What do you get when you mix sexy Miss Jane Mansfield with a dozen early Rock ’n’ Roll legends? You get
The Girl Can’t Help It, 1956
Starring Jane Mansfield, Tom Ewell and Edmund O’Brian.
The plot is simple but fun: Old gangster wants to make his ‘girlfriend’ a star, but she can’t sing a note. So he hires a press agent, Tom Ewell (the luckiest man in Hollywood at the time by the way) to force her fame. Since she stinks at singing traditional music, they give Rock ’n’ roll a try.
This kookie movie features some of the most famous & koolest Rockers from the 50s, actually performing in the movie in glorious widescreen color. The list includes:
• Little Richard
• Nino Tempo
• Johnny Olenn
• Eddie Fontaine
• The Chuckles
• Abbey Lincoln
• Gene Vincent
• Eddie Cochran
• Ray Anthony & His Orchestra
• The Treniers
• Fats Domino
• The Platters
• Freddy Bell & The Bell-Boys
Plus a haunting, unforgettable version of Cry Me A River by Julie London.
Add to that some kool cars, and Jane Mansfield wearing some of the tightest clothes ever built and you’ve got a winner. This movie pretty much proves she gave Marilyn a run for the money. Such a drag that she died so young. At least we’ve got the film.
Oh, yeah, why was Tom Ewell the luckiest man in Hollywood in the 1950s? Simple. Love scenes with Marilyn Monroe in The Seven Year Itch in 1955, love scenes with Jane Mansfield in The Girl Can’t Help It in 1956. Ya dig?
– Tiki Chris reporting from behind the Tiki Bar with a Mai Tai in one hand and an Easter Egg in the other
Swell movie and great write-up…
Jayne Mansfield is awesome and all that jazz, but I really love this movie because I get to see Eddie Cochran performing my favorite of his songs, Twenty Flight Rock 😀
And, seriously, no one can sing Cry Me A River like Julie London.
Actually, I came across this movie a few years ago while looking up Julie London. I found the video of her singing Cry Me a River (the clip above) and thought, I’ve got to find out what movie this is from. Sure enough a little research helped me find it. Don’t know how I missed it for so many years. Gotta love the interwebs, huh?