By the time Jayne Mansfield came to film her Wild Wild World documentary in the late 60s, her star was well and truly on the wane. The A-movie parts had dried up and she was acting in B-movie trash and touring night clubs in order to make a living. As well as regular centre spreads in magazines like Playboy, Mansfield still maintained a place in the public eye. Although by no means the star she once was she still commanded press attention and was probably, by this point, one of the first people to be famous for being famous.
The Wild, Wild World of Jayne Mansfield is a curiously muddled affair which cobbles together footage of Jayne sashaying around various Euro locations. Jayne visits tourist attractions, night clubs, nudist beaches and beauty parlours in a whistle-stop tour of Europe.
Jayne unfortunately was killed during the production of the film and so some early scenes of her in Rome involve a (sometimes) poorly concealed double. Another drawback is the faux-Mansfield voice over. More a parody of Mansfield than anything else this breathy, dumb blonde voice comes out with some real clunkers during the course of the film! Perhaps the most twisted aspect of the movie is the inclusion of photographs of the scenes of the car crash which claimed Jayne's life followed by a tour of the Pink Palace by a glum-looking Mickey Hargitay and two of Jayne's young sons. A rather sleazy and sensational end to an otherwise harmless piece of late-60s camp.
Although by no means a good film, this is an interesting one to watch. It is nice to see the attention Mansfield still attracted by this point in her career. Although the success of glossy A-movies such as The Girl Can't Help It were more than 10 years old by this point and Mansfield was 'starring' in dross like The Fat Spy, she could still draw a crowd. Although less curvy than in her heyday and there being something slightly grotesque about her wiggle and constant near-nudity, Jayne was nothing if not a personality. And her Wild, Wild World sums her up perfectly!
*One point of interest for film buffs: David Puttnam is credited as an executive producer on this film. A very early film credit, Lord Puttnam is he is now is probably more famous for producing movies like Midnight Express, Bugsy Malone and Chariots of Fire. Well, we all have to start somewhere!
The Wild, Wild World of Jayne Mansfield is a curiously muddled affair which cobbles together footage of Jayne sashaying around various Euro locations. Jayne visits tourist attractions, night clubs, nudist beaches and beauty parlours in a whistle-stop tour of Europe.
Jayne unfortunately was killed during the production of the film and so some early scenes of her in Rome involve a (sometimes) poorly concealed double. Another drawback is the faux-Mansfield voice over. More a parody of Mansfield than anything else this breathy, dumb blonde voice comes out with some real clunkers during the course of the film! Perhaps the most twisted aspect of the movie is the inclusion of photographs of the scenes of the car crash which claimed Jayne's life followed by a tour of the Pink Palace by a glum-looking Mickey Hargitay and two of Jayne's young sons. A rather sleazy and sensational end to an otherwise harmless piece of late-60s camp.
Although by no means a good film, this is an interesting one to watch. It is nice to see the attention Mansfield still attracted by this point in her career. Although the success of glossy A-movies such as The Girl Can't Help It were more than 10 years old by this point and Mansfield was 'starring' in dross like The Fat Spy, she could still draw a crowd. Although less curvy than in her heyday and there being something slightly grotesque about her wiggle and constant near-nudity, Jayne was nothing if not a personality. And her Wild, Wild World sums her up perfectly!
*One point of interest for film buffs: David Puttnam is credited as an executive producer on this film. A very early film credit, Lord Puttnam is he is now is probably more famous for producing movies like Midnight Express, Bugsy Malone and Chariots of Fire. Well, we all have to start somewhere!