|Jayne Mansfield|Links|Magazine Covers|Message Board|News|Organizations|SVU|TV Appearances|Updates|
(Mariska's Mommy)
Twentieth Century Fox began to take notice of the blonde dynamo, and while very interested in her possibilities, were wary of her one-woman publicity antics where bad taste was a valuable means to an end.
Fox bought the rights for Success and Jayne accepted a contract.
She made her first film for Fox in The Girl Can't Help It released in 1956. Directed by the amazingly imaginative director Frank Tashlin, this film would prove to be a success with it's visually rich humor and rock and roll sound track. It would be one of that years top 20 films, just slightly behind Marilyn Monroe's Bus Stop
Her next film for Fox would be The Wayward Bus which also starred Joan Collins. Jayne hoped this film would establish her as a serious actress, but although it did not have the effect that Jayne had hoped for, it was a change of pace from the stereotypical blonde she personified.
In 1957, the eagerly anticipated release of Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? proved to be well worth the wait. While many changes were made from the Broadway version to the big screen, it only made about half as much money as The Girl Can't Help It. But it would prove to be a pop culture success. Tony Randall, her costar in Success said of Jayne that he preferred working with her over Marilyn Monroe. Commenting, "At least she tried to be a professional. She would show up and rehearse and work and shoot it. She had a sense of humor about her." (For some other fabulous comments by Tony Randall by Jayne Mansfield, be sure to check out A & E's presentation Love & Kisses: The Biography of Jayne Mansfield.)