Plots(1)
2017 marks the 50th anniversary of the death of actress and sex symbol Jayne Mansfield in a bizarre car accident – a great opportunity to look back at her colourful life. If the documentary Mansfield 66/67 makes one thing clear, it is that the term 'post-truth' is not a recent phenomenon. The makers deliberately choose to put forward many different, conflicting visions of the 'blonde bombshell'. Was Mansfield, who had Marilyn Monroe as competition in the 1950s, a living cartoon, a camp character – or was she very gifted and blessed with talents other than her ample bosom, to which film titles such as Kiss Them for Me semi-humorously referred? And was her death the result of a flirtation with the Church of Satan, or just bad luck? The exuberantly designed Mansfield 66/67 – as over-the-top as Jayne herself – also shows the contrast between the 1950s and the 1960s, which brought a new generation of more politically aware actresses to the fore, replacing the three Ms: Monroe, Mansfield and Mamie (Van Doren). (International Film Festival Rotterdam)
(more)Cast
Jayne Mansfield (a.f.)
USA
Best movies:
Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? (1957)
Illegal (1955)
The Girl Can't Help It (1956)
Ann Magnuson
USA
Best movies:
Panic Room (2002)
The United States of Leland (2003)
I Woke Up Early the Day I Died (1998)
Richmond Arquette
USA
Best movies:
Se7en (1995)
Fight Club (1999)
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)
Joshua Grannell
USA
Best movies:
Milk (2008)
All About Evil (2010)
The Diary of a Teenage Girl (2015)
Tippi Hedren
USA
Best movies:
The Birds (1963)
Marnie (1964)
I Woke Up Early the Day I Died (1998)
Dolly Read
UK
Best movies:
The Kiss of the Vampire (1963)
Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970)
Yolonda Ross
USA
Best movies:
The Get Down (2016) (series)
The United States of Leland (2003)
Whatever Works (2009)
Mamie Van Doren
USA
Best movies:
Teacher's Pet (1958)
Star in the Dust (1956)
Jet Pilot (1957)
John Waters
USA
Best movies:
Jackass: Number Two (2006)
Sweet and Lowdown (1999)
Hairspray (1988)
Mary Woronov
USA
Best movies:
Sweet Jane (1998)
Rock 'n' Roll High School (1979)
Chelsea Girls (1966)
Sue Bernard
USA
Best movies:
Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1965)
Necromancy (1972)
The Killing Kind (1973)