The Girl Can't Help It

Anyone curious about the lighter side of the Eisenhower years needs to catch this candy-box confection. Yes indeed, it's classic R&R with a number of star crowd-pleasers at their peak—The Platters, Gene Vincent & His Bluecaps, Fats Domino, Eddie Cochran, plus the one and only Little Richard. And for the lounge lizard crowd, it's a sultry Julie London crying her trademark river. And, of course, no 50's look-back is complete without a busty blonde. Here it's a cartoonish Jayne Mansfield defying the laws of gravity with her twin gunboats.

And it's all put together by sight gag specialist Frank Tashlin showing why his years as a Disney cartoonist were not misspent. Okay, the 100-minutes gets a little plot-heavy toward the end, plus watching the glamorous Mansfield get all ga-ga over a nerdy Tom Ewell is itself a cartoon. Still, there's a usually dour Eddie O'Brien mugging it up in hilarious fashion, along with a deliciously deadpan Henry Jones trailing behind. I can't believe TCM gave the results only an average rating. Someone over there was asleep. On the contrary, this is one of the most lively and entertaining documents from that cold war decade. Thank you, Frank Tashlin and Twentieth Century Fox.

I always chuckle when comments moan about some film they review seriously which Helen Keller could tell is made to be a ridiculous comedy. Hey, like THE GIRL CAN'T HELP IT for example. How's this for the full hurricane force of the fun of it all: On Saturday June 11th 2005, as part of the Sydney Film Festival, there was a screening at the 2300 seat Sydney cinema treasurebox THE STATE THEATRE. Guess how many turned up: go on...have a guess...give up? well would you believe...... 2300 people !!! at $12.50 a ticket!! all ready to shatter the chandeliers and lift the roof in unison shrieking and howling with glee at this hilarious musical farce designed to do no more than outrageously entertain. And it did. Maybe best seen like this in a crowded picture palace of good natured punters keen to have communal cinema bliss, but I do believe it was all the rage back in 1956 as well, with Jayne doing Marilyn and Ewell leering and looking sideways. Fab deluxe colour never looked better and with a roster of glamour clad stars, all giving us their all for the FOX/Tashlin schedule it works superbly for 91 minutes of pure 50s delight. Yes it is funny! It's supposed to be! Just enjoy it. Or move to Australia.

Kids these days are not familiar with the problem we had in the fifties. We heard singers but to see them was rare- Little Richard didn't make it onto American Bandstand. So the big thrill of this film then was to actually see Little Richard, Fats Domino , Gene Vincent doing their gigs! the storyline was farcical and little more than a cover for the music but planting the music scenes in the movie was ingenious. Jayne Mansfield was luscious, even doing a caricature of a vamp. What else can one say? The new release DVD captures the wonderful color of the fifties- mauves and pink pastels everywhere. And Eddy Cochrane does his Elvis imitation and showing why Elvis was the King (and Little Richard the Queen) of Rock and Roll. Worth it for the history lesson- 1950's anthropology.

"The Girl Can't Help It" is a cute little film--though not quite as funny and memorable as Jayne Mansfield's followup film, "Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?". But like this followup, "The Girl Can't Help It" works because it never takes its self seriously and it's a good fit for the talents of Miss Mansfield--and is well worth your time.

The film begins with Tom Ewell being approached by an ex-gangster played by Edmund O'Brien. O'Brien wants this agent to represent his girlfriend (Mansfield)--a lady he swears is talented. However, what her talent is isn't readily apparent--except for her extreme sexiness. At this point, the best portion of the film occurs--when you hear the Little Richard song "The Girl Can't Help It". You see Jayne walking down the street--and the crazy reaction she gets from guys is really, really funny. However, while IMDb says that the milkman is played by Phil Silvers in this scene, it is NOT. I have seen this bit actor in many films though his name escapes me--I just know he's not Silvers (plus he's too skinny). So will Ewell manage to maker her a star? Or will the VERY jealous O'Brien have to put a hurt on him--as he's inclined to think that other guys are trying to muscle in on his girl.

This is a lightweight comedy and would be worth seeing just for that reason. However, the film also includes lots of great cameos by various early rock 'n roll groups--a WONDERFUL bonus. For example, you'll see the Platters, Little Richard and Fats Domino! Clever writing, great music and fun. If only Mansfield had made more films like this one.

I saw this film when it was released in 1956. It was the first production for mainstream audiences to feature top R&B and R&R acts in color. My contemporaries were particularly delighted to see Little Richard, Fats Domino and The Platters on screen in color for the first time. I made a VHS copy from a cable TV screening, but later purchased a legal VHS release, only to find that the cable screening used a better copy, both audio and video wise.

The only complaint I have about the film is that every one of the musical acts is interrupted by dialog.

Despite that, especially for nostalgia buffs, it's still well-worth getting.