Jayne Mansfield is one of the other blonde bombshells of the 1950s and 60s. She didn’t have the success or the iconic legacy of Marilyn Monroe but she did leave her own distinct impression.
Like Monroe, she was unfairly labeled as playing “dumb blondes”. In reality, very few of both Mansfield or Monroe characters were actually airheads. Monroe often played naive girls who knew she was an object of men’s sexual desire but didn’t always realize her effect on them. She was the epitome of the sexy innocent. Whereas Mansfield seems to be a forerunner of the “cool” girlfriend type. You know the female characters who can hang with the guys, and be in charge of their own sexual wants, but secretly want to settle down? Without Monroe there may have never been the Suzanne Somerses, Madonnas, or Jenny McCarthys; but without Mansfield, the characters played by Megan Fox, Olivia Wilde, Anna Kendrick, and Aubrey Plaza would be a lot less interesting.
Let’s take a look at the roles Mansfield is most famous for. The films that are a part of the Jayne Mansfield DVD collection and/or at the top of her “Known for” filmography on IMDB.
1956 – The Girl Can’t Help it
Mansfield plays Jerri Jordan a pretty girl who can’t sing, but her mobster boyfriend (Edmund O’Brien) wants to make her a famous singer. So he hires a down-on-his-luck agent Tom Miller (Tom Ewell of the Seven Year Itch fame) to make her a star. Jerri doesn’t seem too bright, appears submissive to her boyfriend, and really doesn’t seem to be able to sing at all at first. But in the end, you find out Jerri was just playing the dumb blonde part to get what she really wanted. She didn’t want to be a famous singer, she wanted to settle down and be a wife to a nice guy like Tom.
1957 – Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?
Here she portrays Rita Marlowe, a famous actress who helps Tony Randall’s struggling ad exec with a new lipstick campaign. The role was obviously meant to be a Monroe parody, but on film, it’s more than that. Marlowe is obsessed with her image and agrees to date Randall both to get back at her ex-boyfriend (played by one of Mansfield’s real-life husbands Mickey Hargitay) and because she knows how good the publicity will be. This is one of many roles unfairly labeled as “dumb blonde”. Rita Marlowe is a social manipulator.
1958 – The Sheriff of Fractured Jaw
In this Western, she plays Kate, a no-nonsense Saloon and Inn owner in the dangerous Old West. She becomes the girlfriend of the main character Jonathan Tibbs (Kenneth Moore); an Englishman who is unwillingly appointed the Sheriff of the town. At first, Kate hates Tibbs because she doesn’t think he’s trustworthy but during the movie she falls in love with him. For completely unexplained reasons. His bravery? Ingenuity? English politeness?
To be honest the love story doesn’t hold up much and the chemistry between Mansfield and Moore isn’t great. But this again shows Mansfield striving for domesticity. She was literally an independent woman at a time when that was nearly impossible, but choose to give that up for some square English guy? It strains belief and is perhaps a troubling preview of the prevalent 1980 and 1990s “nice guy” trope.
1960 – Hercules vs the Hydra (the Loves of Hercules)
Mansfield has a dual role here playing Queen Deianira, the love interest of Hercules, and also as the Amazon Queen Hippolyta impersonating Deianira. As Deianira she’s basically a damsel in distress the whole movie, but as Hippolyta she’s an evil schemer. Nothing too notable about either performance but Mansfield used her real-life clout to get her husband Hargitay cast as Hercules (this seems to be a theme).
1964 – Einer frisst den anderen (Dog Eat Dog)
Here she plays one in a trio of Americans who steal a million dollars in Europe and try to escape through islands in the Sea (not specifically named but the Mediterranean would seem to fit). Apparently, Mansfield claimed this as the favorite movie she ever made, but it’s the only character she ever played that is completely unlikeable. She’s simply a gold digger who tries to use her sex appeal to better position herself to get more of the money. The point the movie hammers again and again is that the mania for the money is so great men would rather have all the money than have half the money and Jayne Mansfield. I found it rather disappointing compared to her other roles.
Time and time again Mansfield portrayed wasn’t a dumb blonde, but an underestimated woman who for some reason decides to settle down with some schmo. And at times, forgoing a glamorous life to be a housewife. Which seems like a sex symbol’s career shaped by male fantasy, but it has been reported that Mansfield did very much enjoy being a wife and mother in real life. So years later, it seems impossible to untangle if that came from her, was a persona assigned to her by Hollywood, or some combination of both.
Her cultural legacy is mostly overshadowed by her tragic death (which has its own impact I won’t get into here). As her film career dried up she performed more and more publicity stunts to the point where she became “famous for being famous”. In this way, she may have been the true forerunner to the Paris Hiltons, Kardashians, and Social Media Influencers. Without some of her roles, there may have been much fewer “Loser wins Dreamgirl by being nice” plots that overran the late 20th century.
But maybe she had a positive impact too. She was one of the first female celebrities to flex her clout to help her husband instead of the other way around. She was the first movie star to really revel in both being famous and having a family. Maybe she let everyone know it was okay to want to be a famous sex symbol, but it was also okay to want to be a wife and mother.