Jayne Mansfield Collection

Platinum blonde bombshell Jayne Mansfield was Hollywood's number two sex symbol of the 1950s after Marilyn Monroe (on whom Mansfield obviously patterned her screen persona). Mansfield never eclipsed Monroe in popularity, most likely because she couldn't hide the fact that she was a put-on who did everything with a wink to her audience. That made her most effective in comedy, where her cartoonish image was an asset, and she had the requisite comic timing to make her characters count for something more than window dressing. Unfortunately, her peak period was very brief; by the early 1960s, she had been reduced to playing a caricature of herself—essentially, a caricature of a caricature. This three-disc collection compiles Mansfield's best comedic vehicles. The Girl Can't Help It (1956) casts her as a no-talent chanteuse whose gangster boyfriend (Edmond O'Brien) becomes jealous when she starts paying too much attention to a glib press agent (Tom Ewell). Aside from being hilarious, the film is also a cinematic showcase for the greats of early rock ‘n' roll, among them Fats Domino, the Platters, and Little Richard. Even better is Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? (1957), starring Tony Randall as an advertising executive who persuades ditzy movie star Rita Marlowe (Mansfield) to endorse a new brand of lipstick. This clever satire on Madison Avenue also features bodybuilder Mickey Hargitay, whom Mansfield would wed (their Emmy-winning daughter Mariska stars in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit). The British-made The Sheriff of Fractured Jaw (1958) teams Mansfield with Kenneth More, playing a proper English gentleman hoodwinked into becoming sheriff of a wild Western town, with Mansfield playing a shrewd saloon owner who shows him the ropes. Not quite up to the level of the two earlier films, it's nonetheless a delightful romp. DVD extras include audio commentaries on the first two films and an A&E Biography profile of Mansfield. Recommended. (E. Hulse)