|
The Wild, Wild World Of Jayne Mansfield
[Something Weird Video]
1968; color
Directed by Directed by Charles W. Broun Jr., Joel Holt & Arthur Knight
Starring: Jayne Mansfield & Robert Jason
|
|
Part mondo movie, part documentary, The Wild World Of Jayne Mansfield certainly lives up to it's name. This confusing compilation of seemingly unrelated clips was mostly shot in 1964 as Jayne toured various European hotspots with a camera crew in tow, apparently for something slated to be titled "Jayne Mansfield Reports Europe", although some of it looks more like home movies than prospective footage for a real film. Things start off in Rome where we see Jayne being pursued by paparazzi; gawking at the Coliseum (where she daydreams about ancient gladiators and we see footage from her sword and sandal flick, The Loves Of Hercules); and having her butt pinched by random Italian men as she walks down the street. The latter segment is a Jayne body double shot from behind in footage filmed at a later date and edited in to pad out the running time. (This type of thing happens a few times in the movie.) All of this is accompanied by an insane narration track provided by "Jayne" herself. Because this film was completed after her death, you see, another actress—un-credited, of course—handles the role of the narrator. Unfortunately her delivery and the utter inanity of the script would probably have even Jayne herself spinning in her grave. But back to our travelogue. After Rome, our hostess moves on to Paris for (among other things) the scene that made me laugh out loud more than anything else in this film - the part where Jayne walks around the plaza at the base of the Eiffel Tower and some French guys on scooters and motorcycles give her quick spins around the square. When the voiceover gushes: "Then some Hell's Angels from Los Angeles showed up… " I was just about rolling on the floor. Later, she goes to a transvestite bar where she checks out the Parisian cross-dressing scene and marvels at the crowd. After that, it's a nudist island off the French Riviera. She only has the guts to go topless—actually, I'm not sure if I saw ANYONE nude during the segment—then, bang-zoom, we're in New York City where Jayne "watches" a tranny contest and admits to not being able to tell who is a girl and who is a boy. As I said, the narration is astoundingly mind-numbing, but definitely adds to the overall mondo mood. Without any warning, the action abruptly shifts to the POV style and we're in a fast moving car watching scenery fly by until the sound of screeching brakes and a crash take over. Here the film jumps to newsreel footage of the accident that killed Jayne. And if that isn't enough of a weird twist, we then get a rare peek inside her legendary Hollywood mansion, the Pink Palace, as ex-husband Mickey Hargitay wanders from room to room - stopping to play piano, stare blankly at the giant wall of magazine covers (Jayne was literally on hundreds of them) and walk across the lawn with his two sons. (I guess Mariska was too young to appear on camera.) Suffice it to say, if you've ever wanted to see what an hour plus of Jayne Mansfield reaction shots and bizarre miscellaneous footage of early '60s Europe would look like, then you've hit a home run here. Definitely an oddity and without a doubt the wackiest Jayne film I've seen yet.
—the Kommandant
|
|
