The Jayne Mansfield Story

The Jayne Mansfield Story
by Dick Lowry

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DVD details

Actor: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Loni Anderson
Director: Dick Lowry
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language); Spanish (Original Language)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 87 minutes
DVD Release Date: 1980-12-13
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Direct Source Label

DVD Reviews of The Jayne Mansfield Story

DVD Review: Outstanding!
Summary: 5 Stars

This was an EXCELLENT & true-to-life portayal of the life of Jayne Mansfield. Loni Anderson played the role better than anybody else could.

DVD Review: Jayne deserved much better than that...
Summary: 1 Stars

Of all the movies made about movie-stars,this one would have to be one of the worst.
I find that the disrespect that Jayne Mansfield suffered from during her short life is showing again in this film.
The costumes that Loni wears were obviously done on the ''cheap'',and her acting abilities are just as low as anything else she has done.Incredibly,Arnold is much more credible as the ''mimbo'' Mickey Hargitay was.
The only scene that i found interesting is when Jayne learns that Marilyn has died.According to my research,she really believed that this was a chance for her to finally get the roles that she could not get when Monroe was still alive.Only problem was,Jayne was (in 1962) an has-been,with a drinking-problem,and was perceived by Hollywood as a loose-cannon,a mess,and someone that belonged in the yellow-press of the time.The only reason she continued accepting roles after 1959,was to keep up with her high overhead,and lifestyle.The Jayne Mansfield Story in his treatment and el-cheapo production values is an insult to the legacy that Miss Mansfield has left us with.If you are interested by Jayne,you would be much better off purchasing 'The Girl Can't help it' or 'Will success spoil Rock Hunter'(in her best,and biggest budget films),and to see the contrast in her career,get 'Promises,Promises'(1963),and finally 'Single Room Furnished'(1966,but released in 1968) to see what Hollywood,and all that over-exposure did to her,and her spirit.
I am not saying that The Jayne Mansfiel Story is mean-spirited,I am sure they meant well,but it is so incomplete,and cheaply-made,that it does not deserve to be called HER Story.
Jayne Mansfield deserved MUCH more than a made-for-TV movie,and we might see it ...eventually.My suggestion for the role of Jayne ? ANNA NICOLE SMITH who is basically doing the same schitck...50 years later.She would be FABULOUSSSSSSSS as Jayne,hopefully with some $$$ spent on a wardrobe deserving of Jayne (Let's not forget that in 1956,35,000$ was spent on Jayne's wardrobe in 'The Girl Can't Help It' alone.Translate this to 2006 dollars,please)

DVD Review: THE OTHER BLONDE BOMBSHELL...
Summary: 3 Stars

This film recounts the life of Jayne Mansfield and her transformation from a blooming Dallas high schooler to a platinum blonde bombshell who rose to prominence in the Hollywood of the 1950s. Starring Loni Anderson as Jayne and Arnold Schwartzenegger as her one time husband and true love, Mickey Hargitay, a former Mr. Universe and bodybuilder turned business man, the film is mildly entertaining. Her story unfolds through his eyes.

Hers is the sad story of an intelligent, beautiful woman who initially chose to be viewed as a dumb blonde sex object in order to jump start her career as a film star, but who would later want to be given the opportunity to be considered as a serious actress. In her heyday in the 1950s, Ms. Mansfield was the toast of the town with fans up the wazoo.

Unfortunately, that was to be somewhat short-lived. Jayne Mansfield was never able to get over her stereotypic portrayal of a bimbo, so Hollywood never gave her serious consideration as an actress. In the battle of the dumb blondes, Ms. Mansfield ran a distant second to Marilyn Monroe. This relegation to the back of the pack would always stick in Ms. Mansfield's craw.

By the time the 1960s arrived, she, instead, courted cheap publicity, drank too much, and ended up a faded, buxom has been, as well as a divorcee with three children to whom she was a devoted mother. She was now a relic from a bygone time, as tastes changed with the advent of The Beatles and a new, exciting pop culture was emerging. With Marilyn Monroe already having met her maker, Ms. Mansfield's death from a tragic car accident, at thirty six, was to herald the end of an era.

Loni Anderson does an excellent job in the starring role, imbuing the role with enough intelligence, as well as pathos, to be compelling, though somewhat predictable . Surprisingly enough, Arnold Schwartzenegger does a credible job as Mickey Hargitay, painting a sympathetic portrait of Jayne's much beleaguered, one time husband and father to her two boys. Ray Butenika, as Ms. Mansfield's long time agent, Bob, gives a good performance. All in all, the film has an excellent cast that does its best with the somewhat mediocre script and is, at least, worth a rental.

I actually remember seeing Jayne Mansfield, when I was a young girl. In those days, theatres in Manhattan, such as the RKO, would often times showcase films in which the star of the film would make a guest appearance. The theatre would literally role out the red carpet and oftentimes a band, as well as a host of majorettes (of which I was one), twirling batons in unison, would greet the star as she stepped out of her limousine, larger than life. The star would also to be met by a throng of cheering fans outside the theatre. Then, she would be whisked away to the theatre, where she would go on stage and say a few words, only to disappear as quickly as she had arrived. This practice has now been consigned to the darkest recesses of the memories of those who participated in these theatrical welcome wagons.

DVD Review: Entertaining, sad true story of Jayne Mansfield!
Summary: 5 Stars

I have watched this movie many times on TV, Im so happy they finally put it on DVD, the quality is excellent. The casting couldnt have been more perfect Loni Anderson as Jayne and Arnold Schwarzenegger as the handsome Mickey Hargitay, what a perfect couple they were. The movie starts with Jayne as a young single mother and Hollywood starlet. Her "blonde bombsell" looks, Playboy and publicity stunts become her ticket to stardom. Jayne in reality was no dumb blonde at all. Jayne lands a big part in a broadway play "Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter". Then Jayne stars in several big movies, and becomes sterotype as a ditzy blonde and the studios answer to the next Marilyn Monroe, but as Marilyn, Jayne also longs for more serious roles. But she becomes trapped by the Hollywood system and the blonde over the top image she so masterfully created. Along the way she falls in love with a young handsome body builder nice guy named Mickey, who struggles to make Jayne happy. They have 3 children together and live in a beautiful pink palace. But as Jaynes career slides into mismanagement and cheaply made B- movies, she turns to comfort in a bottle and their relationship crumbles. The 1960's hippy culture has little room left for a 50's blonde tease pin up girl. Jayne ends up touring clubs with a comedy stage act just before her tragic death in a car accident on June 30th 1967 , she was 34 years old. My favorite line in the movie is when Jayne tells the press "Micky has a 53 inch chest and mine is 42 inch, our arms are short so it makes dancing very difficult" lol!! In my opinion Jayne was a great comedian, a wonderful mother, and animal lover, a lover of life, truely a lady with a big heart. If she had lived she would have still been a legend of the 50's and played Vegas! I wish she had never left Mickey, he really loved her and I believe many of the other men in her life used her. It is also stated in the Jayne bio book by her good friend May Mann, that Jayne only went to the church of Satan as a gag & publicty stunt, knowing Jayne that sounds like her lol. She was a Christain woman by all accounts. To see the best of Jaynes movies I would recommend the great comedy 1956 "The Girl Can't Help IT" and 1957 "Will Sucess Spoil Rock Hunter". And the last film "Guide to a married Man", small part but very funny.

DVD Review: Man, oh, man, oh... Mansfield!
Summary: 3 Stars

I had the opportunity to view this movie recently, and I feel that it did a relatively decent job relating the story of Jayne Mansfield, although there are a few artistic license moments, but they seem to work overall.

Loni Anderson personafies her relatively well, even though she is a bit more angular than the original more curvacious and softer Mansfield, a cartoon cutie to be sure, with that little girl face and entirely womanly body. She works the bubbly charm to the hilt, eclipsing her contemporary Monroe in several ways, many times with a much more pre-meditated exagerrated effervescence, arousing men in her pink field of influence to feats of lustful ennervation, while at the same time either motivating and otherwise disturbing other females in the area. The erotically-powerful 'witchy' dynamics of a bombshell.

Early on, she discovers the formula for success, and by The Art of Deception, utilizes her assets to gain fame and fortune.

Arnold Schwarzenegger portrays husband Mickey Hargitay, a well-meaning man who is remembered primarily for his exceptional physique, which Schwarzenegger actually decreased in bulk for since attaining the Mr. Universe and Olympia titles two years previous. As her husband and confidant, he also becomes among other things, her father-figure and virtual baby-sitter towards the end of their marriage and career, while she became counter-productively selfish and obsessed with being in the limelight at all costs, even accepting roles that he and her agent felt were beneath her, such as sexploitation film roles to stripping gigs at redneck bars, much of which was attributed to alcoholism in the film. This presentation seems to attempt to portray Mansfield as uncontrolled and desperate, although source materials will attest to the opposite - she knew exactly what she was doing, and knew how to get it.

By that obsession and despite such alleged foibles, she made herself a star, establishing her iconographic prominance. It seems that to her, this was all part of the plan; she loved being on stage, in the spotlight, soaking up that raw sexual energy, and really living life to the fullest, following her passions and bliss. She created The Pink Palace, her own total environment, enjoyed being driven around in her Pink Cadillac, all while attired in her inimitable personal style, with all the shwa d'vive of a glamorous Hollywood Babylon Goddess.

Self-made, Mansfield was a sex-bomb, mother, and business woman.

The film begins and ends with the scene of the 'accident' - the infamous mosquito-spraying truck collision, although the vile and literally accursed Sam Brody is not mentioned by name; and there is no mention of Dr. LaVey being her lover and mentor here, perhaps as a result of the limited information at the time the film was released.* With the exception of one or two, several documentaries fail to mention the LaVey connection entirely, which may be chalked up to the dreaded 'S' word and Satanophobia.

Some women are just so voluptuous, that it cannot be contained within the confines of puritanism, and to deny such innate sensuality would be a tragic waste of enormous salacious potential, which she did not squander, but knew how to wield well, for her own benefit, and that of her admirers.

~~~~~~~~~
* For those unaware, Ms. Mansfield was a member of The Church of Satan - there are even photographs and letters attesting to that fact. In brief, LaVey placed a Death Curse on Brody, and unfortunately, Jayne was on ground zero when it manifested, despite The Black Pope's warnings for her to remain distant. Also not mentioned is LaVey's successful Compassion ritual for Jayne's son Zoltan, who recovered after a mauling by a lion at the zoo.

{For much more, see 'The Secret Life of A Satanist' by Blanche Barton for the full story}.

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