The girl can't help it

Author

Frank Tashlin

Call Number

• BLU-RAY COMEDY (CEN)

Edition

Blu-ray special edition.

Languages

English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing.

Performers

Tom Ewell, Jayne Mansfield, Edmond O'Brien, Julie London, Ray Anthony, Barry Gordon, Henry Jones, John Emery, Juanita Moore, Fats Domino, The Platters, Little Richard and his Band, Gene Vincent and his Blue Caps, The Treniers, Eddie Cochran.

Publication Information

[Irvington, NY] : Criterion Collection, [2022]

Physical Description

1 videodisc (97 minutes) : sound, color ; 4 3/4 in. + 1 folded sheet (illustrations ; 17 cm.)

Audience

Not rated.

Summary

"In 1956, Frank Tashlin brought the talent for zany visual gags and absurdist pop-culture satire that he'd honed as a master of animation to the task of capturing, in glorious DeLuxe Color, a brand-new craze: rock and roll. This blissfully bonkers jukebox musical tells the story of a mobster's bombshell girlfriend--the one and only Jayne Mansfield, in a showstopping first major film role--and the washed-up talent agent who seeks to revive his career by turning her into a musical sensation. The only question is: Can she sing? A CinemaScope feast of eye-popping midcentury design, it bops along to a parade of performances by rock-and-roll trailblazers--including Little Richard, Fats Domino, Julie London, Eddie Cochran, the Platters, and Gene Vincent--who light up the screen with the uniquely American sound that was about to conquer the world"--Container.

Notes

Originally released as a motion picture in 1956.

Special features: New high-definition digital transfer, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack ; audio commentary featuring scholar Toby Miller ; new video essay by film critic David Cairns ; interview with filmmaker John Waters ; new conversation between WFMU DJs Dave "the Spazz" Abramson and Gaylord Fields about the music in the film ; new interview with Eve Golden, author of Jayne Mansfield: The Girl Couldn't Help It ; on-set footage ; interviews with actor Jayne Mansfield (1957) and musician Little Richard (1984) ; episode of Karina Longworth's podcast You Must Remember This about Mansfield ; trailer.