Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? (1957)

Director:

Frank Tashlin

Writers:

George Axelrod (play)
Frank Tashlin (screenplay)

Release Date:

29 July 1957 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Tagline:

Man, oh man, oh Mansfield! [UK]

Plot:

To save his career, an ad man wants a sex symbol to endorse a lipstick. But she wants something too: he has to pretend to be her new lover.

Plot Keywords:

Advertising | Actress | Marketing | Ambition | Engagement

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)

Tony Randall	...	Rockwell P. Hunter / Himself / Lover Doll
Jayne Mansfield	...	Rita Marlowe
Betsy Drake	...	Jenny Wells
Joan Blondell	...	Violet
John Williams	...	Irving La Salle Jr.
Henry Jones	...	Henry Rufus
Lili Gentle	...	April Hunter
Mickey Hargitay	...	Bobo Branigansky
Georgia Carr	...	Calypso Number
Dick Whittinghill	...	T.V. Interviewer
Ann McCrea	...	Gladys
Alberto Morin	...	Frenchman
Louis Mercier	...	Frenchman

Also Known As:

Oh! For a Man! (UK)

Runtime:

USA:93 min (FMC Library Print)

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono | 4-Track Stereo (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Netherlands:AL (2009) (DVD) | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

Rita Marlowe's screen credits - "The Girl Can't Help It", "Kiss Them For Me" and "The Wayward Bus" - have the same titles as three of Jayne Mansfield's films - The Girl Can't Help It (1956), Kiss Them for Me (1957) and The Wayward Bus (1957).

Quotes:

Rock Hunter: Of course, the great thing about television is that it lets you see events live as they happen, like old movies from thirty years ago.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis: Will Success Spoil Dobie's Mother? (#2.19)" (1961)

Soundtrack:

You Got It Made

Don't Forget Blondell!

Actually, this film is a lot of fun - 50's style. But the best performance in the movie is the one by Joan Blondell as Mansfield's assistant. She has a monologue about a milkman that will leave you in tears of laughter. Don't ever forget Blondell. Mansfield is quite funny, too! She takes her fan club very seriously and that makes it all the funnier. And that poodle!!

All the references to Fox movies of the day are there, plus all the digs at TV. They even add a commercial - making it very small and in black and white, fuzzy and full of snow - something the kids these days have never heard of.

Tony Randall is a scream and the perfect icon of the 50's. What a pity no one ever did an in- depth biography of him - - the stories he could surely tell!!

The movie is a lot of fun, especially if you remember the 50's. Hey! It really was like this, kids!