Even though it’s been more than 50 years since Jayne Mansfield’s death in 1967, the actress continues to fascinate film fans.
The proof can be found in two recently issued documentaries — “Mansfield 66/67” and “The Wild, Wild World of Jayne Mansfield” — both of which are available on assorted streaming platforms.
The actress was born Vera Jayne Palmer in Bryn Mawr, but spent large parts of her childhood in both Phillipsburg, New Jersey and Pen Argyl, before relocating to Texas with her parents.
Even though Mansfield attended high school in the South, she maintained strong ties with her Pennsylvania families and, at the behest of her mother Vera Jeffrey, was buried in Fairview Cemetery outside Pen Argyl next to her father, attorney Herbert Palmer. When Jeffrey herself died, she was buried on the other side of Mansfield.
“Mansfield 66/67” focuses on the two years before the actress’s death when she was, mostly, relegated to work in dinner theaters and B-movies. The film also documents Mansfield’s strange friendship with Anton LaVey, head of the Church of Satan.
As the documentary tells it, Mansfield’s then-companion, Sam Brody, who was killed alongside her in a grisly car crash, had insulted LaVey in his San Francisco home, prompting LaVey to put a curse on Brody.
While the Mansfield/LaVey friendship is at the heart of the doc, the film does a good job sketching in the details of Mansfield’s life and early career at 20th Century Fox. The interviewees include gossip columnist A.J. Benza, Mansfield friend Mamie Van Doren and filmmaker John Waters.
Waters is, by far, the liveliest of the talking heads. When asked if he thinks that Mansfield was a practicing Satanist, he says, “No, I can’t picture her slaughtering goats.” He also rejects the depiction of Mansfield’s life as “tragic,” arguing that she’d have loved going out in a blaze of glory, in a car crash that drew headlines around the world.
Most amusing of all, Waters speculates that Mansfield would be horrified to be buried in small-town Pennsylvania.
“At night, I bet you can hear her clawing to get out of Pennsylvania and back to Hollywood, where she belongs.”
“The Wild, Wild World of Jayne Mansfield” is a strange affair. It is little more than a compilation of footage of Mansfield visiting a number of cities around the world, including Rome, Paris, New York and Los Angeles, where she famously resided in a mansion called the Pink Palace.
While the footage of Mansfield is revealing, the doc can’t overcome the filmmakers’ decision to add narration by a Jayne-soundalike. No one, not even the publicity-hungry Mansfield, would appreciate having words put in her mouth.
More of an exploitation quickie than a genuine documentary, “Wild” wraps up with footage of Mansfield’s car wreck and a tour of the Pink Palace conducted by a grief-stricken Mickey Hargitay, the father of three of Mansfield’s five children, including Mariska Hargitay, the star of “Law and Order: SUV.”
Movie writer Amy Longsdorf is a contributor to The Morning Call. Amy can be reached at movieamy@aol.com
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