moonspinner55

TV star Mariska Hargitay is (or rather, was) the reluctant daughter of curvaceous show biz legend Jayne Mansfield. Embarrassed by her mother, by her lineage, she kept her family history and its many secrets private--until now. This moving, extraordinary documentary, directed and produced by Hargitay, finds the right tone for a special about family: it's nostalgic and warm, but also bustling with the camaraderie of siblings and the long-ago memories that family members share. Jayne Mansfield is brought back to life through the hearts of her children, and this very personal documentary radiates with the kind of loving closure that often takes decades to achieve. A triumph! ***1/2 from ****

Jayne Mansfield plays curvaceous gangster's girl Jerri Jordan who wants to be a singing star. Producer-director Frank Tashlin, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Herbert Baker from an uncredited novel by Garson Kanin, keeps everything popping in this send-up of rock 'n roll, sex and show biz. It's frazzled fun...for the first three quarters of an hour. It might have been smashing were it not for charmless Tom Ewell and leaden Edmond O'Brien in the male leads. Mansfield won the Golden Globe for Most Promising Female Newcomer. It's a persona she's putting on; waxy, larger-than-life, and chasing after Marilyn's coattails. ** from ****

Keir Dullea may be many things as an actor, but lewd and kinky don't immediately come to mind. Dullea is capable if oddly cast as the sadomasochistic Marquis de Sade, his storied life retold to him by his uncle, who presents our protagonist's journey as a play that he moves in and out of. "De Sade" shows some bold directorial touches for a film that had such a checkered history (Michael Reeves signed on to direct but died; Cy Endfield was brought on but suffered a breakdown, leading to uncredited fill-ins directed by original co-screenwriter Roger Corman to pad the running time). Originally X-rated, the movie has scenes of erotica (lots of naked breasts and bums--though not Dullea's), and yet the orgies are perhaps the film's weakest link. American-International Pictures suffered a financial loss when the results of "De Sade" failed to meet anyone's expectations. For his part, screenwriter Richard Matheson claimed his original script was just fine, it was Endfield's direction that loused everything up. *1/2 from ****