Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!: The Girl Can't Help It (1956) - Fabulous Mansfield and colossal rock 'n' roll push in Tashlin classic

2/23/2021

The Girl Can't Help It (1956) - Fabulous Mansfield and colossal rock 'n' roll push in Tashlin classic

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Sex-bomb Jayne Mansfield more than catches the eye on this colorful poster for Frank Tashlin's The Girl Can't Help It, which also allures with its countless rock 'n' roll star names in the bottom right corner

A drunken music agent gets a call from a gangster, who wants him to make his sexy blonde girlfriend a star. But that's easier said than done ...

The Girl Can't Help It is written by Herbert Baker (Rickles (1975, TV movie)) and co-writer/producer/director Frank Tashlin (The First Time (1952)), based on Do Re Mi (1955) by Garson Kanin (Smash (1980)).

Jayne Mansfield (The Sheriff of Fractured Jaw (1958)) is splendid, fun, eye-popping and lovely as Jerri Jordan, the girlfriend in question, one of the all-time biggest blonde bombshells on cinema here in Tashlin's Deluxe-colored, playful, saucy movie. The plot is thin and anything but nerve-wracking, which leaves room for the film's swinging rock 'n' roll acts, and in particular Little Richard, who performs The Girl Can't Help It, Ready Teddy and She's Got It, is incredible to hear and behold. The Girl Can't Help It also has its good share of really funny bits.

The men in the film look funny enough, and they unquestionably raised more mirth in their time than they do now, but their few scenes without Mansfield lose the film some momentum. They are luckily few. The Girl Can't Help It is a cool blast of a time.

Frank Tashlin: The Disorderly Orderly (1964) or, Lewis in a Hospital

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 1.3 mil. $

Box office: 6.25 mil. $ (likely just North America)

= Big hit (returned at least 4.80 times its cost)

[The Girl Can't Help It premiered 1 December (USA) and runs 99 minutes. Filming took place in California, including Los Angeles, around September 1956. Whether the 6.25 mil. $ gross, which stems from Twentieth Century Fox books, is just the North-American gross is unsure but entirely possible. The film won a Golden Globe and it had a profound effect on rock music history, as it inspired the later members of The Beatles to meet and pursue their dream. Tashlin returned with Hollywood or Bust (1956). Mansfield returned in Shower of Stars (1957, TV-series) and theatrically in The Wayward Bus (1957); Tom Ewell (State Fair (1962)) in A Nice Little Bank That Should Be Robbed (1958); and Edmond O'Brien (The Love God? (1969)) in Lux Video Theatre (1951-57) and theatrically in The Big Land (1957). The Girl Can't Help It is fresh at 75 % with a 6.20/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Girl Can't Help It?

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William Friedkin has died

Born in Chicago, Friedkin accrued TV credits prior to his advance to the big screen as the director of Good TImes (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) before his major breakthrough, The French Connection (1971), for which he won his only Oscar. He followed it up with the even bigger smash, The Exorcist (1973), arguably the best horror film of all time, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Later credits include Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Rampage (1987), Rules of Engagement (2000), Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017, documentary). Friedkin passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

Louise Fletcher has passed away

Born in Alabama to deaf parents, Fletcher got her first credits in late-1950s TV-series.She took a 10 year-long sabbatical to devote her time to motherhood after the release of A Gathering of Eagles, but then came back and soon saw her career's most important part, as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), for which she won her sole Oscar. Later credits include Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Lucky Star (1980), Brainstorm (1983), Two Moon Junction (1988), Cruel Intentions (1999), A Perfect Man (2013) and many more. Fletcher passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Jean-Luc Godard has passed away

Born in Paris, France, Godard lived much of his life in Switzerland. He wrote for French film criticism magazine Cahiers du Cinema and became foundational for the New French Wave that inspired new waves in scores of other countries across the world with his Breathless (1960). Later credits include A Woman Is A Woman (1961), Vivre Sa Vie (1962), Le Petit Soldat (1962), Contempt (1963), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le Fou (1965), 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967), Weekend (1967), Every Man for Himself (1980), King Lear (1987), Century of Cinema (1995, documentary), Goodbye to Language (2014) and many more. Godard died of assisted suicide at age 91. R.I.P.

Wolfgang Petersen has died

James Caan has died

Caan was born the son of Jewish immigrants from Germany in New York. He got his start on TV in the early 1960s. His credits include El Dorado (1966), The Rain People (1969), Brian's Song (1971, TV movie), The Godfather (1972), - for which he earned his only Oscar nomination, - Slither (1973), The Gambler (1974), Funny Lady (1975), Rollerball (1975), Silent Movie (1976), Hide in Plain Sight (1980), - the only film he also directed, - Thief (1981), Misery (1990), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Bottle Rocket (1996), Eraser (1996), Dogville (2003), Elf (2003), Las Vegas (2003-07), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and many more. Caan passed away at age 82. R.I.P.

Jean-Louis Trintignant has died

Born in Vaucluse, France, Trintignant's theatrical debut as an actor was in If All the Guys in the World... (1955). Later credits include ...And God Created Woman (1956), The Seven Deadly Sins (1961), Inferno (1964), A Man and A Woman (1966), My Love, My Love (1967), A Man to Kill (1967), The Great Silence (1968), Z (1969), The Assassination (1972), Three Colors: Red (1994), Amour (2012), Happy End (2017) and many more. He also wrote and directed two films in the 1970s. Trintignant passed away at age 91. R.I.P.

Ray Liotta has died

Adopted from an orphenage at a young age, Liotta got hooked on acting in high school. He had various TV credits in the late 1970s and early 80s, with his film debut in The Lonely Lady (1983). Later credits include Something Wild (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), Cop Land (1997), Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), Narc (2002), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), Observe and Report (2009), Youth in Revolt (2009), The Details (2011), Killing THem Softly (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Shades of Blue (2016-18), The Simpsons (2018, TV-series), Marriage Story (2019), The Many Saints of Newark (2021), Black Bird (2022, TV-series) and many more. Liotta passed away at age 67 in his sleep while on production in the Dominican Republic. R.I.P.

Philip Baker Hall has died

Born in Ohio, Hall didn't start acting until he was 30. His long list of credits include Zabriskie Point (1970), Miami Vice (1987, TV-series), Midnight Run (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Cheers (1993, TV-series), Hard Eight (1996), The Rock (1996), Air Force One (1997), Boogie Nights (1997), Seinfeld (1991-98), Rush Hour (1998), The Insider (1999), Magnolia (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Bruce Almighty (2003), Dogville (2003), The Zodiac (2005), Zodiac (2007), Curb Your Enthusiasm (2004-09), Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), Modern Family (2011-12) and many more. Hall passed away at age 90. R.I.P.

William Hurt has passed away

Born in Washington D.C., Hurt's first film role was the lead in Altered States (1980). Later credits include Body Heat (1981), The Big Chill (1983), Gorky Park (1983), Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985), for which he earned his only Oscar as Best Actor; Chilrdren of a Lesser God (1986), for which he was also Oscar-nominated; Broadcast News (1987), for which he was again Oscar-nominated; Smoke (1995), A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), A History of Violence (2005), for which he was again Oscar-nominated; The Good Shepherd (2006), Into the Wild (2007), Robin Hood (2010) and many more. Hurt passed away at age 71. R.I.P.

Ivan Reitman has passed away

Born in Chechoslovakia, now Slovakia, Reitman's family fled the Soviet regime to Austria, then Toronto, when he was 4 years old. Reitman broke into movies as a director with Foxy Lady (1971). Later credits include Cannibal Girls (1973), Meatballs (1979), Stripes (1981), Ghostbusters (1984), Twins (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Kindergarten Cop (1990), Junior (1994), Father's Day (1997), Evolution (1998), No Strings Attached (2011), Draft Day (2014) and more. Reitman's son Jason Reitman is also a great filmmaker. Reitman passed away at age 75. R.I.P.

Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (6-24)

2/23/2021

The Girl Can't Help It (1956) - Fabulous Mansfield and colossal rock 'n' roll push in Tashlin classic

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