The Girl Can't Help It ( 1956 ) ( The Girl Can Not Help It )

The Girl Can't Help It ( 1956 ) (DVD) (*)

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Alternate Title: The Girl Can Not Help It
Language Selections:
English ( Dolby Digital 2.0 )

Product Origin/Format:
United Kingdom ( PAL/Region 0 )

Running Time:
93 min + 21 min extras

Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen (2.35:1)

Special Features:
Interactive Menu
Scene Access

Movie filmed in 1956 and produced in:
United States ( USA, Canada )

Directed By:
Frank Tashlin

Written By:
Frank Tashlin
Herbert Baker

Actors:
Tom Ewell ..... Tom Miller
Jayne Mansfield ..... Jerri Jordan
Edmond O'Brien ..... Marty (Fatso) Murdock
Julie London ..... Herself
Ray Anthony ..... Himself
Barry Gordon ..... Barry the paperboy
Henry Jones ..... Mousie
John Emery ..... Wheeler
Juanita Moore ..... Hilda
Fats Domino ..... Himself
Herb Reed ..... Himself (as The Platters)
David Lynch ..... Himself (as The Platters)
Tony Williams ..... Himself (as The Platters)
Paul Robi ..... Himself (as The Platters)
Zola Taylor ..... Herself (as The Platters)

Synopsis:

A down-and-out gangster hires an alcoholic press agent to make his blonde bombshell girlfriend a recording star in 6 weeks. But what is he going to do when he finds out that she has no talent? And what is going to happen when the two fall in love?

The inimitable writer-director Frank Tashlin once more aims his satiric barbs at modern culture (modern 1950s culture, that is) in The Girl Can't Help It. Much of the film is dominated by Edmond O'Brien as mob boss Murdock, who while serving a term in federal prison becomes a singing sensation with his hit tune "Rock Around the Rock Pile." Once he's sprung, Murdock hires impoverished agent Tom Miller (Tom Ewell), not to promote his own career, but to turn his curvaceous lady friend Jerri Jordan (Jayne Mansfield) into a star. Alas, Jerri has no singing or acting talent whatsoever, a fact that she's eager and willing to admit. A domestic type at heart, all Jerri really wants out of life is to marry Murdock, so that she can clean his house, cook his meals and raise his children. When Murdock refuses to grant her wishes, Jerri falls in love with Tom instead. Every so often, director Tashlin takes time out from the plot to poke fun at such technical marvels as CinemaScope and Technicolor, and to lampoon the American male's fixation on female bosoms and bottoms (at one point, Jayne Mansfield leans towards the camera, her cleavage exposed as far as the censors will allow, and plaintively asks Tom Ewell if he believes that she's equipped for motherhood). While much of the humor in the film is dated, The Girl Can't Help It is an invaluable record of the pop-music scene of the 1950s, featuring such guest artists as Julie London (playing Tom Ewell's dream girl), Ray Anthony, Fats Domino, The Platters, Little Richard and his Band, Gene Vincent and his Blue Caps, the Treniers, Eddie Fontaine, Abbey Lincoln and Eddie Cochran.

Gangster hires down-and-out press agent to make his blonde bimbo girlfriend a singing star.

This product was added to our catalog on Friday 13 November, 2015.