Customer Reviews

Too Hot to Handle

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

For years i was trying to get to see this film.
When I finally found it last year,i was pleasantly surprised.
Jayne offers a serious performance that i found very credible.Even her voice is lower in it's tone,and the numbers when she sings give us an idea of what her Las Vegas shows must have been like(she was the highest paid performer,at 35,000 $ a week !).God knows that Jayne was not offered many serious roles in her film career,but i would say that this one qualifies as a serious one.
The film is directed by Terence Young,and even if the production values are done with a small budget,it is well-paced,with a real story giving us a glimpse of the behind-the-scenes of a stripper in the late 50's.
The serious side of Jayne's performance made me think about her last movie,'Single Room Furnished',which made me sad.
Conclusion:Don't dismiss this film as a 'Bomb' or El-cheapo trashy film,it is not.
Trivia (found of Jayne's site):One of the reason why the film was shot in black and white,had to do with how revealing one of Jayne's costume was(the one you see on the cover)

ALPHA VIDEO is a provider of vintage programming that's often unavailable elsewhere. Alpha's prices are fair, but so is transfer quality of some of their offerings. None have undergone restoration, yet this product's rareness and reasonable cost make it a worthwhile purchase.


TOO HOT TO HANDLE is the story of a London nightclub owner who fights back when a local mobster leans on him for protection money. Here, Jayne Mansfield skillfully manages a deadly serious role (perhaps her very best work) and proves there was more to her than that "dumb blonde" image. For anyone interested in scenes of burlesque-type stripping, "Too Hot" is certain to please. (This film was originally in Eastmancolor but as of 9/09 was only available in b&w on DVD.)

SYNOPSIS--
Johnny Solo (Genn) won't be intimidated by Diamonds Dielli (Lawrence), nor will he listen to the advice of his exotic dancer girlfriend, headliner Midnight Franklin (Mansfield), who wants Johnny to quit the strip club business entirely in order to protect his own life.

NOTE: Watch for a pawnbroker cameo by Ian Fleming (not the author), who in SILVER BLAZE (1937) portrayed Dr. Watson opposite Arthur Wontner's Sherlock Holmes.


Related ALPHA item:
THE FAT SPY (1966) is a beach party comedy with Jayne, Phyllis Diller, 'Fat Jack' Leonard, Brian Donlevy and pop singer Johnny Tillotson.


Psarenthetical number preceding title is a 1 to 10 imdb viewer poll rating.

(6.7) Too Hot to Handle (UK-1960) - Jayne Mansfield/Leo Gen/Christopher Lee/Patrick Holt/Sheldon Lawrence/Ian Fleming

This is a great classic 1960 british melodrama starring the beautiful,voluptuous Jayne Mansfield.It's a must see!!!

Well made by the great Terence Young,with an interesting supporting cast, (including Christopher Lee and Barbara Windsor) But the film is just too
brittish for my taste,and the uninspired,boring script kills the film...
but,if you are at all interested in Jane Mansfield,then you,ll have to see this one.
Regarded by most chritics as a bad actress,she is here probably giving the most convinsing performance of her career.
She was always beutiful and charming,but here she is also a great actress!
To bad the movie does not deserve her.

Christian Karlsson,Sweden

Movie was what I expected but it should have been in color but my copy showed in b&w and transfer was of poor quality.

In the library of Jayne Mansfield's work, Too Hot to Handle will not be remember as one of her better works; a poor script.

this movie was shot and released in eastmancolor