Product Details

• Actors: Barry Gordon, David Lynch, Edmond O'Brien, Henry Jones, Jayne Mansfield
• Directors: Frank Tashlin
• Format: Import, PAL, Widescreen
• Language: English
• Region: All Regions
• Number of discs: 1
• Studio: Umbrella Entertainment
• Run Time: 91 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000KKUQ72
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #34,443 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Australia released, PAL/Region 0 DVD:it WILL NOT play on standard US DVD player. You need multi-region PAL/NTSC DVD player to view it in USA/Canada: LANGUAGES: English ( Dolby Digital 2.0 ),WIDESCREEN (2.35:1), SPECIAL FEATURES: Cast/Crew Interview(s), Interactive Menu, Trailer(s),SYNOPSIS: The inimitable writer-director Frank Tashlin once more aims his satiric barbs at modern culture (modern 1950s culture, that is) in The Girl Can't Help It. Much of the film is dominated by Edmond O'Brien as mob boss Murdock, who while serving a term in federal prison becomes a singing sensation with his hit tune "Rock Around the Rock Pile." Once he's sprung, Murdock hires impoverished agent Tom Miller (Tom Ewell), not to promote his own career, but to turn his curvaceous lady friend Jerri Jordan (Jayne Mansfield) into a star. Alas, Jerri has no singing or acting talent whatsoever, a fact that she's eager and willing to admit. A domestic type at heart, all Jerri really wants out of life is to marry Murdock, so that she can clean his house, cook his meals and raise his children. When Murdock refuses to grant her wishes, Jerri falls in love with Tom instead.;;Every so often, director Tashlin takes time out from the plot to poke fun at such technical marvels as CinemaScope and Technicolor, and to lampoon the American male's fixation on female bosoms and bottoms (at one point, Jayne Mansfield leans towards the camera, her cleavage exposed as far as the censors will allow, and plaintively asks Tom Ewell if he believes that she's equipped for motherhood). While much of the humor in the film is dated, The Girl Can't Help It is an invaluable record of the pop-music scene of the 1950s, featuring such guest artists as Julie London (playing Tom Ewell's dream girl), Ray Anthony, Fats Domino, The Platters, Little Richard and his Band, Gene Vincent and his Blue Caps, the Treniers, Eddie Fontaine, Abbey Lincoln and Eddie Cochran.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars hilarious romp with Ms Mansfield, August 20, 2007

By	Byron Kolln (the corner where Broadway meets Hollywood) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)

THE GIRL CAN'T HELP IT is a thinly-plotted star vehicle for Jayne Mansfield plus a dozen of the best rock 'n' roll acts of the period.

Mansfield plays a tone-deaf bombshell called Jerri Jordan, the resident moll of a former racketeer (Edmond O'Brien). Tom Ewell is the unemployed press agent who is assigned the task of launching her career. Light on plot but heavy on musical numbers, THE GIRL CAN'T HELP IT is really a showcase for some of the brighest and most successful music stars of the period, among them Fats Domino, The Platters, Julie London, Eddie Cochran, Little Richard, and Nino Tempo.

The director, Frank Tashlin, began his career as a writer-director with the animation department at Warner Brothers, and in Mansfield he found the closest thing to a living comic-book creation, with her wildly-exaggerated hourglass figure. Throughout THE GIRL CAN'T HELP IT, the viewer is constantly treated to humorous sight-gags about Mansfield's ample assets. Although she made her career playing dim-wit blondes, Jayne Mansfield was no fool. She reportedly had an IQ of 163, spoke five languages and was classically-trained in both piano and violin. Sadly she could never quite escape her own screen creation and by the end of the 1960s she was meandering in Z-grade fare like "The Fat Spy" and "The Las Vegas Hillbillys".

THE GIRL CAN'T HELP IT is a very fun time capsule for fans of the great rock 'n' roll stars. Seeing artists like The Platters, The Chuckles, Nino Tempo and Julie London all beautifully-photographed in CinemaScope and performing their best hits is worth the price of admission alone. Throw in the singular Jayne Mansfield and you have one of the most enjoyable musical comedies ever made.

A rare treat. This DVD includes a bonus feature with cult director John Waters ("Hairspray", "Cry-Baby") talking about the film and it's influence on his work. (Single-sided, dual-layer disc).

3.0 out of 5 stars Pure corn !, June 23, 2009

By	Terence C. Martin (Tasmania Australia) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I am old enough to remember this when it was released. Now, more than fifty years later, it just seems so corny, but I just had to have it for my collection.