY MET HOWIE is a tribute to Hedy Lamarr and Howard Hughes, their shared passion for invention, and kindred struggle to fit into Hollywood society. Despite earlier amorous involvement, their relationship evolved to one of collaboration.
HISTORIC CONTEXT
Lamarr’s first American film Algiers premiered in the summer of 1938, and by autumn the romance between Hughes and Katharine Hepburn was winding down. Lamarr and Hughes were both frequent guests at the Cocoanut Grove. Lamarr was divorced and trying to escape the scandal of her nude scene in Ecstasy, prompting Louis B. Mayer to suggest her new name. Though a box office success, Hughes lost money on Hell’s Angels. He later sold Jean Harlow’s contract to MGM, over Mayer's objection.
SUBTLE DETAILS
Hughes’ penchant for milk was also quite real. Even the song It Had To Be You, synonymous with When Harry Met Sally, was newly popularized by “gypsy jazz” guitarist Django Reinhardt in the late 1930s. Hitler’s invasion of Austria would have been a grave concern to Lamarr, whose mother had yet to flee to London. Lamarr eventually did reference birds and fish to help Hughes design faster and more efficient wings for his aircraft. He in turn offered her access to his team of engineers.
ENDURING IMPACT
Though still years ahead of her most notable invention, a guided torpedo system that was the precursor to encrypted communication or “frequency-hopping”, Hughes was quick to admire her genius, even as Hollywood remained obsessed with her rare beauty. The line about being glamorous at the close of the play is actually a direct quote attributed to Lamarr. Only later in life was she finally recognized for her scientific innovations which were the basis for technologies we still use today.
