#1120: TASHLIN, Frank: The Girl Can't Help It (1956)
TASHLIN, Frank (United States)
The Girl Can't Help It [1956]
Director/Writers
Trailer
The Girl Can't Help It [1956]
Spine #1120
Blu-ray
In 1956, Frank Tashlin brought the talent for zany visual gags and absurdist pop-culture satire that he’d honed as a master of animation to the task of capturing, in glorious DeLuxe Color, a brand-new craze: rock and roll. This blissfully bonkers jukebox musical tells the story of a mobster’s bombshell girlfriend — the one and only Jayne Mansfield, in a showstopping first major film role — and the washed-up talent agent (Tom Ewell) who seeks to revive his career by turning her into a musical sensation. The only question is: Can she actually sing? A CinemaScope feast of eye-popping midcentury design, The Girl Can’t Help It bops along to a parade of performances by rock-and-roll trailblazers — including Little Richard, Fats Domino, Julie London, Eddie Cochran, the Platters, and Gene Vincent—who light up the screen with the uniquely American sound that was about to conquer the world.
97 minutes
Color
Color
Monaural
2:35:1 aspect ratio
2:35:1 aspect ratio
Criterion Release 2022
Screenplay by Frank Tashlin and Herbert Baker.
Tashlin was 43 when he directed The Girl Can't Help It.
Tashlin was 43 when he directed The Girl Can't Help It.
The Film
a
Film Rating (0-60):
The Booklet
Twelve-page wraparound featuring an essay by critic Rachel Syme and excerpts from director Tashlin’s 1962 book How to Create Cartoons, with an introduction by Ethan de Seife, author of Tashlinesque: the Hollywood Comedies of Frank Tashlin.
Commentary
Featuring scholar Toby Miller.
Video essay
By film critic David Cairns.
Interview 1
With filmmaker John Waters.
Conversation
Between WFMU DJs Dave “the Spazz” Abramson and Gaylord Fields about the music in the film.
Interview 2
With Eve Golden, author of Jayne Mansfield: The Girl Couldn’t Help It.
On-set footage
Interviews
With actor Mansfield (1957) and musician Little Richard (1984).
60
The ExtrasThe Booklet
Twelve-page wraparound featuring an essay by critic Rachel Syme and excerpts from director Tashlin’s 1962 book How to Create Cartoons, with an introduction by Ethan de Seife, author of Tashlinesque: the Hollywood Comedies of Frank Tashlin.
Commentary
Featuring scholar Toby Miller.
Video essay
By film critic David Cairns.
Interview 1
With filmmaker John Waters.
Conversation
Between WFMU DJs Dave “the Spazz” Abramson and Gaylord Fields about the music in the film.
Interview 2
With Eve Golden, author of Jayne Mansfield: The Girl Couldn’t Help It.
On-set footage
Interviews
With actor Mansfield (1957) and musician Little Richard (1984).
Episode
Of Karina Longworth’s podcast You Must Remember This about Mansfield.
Of Karina Longworth’s podcast You Must Remember This about Mansfield.
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