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The Girl Can't Help It (1956) More at IMDbPro »

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32 comments in total

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16 out of 17 people found the following comment useful :-
Jayne is still THE blonde, 2 April 2006

Author: non_sportcardandy from california

Some of the entertainment of this movie has been forgotten or been given bad marks by modern jaded viewers.It was my great privilege to view this film when it first came out at the neighborhood theater together with "Rebel without a cause".A privilege because such moments in movie viewing history just don't come along often.It was a Friday night and the theater was packed with a variety of juveys-hoods,roque's,frats,squares from high school down to my grade school.They were all there to witness a movie twin bill that would never be equaled again.When talking of that night my description is "The place was rockin".When the music came on it was as though the crowd was at a live concert.At school the following Monday the kids wern't trying to figure out James Dean's character from r.w.a.c. they were talking and singing about t.g.c.h.i.The slow witted girl that sat across from me in class knew by heart the words to the song Edmund o'Brien sang in the picture...I was amazed.Almost everyone agrees the music was good,I'm a little at odds with other comments.Till this day in my circle Jayne Mansfield was THE blonde of that era.She was cuter,funnier(her figure speaks for itself)than any blonde of that era.One reviewer used the word bubbly,that's a good description.At times she appeared on TV in bubbly character almost out of breath when speaking,she was a real card.Despite her eye popping outer appearance she generated a lot of laughter with her character.While some are trying to figure out if the other blonds were a symbol,sensuous,tragic,etc. there was no mystery to Jayne.She was funny and a real man's and/or boy's woman.So dynamic was her outer appearance some of her criticism may stem from jealousy.The movie at times was a bit bawdy and it's humor still should hold up today.When watching Jayne walk up the stairs a man's glasses crack, although still funny it can never be as hilarious as it was back then.In no way was it a fashion statement to wear glasses back then,it was a social stigma for young people.To hurt another youngster's feelings they were called 4 eyes if they wore glasses,an expression all but forgotten.So anyone wearing glasses was considered pretty much of a goon in the first place thus an even funnier scene in this movie.In the complete gchi song the words are spicy-She makes grandpa feel like 21....has a figure made to squeeze.Of the entertainers Fats and Little Richard were my favorites hands down.In fairness to the entertainers that some have referred to as copies or clones of Elvis they were what a lot of the public wanted at the time.This movie has very good color,may the viewer be fortunate to see a good copy.

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16 out of 19 people found the following comment useful :-
er, it's a comedy, folks!, 7 August 2005

Author: ptb-8 from Australia

I always chuckle when comments moan about some film they review seriously which Helen Keller could tell is made to be a ridiculous comedy. Hey, like THE GIRL CAN'T HELP IT for example. How's this for the full hurricane force of the fun of it all: On Saturday June 11th 2005, as part of the Sydney Film Festival, there was a screening at the 2300 seat Sydney cinema treasurebox THE STATE THEATRE. Guess how many turned up: go on...have a guess...give up? well would you believe...... 2300 people !!! at $12.50 a ticket!! all ready to shatter the chandeliers and lift the roof in unison shrieking and howling with glee at this hilarious musical farce designed to do no more than outrageously entertain. And it did. Maybe best seen like this in a crowded picture palace of good natured punters keen to have communal cinema bliss, but I do believe it was all the rage back in 1956 as well, with Jayne doing Marilyn and Ewell leering and looking sideways. Fab deluxe colour never looked better and with a roster of glamour clad stars, all giving us their all for the FOX/Tashlin schedule it works superbly for 91 minutes of pure 50s delight. Yes it is funny! It's supposed to be! Just enjoy it. Or move to Australia.

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13 out of 14 people found the following comment useful :-
Ultimate look at classic rock in a spoofy, campy funny musical, 24 July 1999

Author: Robert Kurtz (cr3@tentacle.net) from Berkeley, CA

Wanna see when Little Richard(She's Got It-Ready-Teddy & Girl Can't Help It), Gene Vincent(BeBop A Lula),The Platters(You'll Never Know), and Fats Domino(Blue Monday)perform their hits live as the actually sang them in 1956? Wanna see campy Jayne Mansfied at her sexiest, wittiest best? Paradoies, sight gags and clever writing make the rocker musical an even better comedy, which has stood the test of time. Jayne bubbles over, while Tom(Ewell) bubbles under and somehow in the end they both bubble up to the surface and find happiness, kids.......... If this isn't enough Calander Girl Julie London does a sultry. teasing version of her hit Cry Me A River that will drive any man to drink. Check the cars out, I once owned one of those. See this movie twice to fully appreciate the music and catch all the gags, clever lines and parodies.

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10 out of 11 people found the following comment useful :-
Uproarious Showbiz Send Up, 21 July 1999

Author: humble-2 from Los Angeles, Ca.

One of the just plain funniest satires. Frank Tashlin has fun with and merrily tears apart our obsession with big boobs, celebrity, gangster films, the aburdity of Cinemascope and just about anything else in the line of fire. I avoided this film for years, thinking it would be trash. It is instead a very smart film about our love of trash. Tom Ewell is just great as the erst-while agent, literally scared for his life. Jayne Maynesfield is Jayne Maynesfield and, believe me, it is acting. Edmund O'Brien gives one of the most hilarious, over-the-top performances ever. A perfect farce performance of some one who thinks he is much better and important than he is. And the rock numbers in it are priceless. If you are fan of early real rock, see this film. The REAL rock 'n roll.

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8 out of 10 people found the following comment useful :-
Should go into a time capsule, 31 August 1999

Author: Boyo-2

This movie is a treasure and should be viewed by all serious movie fans, because there is nothing quite like it. Mansfield is perfection, Tom Ewell is his dependable funny self, plus all that music! I love Julie London's "Cry Me A River" the best. In any event, see this movie, even if the music is older than you are!

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12 out of 18 people found the following comment useful :-
Love It Or Hate It?, 6 November 2005

Author: ccthemovieman-1 from Lockport, NY, United States

Scenes in this movie were either very interesting and funny or they were very stupid and annoying.There was no middle ground.

THE GOOD - One of the interesting parts was seeing some of the early rock performers such as Gene Vincent and Bluecaps, Fats Domino, The Platters and several others. It also was nice to see Julie London in one number. The humor was mainly provided by Tom Ewell, who played a role similar to the one he played in the much-funnier "Seven-Year Itch."

THE BAD - Annoying was Edmund O'Brien, who was parodying a loud-mouth gangster. Well, he was so loud and abrasive it became offensive after just a short time. Mansfield was okay. She was in the movie, obviously, for one thing: show off her mammoth breasts which, with the pointed bras of the day, looked just plain weird and unreal (yeah, I know...they were real!)

Despite the patches of humor and music, the movie as a whole dragged. It was hard to keep interest in this. For its time period, however - the mid '50s - I'm sure this movie must have freaked out a lot of people.

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6 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
Bad movie, great music, 9 January 2007

Author: jcorelis from United States

Sometimes films which aren't very good as cinema are nevertheless interesting for special reasons. The Girl Can't Help It is a good example. The story, a combination gangster comedy and satire on music business hype, is basically a device on which to hang innumerable leering shots of Jayne Mansfield's astonishing body, including one which has become iconic of 1950s vulgarity: Mansfield chatting innocently away while holding two fresh jugs of milk against her chest. Mansfield is so exaggeratedly curvaceous here that she looks almost like a cartoon -- and in fact this, along with the obviousness of the humor, the stereotyped characters, and even the garish Deluxe color, all reflect director Frank Tashlin's extensive background in animation: the film is as close as you can come to making a cartoon with an ordinary movie camera.

But all these flaws are irrelevant to the film's real value as a precious and glorious record of early rock and roll music: it serves up thick slabs of amazing performances by Little Richard! The Platters! Gene Vincent! Eddie Cochran! Fats Domino! Abbie Lincoln! And several other less well remembered rock acts of the day. Additionally, we get a generous serving of the great pop/jazz singer Julie London, which shows us why she was said to define sultriness.

The film is also interesting as a social document showing the strange, breast-obsessed, puritanical/voyeuristic sexual milieu of the 1950s -- this is the world of "the urban male," which generated Playboy magazine.

The bottom line: all in all a rather silly movie, but a fascinating period piece.

Should you see it? Yes, if you're at all interested in rock and roll.

Advisory: no explicit sex, violence, or bad language, but a lot of leering nudge-nudge puerile sexual innuendo.

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5 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
1950's anthropology, 16 August 2006

Author: don dutton from Vancouver, B.C.

Kids these days are not familiar with the problem we had in the fifties. We heard singers but to see them was rare- Little Richard didn't make it onto American Bandstand. So the big thrill of this film then was to actually see Little Richard, Fats Domino , Gene Vincent doing their gigs! the storyline was farcical and little more than a cover for the music but planting the music scenes in the movie was ingenious. Jayne Mansfield was luscious, even doing a caricature of a vamp. What else can one say? The new release DVD captures the wonderful color of the fifties- mauves and pink pastels everywhere. And Eddy Cochrane does his Elvis imitation and showing why Elvis was the King (and Little Richard the Queen) of Rock and Roll. Worth it for the history lesson- 1950's anthropology.

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2 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
No Lights on the Christmas Tree, Mother...They're Using the Electric Chair Tonight, 29 June 2009

Author: blanche-2 from United States

"The Girl Can't Help It" is a '50s comedy that is also a showcase for some of the rock 'n' roll acts of the day, including Little Richard, Fats Domino, The Platters, Gene Vincent, The Treniers, and many others.

Tom Ewell plays a down and out agent, Tom Miller, hired by gangster Fats Murdock (Edmond O'Brien) to make his girlfriend, Jerri Jordan, (Jayne Mansfield) a star. Turns out Jerri feels gratitude to Fats for helping her father, but she isn't in love with him; she doesn't want to be in show business, preferring domestic things like cooking; and she appears to have no talent. She looks great, though, and in some form-fitting gowns, she draws plenty of attention, and all the clubs want to book her. Concerned because she's tone-deaf, Miller has one of the songs Fats wrote in prison (the one in the subject is but one title) "Rock Around the Rock Pile" adapted into a novelty number so that all Jerri has to do is a high pitched sound. The song is an immediate smash. Miller, however, who was jilted by his client Julie London, now finds he and Jerri have fallen for one another. But Fats is still around.

This is a very, very funny send-up of rock 'n' roll and show business, with a marvelously deadpan performance by Tom Ewell, to whom the singing Julie London, in various costumes, is always appearing while singing "Cry Me a River" - on the staircase, in the bedroom, in a bar - a great bit. O'Brien, who performs his "Jailhouse Rock" mockery at the end of the movie, is hilarious.

The real star is the flashy Jayne Mansfield, who underneath that va-va-va-voom figure, blonder than blond hair and huge chest was a beautiful woman and a good actress. Mansfield, probably hired by Fox as a threat to Monroe, figured out early on that making fun of the bombshell image was her best bet. She had a lovely speaking voice and, in serious moments, a natural way of acting. She also radiated warmth. This film and "Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter," which she did on Broadway as well, are good testaments to her work.

Lots of fun.

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4 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
PASSABLE COMEDY, VISUALLY OUTSTANDING MUSICAL ACTS, 17 October 2004
Author: Jim Groark from Pasadena, Maryland, USA

I saw this film when it was released in 1956. It was the first production for mainstream audiences to feature top R&B and R&R acts in color. My contemporaries were particularly delighted to see Little Richard, Fats Domino and The Platters on screen in color for the first time. I made a VHS copy from a cable TV screening, but later purchased a legal VHS release, only to find that the cable screening used a better copy, both audio and video wise.

The only complaint I have about the film is that every one of the musical acts is interrupted by dialog.

Despite that, especially for nostalgia buffs, it's still well-worth getting.

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