The Jayne Mansfield Story (TV 1980)

The gaudy rise and dizzy fall of the last great Hollywood blonde bombshell: Jayne Mansfield.

Director:

Dick Lowry

Writers:

Martha Saxton (book), Charles Dennis (teleplay),

Stars:

Loni Anderson, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Ray Buktenica

Nominated for 3 Primetime Emmys.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Loni Anderson	...	Jayne Mansfield
Arnold Schwarzenegger	...	Mickey Hargitay
Ray Buktenica	...	Bob Garrett (as Raymond Buktenica)
Kathleen Lloyd	...	Carol Sue Peters
G.D. Spradlin	...	Gerald Conway
Dave Shelley	...	Barry Charles
Laura Jacoby	...	Jayne Marie (at 6)
Whitney Rydbeck	...	Photographer
John Medici	...	Bud Leland
Lewis Arquette	...	Publicity Man
James Jeter	...	Middle-Aged Man
Janice Kent	...	Young Woman Writer
Lynn Philip Seibel	...	Casting Director (as Lynn Seibel)
Gwen Van Dam	...	Vivian
Joan Welles	...	Sheila

Storyline

The gaudy rise and dizzy fall of the last great Hollywood blonde bombshell: Jayne Mansfield.

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Plot Keywords:

jayne mansfield | sex symbol | star | docudrama | femme fatale | 

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Genres:

Biography | Drama

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 October 1980 (USA)

Also Known As:

Jayne Mansfield: A Symbol of the 50's

Company Credits

Production Co:

Alan Landsburg Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Austrian-born body builder and former "Mr. Universe" Arnold Schwarzenegger plays Hungarian-born body builder and former "Mr. Universe" Mickey Hargitay.

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Goofs

When Jim Byron is walking into the car dealership to see Jayne and her new make-over, a 1980 Honda Civic is seen passing by as he opens the door. This part of the film takes place in the 1950s.

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Connections

Referenced in Siskel & Ebert: Arnold Schwarzenegger: The Unlikeliest Star (1990)

User Reviews

Not entirely accurate, but who really cares, it's fun entertainment!

Cconsidering that this is a 1980 TV movie, it's not all that bad. And since this is the ONLY movie about the life of Jayne Mansfield that was ever made, I had to rate this a "10".

Sure, a lot of Jayne's life is compressed into a short movie, and many details are either blurred or overlooked in favor of moving the plot line along. But Loni Anderson tears down the scenery in some scenes, and in other scenes Loni IS the scenery. My favorite line in the movie is "Carol Sue where's the vodka?" It's sounds like a line that might have escaped from another great movie, "Valley of the Dolls".

The costumes here are fabulous (the white gown, the pink gown, the red gown...) and the hairdo's are very accurate, right down to the over-lacquered crispness to Jayne's deep-fried and highly over-bleached tresses.

The only positive thing that can be said about Arnold Schwarzenegger portraying Mickey Hargitay is that Arnold was probably the only bodybuilder with an accent in Hollywood when they cast this movie, so who else could they get to play the part? Actually, he's not bad, if you like your actors as wooden as Popsicle sticks. (Inside joke: Jayne once had a pair of chihuahuas named Popsicle and Momsicle!)

This movie may not be Jayne Mansfield's epitaph, but it's definitely Loni Anderson's shining moment.