Starring Tom Ewell, Jayne Mansfield, Edmond O’Brien, Julie London, Juanita Moore, Henry Jones

(7-Very Good Film)

Sparkling. Amusing. Memorable.

Jayne Mansfield plays Jerri Jordan, a dumb blonde with hidden depths, named by her gangster boyfriend Marty “Fats” Murdock (Edmond O’Brien) who wants her to be a star singer. He hires a washed-up talent agent, Tom Miller (Tom Ewell), to make it happen. Fats hires Tom solely on the down-on-his-luck agent’s reputation for not trying anything with the ladies he represents, but you can guess where the story goes from there. The pleasure’s in the style, the over-the-top characterizations, and most of all, the music. Little Richard, The Platters, Eddie Cochran, and Fats Domino all turn up over the course of the film.

-Walter Tyrone Howard-

(685)