Ella era irresistible

A perfect example of a film whose sum is far less than its parts, "Too Hot to Handle" (1960) proved to be a real letdown for me. On paper, the film would seem to have a lot going for it: Jayne Mansfield playing a stripper in a seedy London club; a moustachioed Christopher Lee as the club's manager, who is plotting against the owner/boss (Leo Genn) with the rival strip club owner across the street; Carl Boehm (so memorable in that same year's "Peeping Tom") as a French reporter doing a story on the club; AND direction by Terence Young, who in the next five years would go on to helm three out of the first four Bond films. Unfortunately, it doesn't work, although the multiple plot threads (rival strip joints, Jayne's infatuation with her boss, an underage dancer) keep things spinning along. Jayne does get to perform two sexy and amusing musical numbers, and acts decently enough, but even her assets aren't enough to float this picture. (In truth, she looks pretty matronly during most of the film.) Part of the problem, for me, is the level of tawdry sleaziness on display, with repeated shots of Brit businessmen ogling at the dancers, who have only stripped down to their skivvies. (No nudity at this club, it seems.) Worse for me was the quality of the DVD itself that I just watched. It would seem that the source for this DVD was a crummy 16mm print, and with lousy sound. Heavy British accents PLUS lousy sound make for an exasperating and difficult cinematic experience. (Potential viewers should also be aware that, despite the Maltin book's claim that this is a color film, it is in truth black & white.) Perhaps if the DVD had looked and sounded a bit better, I might have enjoyed the film more, sleazy and cheesy as it is. But I still wouldn't have thought it was, um, too hot.

TOO HOT TO HANDLE was Jayne Mansfield's first film away from 20th Century-Fox after achieving stardom in the mid 1950's. This British drama is usually marked as the beginning of her descent into low-budget productions but actually despite being set almost entirely in a nightclub, it's clearly no cheapie with a large cast and somewhat lavish production numbers with solid direction from Terence Young who later did many James Bond films.

Jayne plays the lead in this ensemble picture as the headline attraction and longtime girlfriend of strip club owner Leo Genn who lately has been the recipient of several extortion attempts. Tough guy Genn is determined to fight back rather than give in much to Jayne's distress. Jayne sings two numbers including the title song performed in fairly transparent costume (reminscent of Marlene Dietrich's famous Las Vegas gown) that covers the basics but not much else. This number is badly shot with too many shots of the audience and not enough of Jayne although this may have been the work of the censors. The movie's American release was held up two years because of the racy numbers (finally released in 1962 as PLAYGIRL AFTER DARK) but today it could play on primetime TV and not raise an eyebrow although the numbers remain sexy.

Jayne generally looks gorgeous for the most but in a couple of scenes is not photographed well and in some scenes appears to be unusually plump (she may have been pregnant or had not yet lost post-baby weight, she was cranking out kiddies almost as often as movies during this period). She is appealing as always as the warm-hearted star of the show whose good love may all be for naught.

Give her credit too, for sharing the screen with a number of other lovelies among the showgirls and entertainers at the club. Beautiful brunette Danik Pattison gets almost as much screen time as Jayne as the loner, secretive showgirl and she has a sensational faux strip number set in a steamy train berth that still packs an erotic wallop. Barbara Windsor is cast as the "jailbait" showgirl, "Ponytail", who wants to grow up in the worst way. While Ms. Windsor is clearly not underage like her character, she effectively captures the simplistic foolishness of someone too young to understand the big picture. Ms. Pattison went on to have a career in the French film industry that lasted into the 1970's, Ms. Windsor later became quite well-known in England for her work in the "Carry on..." films and television programs and is still active today in the series "East Enders".

British star Leo Genn is very effective as the James Cagney-tough club owner while Christopher Lee does well as his right-hand man. The movie was filmed and released in Eastman Color but video and DVD prints are regrettably black and white. It was fairly common for B&W prints to be struck of color films to be shown on television during the 1960's and 1970's for local stations. Surely color prints of this movie must exist somewhere, hopefully eventually one will find it's way to DVD. This movie is a low-key effort but it still interesting and actually has a lot to offer with a fine performance by Genn, the warmth and glamour of Mansfield, and a number of other beautiful young women on parade in various stages of dress.

Low budget but decent crime drama. Jayne, approaching the end of her brief heyday, is pretty good as the sort of den mother to a group of strippers, she even performs a few mediocre numbers. This really shows how the vision of the desirable female form has changed over the years. Nowadays the lithe hard body look is the goal but Jayne is anything but that, very curvy and quite plump she is harshly lit as is the film but even with that at times she looks stunning. The plot takes a while to get going and really isn't focused sharply enough to make the film as involving as it should be but Leo Genn is good in the lead and he and Jayne hold your interest whenever they are on screen.

The dance numbers with Jane Mansfield were the main draw of this show, and we don't get to see the bareness of her outfits in black and white. It's too bad foreign films where this was in color are still made without any English dialog on DVD. The subplots that made the backdrop of this story are interesting, but Mansfield's part wears out while she acts out as a mother figure to Johnny, the nightclub owner, warning him not to use his gun against a rival club across the street that's blackmailing him. Then she's mom to an underage girl, attempting to keep her from going to a fatal date with a villainous club investor. The supporting characters like Christopher Lee as the host and the various strippers help break up the monotony of her "don't do this" speeches. Koch Vision had a color version but I don't know why no one has it now.

The plot concerns the owner of the "Pink Flamingo" club and his battles with rival club owners and the police. Christopher Lee has a small role, but the main attraction for most viewers would probably be Jayne Mansfield, who surprisingly, is very good in her role as the club owners girlfriend. She has a big musical number and you'll wonder how they squeezed her into some of the tightest costumes you'll ever see.