The Girl Can't Help It (1956): Another Look

5 It should be noted, however, that the seven-film "Francis the Talking Mule" senes enjoyed some popularity during the 1950s (1950-1956). As for the more scientifically-oriented films, their seeds can be found in lower budgeted "B" films ofthe immediate post-war period that dealt, however crudely, with space travel and nuclear energy. Cyclotrode X (1946), D-Day on Mars (1945) and Lost Planet Airmen (1949). all produced by the Republic studio, are representative ofthese films. 6 Robert Bloch, "Menace, Anyone?" in Forrest J. Ackerman, ed., Son of Famous Monsters ofFilmland (New York: Paperback Library, 1965), p. 69. The unusual capitalization is included in the original text. 7 For example, Miracle on 34th Street ( 1 947) was remade as a 1 973 TV-movie starring Sebastian Cabot, and Ifs_a Wonderful Life was redone in 1 977 as a TV movie entitled It Happened One Christmas featuring Mario Thomas and Cloris Lachman in the lead roles, In addition, Heaven Can Wait (1978) was a remake of Here Comes Mr. Jordan with Warren Beatty and James Mason in the leads, while Angel on My Shoulder was remade in 1 980 under the same title starring Peter Strauss and Richard Kiley. THE GIRL CANT HELP IT (1956): ANOTHER LOOK By Kenneth Hey Kenneth Hey is Associate Professor ofFilm at Brooklyn College. His work has appearedfrequently in Film & Histoi-y. When The Girl Can't Help It reached local theatres late in 1956, critics focused their attentions on the "girl" who couldn't help it. "The chassis is well-sprung," wrote Observer (England) critic CA. Lejeune (February 3, 1957), "and the whole model is supported on tiny, mincing, high-heeled feet. She is required in the film to do a good deal ofwalking, and there were some times when I felt it must have caused her pain." The combination ofbody-oggling and strained empathy echoed throughout the critics' responses. Newsweek (December 31, 1956), modifying the two points slightly, dated the subject matter and made Mansfield's body an entity separate from her person. "The body the new star inhabits is a kind of feverishly del irious caricature ofthe hourglass figures fashionable halfa century ago." The actress' figure serves "as a kind ofundulating focal point for two fellows...who do all the acting when the need arises." According to Time (January 14, 1957), Mansfield "received a tape measure's worth of fame through publicity stills...[and] the 23 year-old platinum blonde's physical proportions" were the center ofa feeble plot outline. Moira Walsh sharpened the critic's teeth in America (January 26, 1957). "What the girl can't help is, presumably, that she is shaped like a pouter pigeon or, more accurately, like a grotesque hybrid plant in which one particular feature has been encouraged at the expense of the whole." The author scolded producer, director, and all who exploited Mansfield "in a manner having nothing to do with any talent [she] may or may not possess." Despite the attention given the starlet's prominence in the film,_an occasional critic saAv the satire beneath the surface. According to Cue (February 2, 1957), the picture spent a good deal of footage "spoofing many ofthe classic props ofpast and present gangster end musical films. The picture kids sex frankly and unabashedly; it pokes fun at the shimmier, shakier aspects ofthe aboriginal contortions ofthe current rock 'n roll set; and takes a good-natured swipe at movie mobsters and fast-tar king talent agents." In the 1970s, after director Frank Tashlin died, The Girl Can't Help It returned to the public eye but attracted comments that continued the split identity begun two decades earlier. This time, however, the bodyoggling was more vehemently ridiculed by feminist critics and the empathy went to director Tashlin, not actress Mansfield. Marjorie Rosen, in Popcorn Venus (1973) claimed that Mansfield represented a conspicuous example of a 1950's illness called "mammary madness." Molly Haskell in From Reverence to Rape (1973) disparaged the "cartoon blond" image Mansfield projected. "She was the masturbatory fantasy that gave satisfaction and demanded nothing in return; the wolfbait, the eye-stopper that men exchanged glances over." In particular, Mansfield was "the real cartoon ofoverblown...