On To Fox!
Twentieth Century
Fox began to take notice of the blonde dynamo, and while
very interested in her possibilities, were wary of her one-woman
publicity antics where bad taste was a valuable means to
an end.
Fox bought the
rights for Success and Jayne accepted a contract.
She made her
first film for Fox in The Girl Can't Help It released
in 1956. Directed by the amazingly imaginative director
Frank
Tashlin, this film would prove to be a success with
it's visually rich humor and rock and roll sound track.
It would be one of that years top 20 films, just slightly
behind Marilyn Monroe's Bus Stop
Her next film
for Fox would be The Wayward Bus which also starred
Joan
Collins. Jayne hoped this film would establish her
as a serious actress, but although it did not have the effect
that Jayne had hoped for, it was a change of pace from the
stereotypical blonde she personified.
In 1957, the
eagerly anticipated release of Will Success Spoil Rock
Hunter? proved to be well worth the wait. While many
changes were made from the Broadway version to the big screen,
it only made about half as much money as The Girl Can't
Help It. But it would prove to be a pop culture success.
Tony
Randall, her costar in Success said of Jayne
that he preferred working with her over Marilyn Monroe.
Commenting, "At least she tried to be a professional. She
would show up and rehearse and work and shoot it. She had
a sense of humor about her." (For some other fabulous
comments by Tony Randall by Jayne Mansfield, be sure to
check out A & E's presentation Love & Kisses: The Biography
of Jayne Mansfield.)
There are two
very interesting points about Jayne Mansfield. The final
word on her spats with other starlets of the time always
ended with the tape measure. Jayne was a 40, and so and
so was only a 38...and so on. The other interesting fact
about Jayne was that she had a self professed IQ of 163.
One cannot doubt that that Jayne was a brilliant and shrewd
woman in many respects, although her claims of this genius
level IQ are not supported.
Gag product inventor
Don Paynter approached Jayne with the making of curvy shaped
Jayne Mansfield hot water bottles. Jayne, ever eager to
promote, agreed, and they proved to be a great success.
Livin'
The Lifestyle ->
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Broadway Bound
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