The Jayne Mansfield Collection
Fox Home Entertainment

20th Century-Fox's JAYNE MANSFIELD COLLECTION box-set contains the films THE GIRL CAN'T HELP IT, WILL SUCCESS SPOIL ROCK HUNTER? and THE SHERIFF OF FRACTURED JAW, plus a set of twelve lobby card reproductions, four from each film.  The retro-style packaging is terrific.  GIRL and ROCK each include audio commentaries; GIRL also includes A&E's Biography episode on Mansfield, and ROCK includes a Fox Movietone newsreel.  All three discs also include trailers for these films as well as KISS THEM FOR ME, which is available on DVD but is not included in this collection.  Otherwise, SHERIFF contains no extras.

The A&E Biography on Mansfield is very informative.  I had always thought THE GIRL CAN'T HELP IT was her film debut, but she'd actually appeared in a few films for Warners (including the terrific ILLEGAL with Edward G. Robinson, now available in their FILM NOIR CLASSIC COLLECTION VOLUME 4 box-set) and starred in one for Columbia (THE BURGLAR) before being signed by Fox.  I also didn't know that Fox dropped Mansfield in 1962 after Marilyn Monroe died, because Marilyn's death signaled the end of the public's love affair with all those blonde bombshells.

All three Mansfield movies have been given beautiful picture and audio digital restorations and beautiful widescreen transfers -- there isn't a blemish on any of them.

THE GIRL CAN'T HELP IT is definitely Mansfield's best picture, with terrific performances by her as well as Tom Ewell, Edmond O'Brien, John Emory and a very impressive roster of musical guest stars including some of the top rock-&-roll acts of the day.  WILL SUCCESS SPOIL ROCK HUNTER? is amusing fun if often silly; it's definitely not the comedy classic I've sometimes heard it called, but it's worth seeing once.  An unfortunate last-minute replacement for THE WAYWARD BUS, which I'd long wanted to see but which was pulled due to legal entanglements involving writer John Steinbeck's estate, THE SHERIFF OF FRACTURED JAW has absolutely no laughs.  Zip.  Zilch.  Zero.  I wouldn't have included it in this collection, but I'd always been curious to see it and at least now I can say that I have.

In all fairness to Ms. Mansfield, I must say that although she was no Marilyn -- and unfortunately even her best film was not up to the level of Marilyn's films (Jayne never had a SOME LIKE IT HOT or a GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES or a SEVEN YEAR ITCH), I wouldn't go so far as to call her a "poor man's Marilyn" or a cheap imitation, as others have.  She was indeed a capable actress with fine comic timing, and although nowhere near as gifted or interesting as Marilyn, she was always serious about her craft.  Even in FRACTURED JAW, which is by no means a good movie, she gives a respectable performance (and was the sole reason I stuck it out until the end).

One aspect of these films that surprised me was that even though Mansfield was unquestionably a popular star at the time they were made, in all three films she receives second billing below the leading man, and she does not make her entrance until ten minutes into GIRL or ROCK HUNTER and nearly twenty minutes into SHERIFF!  Marilyn received far better star treatment.

THE GIRL CAN'T HELP IT has a feature-length audio commentary by UC Riverside film professor Toby Miller, and WILL SUCCESS SPOIL ROCK HUNTER? has one by New York University professor and film historian Dana Polan.  Both commentaries are well-thought-out and make for an interesting listen.  THE SHERIFF OF FRACTURED JAW has no commentary -- and doesn't merit one.  (It didn't even merit a home video release.)

Recommended.