Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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30 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Strange Mix, January 5, 2004
This is an unusual disk in that the contents are not really of the same theme.First we have the Wild World of Jayne Mansfield. Jayne was a very intelligent beauty who excelled at playing the dumb blond. This film shows Jayne touring Europe after her nude Playboy appearance. But just when you get used to seeing things through her eyes, the film switches scope as we reach the point of her death in a car crash. The film then becomes a retrospective showing her widower, children, and her mansion. The film really ends on a rather sad note. The second film is The Labyrinth of Sex, a supposed documentary on sexual deviation. This is more a collection of vignettes with a doctor lecturing between them. There is an operating room scene that is not for the squeamish. All in all the film seemed like something that was done just because it could be. Parisian Rendezvous is one of the short films included on the disk. Two lovers circle the glob in opposite directions rushing to be back in each other's arms. This film has some of the sadness of the Jayne Mansfield film. Finally we have The Apple Knockers and the Coke. This is a silent striptease short staring Marilyn Monroe. A fake apple tree, a bottle of coke and Marilyn's attributes star in this multi-part short. All in all an unusual assortment of films with each aiming at a different audience.
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28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Mansfield DVD, and Monroe's first (nude) film?, December 19, 2003
I will forego writing much on the main film itself, because Lance did a very nice job in doing so and there is little I could add. I do want to touch on the DVD itself though, because that so often is looked at as a complete package when reviews are written here (which is a shame, since this SHOULD be a review of the DVD and not just the movie). All the more so with Something Weird Video, the leader of DVD extras.The one thing I will say of the film is that it is a deftly stitched patchwork of clips from Mansfield's life, narrated by a "voice-alike". It is mainly a film following Jayne on vacations around the world, and in asmuch it almost seems like it was shot all at once for the express purpose of making this film (and, nothing is ever said that it wasn't, nor does the narrator let on that she is someone else other than Jayne). The only unsettling aspect of the film is the ending, which is an unexpected and quick cut to her death in the car crash. Narration is taken over by a man at this point, and the tempo of the film, which had been titulating and vapid to this point, is now made much too heavy. Ok, to the bonuses! Various trailers of long-forgotten films are included as on any SWV DVD, and the company does well in using ones that most directly relate to Mansfield movie (they must have 1,000s of trailers for them to match so nicely on each DVD). A second full-length, 90 minute film called "Labyrinth of Sex" is present, and is really not bad. It is mainly narrated by a doctor that goes on about why sexual deviances arise in individuals, and where they lead. This movie borders on exploitation, being over-the-top, as well as being grounded in truth. My guess is that the movie was pure propoganda at it's time of release and was meant to be looked at as pure truth, it now shows it's obviouscampy quality. Whatever the case, it is entertaining. A small, pointless short film called "Parisian Rendezvous!" is on the DVD as well, but is so without merit I will pass on further comment. Last item on the DVD in many ways COULD be the best thing on the disc, and argueably the best feature in the entire SMV catalogue: a reported first film of Marilyn Monroe called "The Apple-Knockers and the Coke". The roughly 7 minute film had been lifted from a negative and released on this appropriate "dumb blonde" DVD. SMV though states on the back of the cover that it MAY not be Monroe, but it certainly does appear to be her. The actress in question has wavy brown hair and a smile almost without a doubt making this Monroe. There is likely no way to verify this "home movie"'s date or if it even really is Marilyn, so even if it could be agreed to be her, it likely never could be stated in print. Ah, as forwhat she is doing....it is pretty much her in a bikini in a very small stage setting, the base of a fake tree. As we move through the film, the actress eats and apple and drinks a Coke, slowly undressing as she goes. Most of the time she is topless, but eventually she strips completely and shows her pubic hairs. Almost any of the SMV DVDs is going to appeal to a very small following, but this is still one of their better DVDs and definitely one of their best for archival biographical information.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Absolutely Fabulous DVD ! A must-have of any Mansfield Fan, June 2, 2006
I owned the VHS version of ''The Wild,Wild World'' but decided to get the DVD this winter.
WELL..That was a great purchase !
I understand people that could see the documentary of Jayne in Europe,as pretty cheaply made,BUT it is still Jayne,and if you love her (as I do),any film she was in (except The Girl can't help it,and Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter) was done on the cheap,with ridiculously small budgets.
'The Wild,Wild World' gives you the chance to see a candid Jayne in all kinds of very campy situations,and the best scenes are when Jayne pretends to be offended by the goings-on...
It shows a Jayne Mansfield who was indeed a true-original,rather eccentric person in the anal-retentive American Fifties.I can't help comparing her to what Anna Nicole Smith has done with her 'career' as a media sensation,BUT Jayne was doing basically the same FIFTY years ago,which was understandbly much more shocking for the common-folks.
When Jayne talks about her film roles,you wonder if she is laughing with you or at herself.
I don't understand how she can be compared to Marilyn Monroe.MM was looking for privacy,more serious roles,spoke to journalists only if she absolutely had to,when Jayne was waking up her daughter in the middle of the night to prepare drinks for journalists who needed something to write about.Jayne was not too picky about her roles,and the kind of attention she was getting,and it was her undoing.Sad,but she needed the money to keep up that image,all those children,dogs,and...husbands.
NOW ,about ''The Labyrinth of Sex'': It is HYSTERICAL !! and a great choice to make the DVD a double-feature,just like the good-old days of the Drive-ins !
When you get over the awful dubbing,the documentary is rather well made,naive to today's standards of course,but well-intentionned.Some viewers will just see crass-exploitation,but if you are into Campy,Kitsch movies,and you see Ed Wood Jr. as a genius...well you will love IT !.The movie trailers are very funny as well,and make you wish you could find them.
So my conclusion is that DVD is an EXCELLENT purchase,a must-have for any serious Jayne Mansfield Fan !!!
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