Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? (1957)

In this movie, Rock Hunter (Tony Randall) works for a Madison Avenue advertising agency with working pal, Henry Rufus (Henry Jones). The firm is headed up by Irving La Salle Jr. (John Williams). Junior fires Rock for disrupting a sales meeting. However, Hunter's niece, April (Lili Gentle), is a huge fan of Rita Marlowe (Jayne Mansfield) who is coming into NYC with her traveling companion, Violet (Joan Blondell). When Rock thinks up a marketing idea for selling Stay-Put lipstick by having Rita promote it, she is only too happy to do it providing that Rock will pretend to become her "Lover Doll" in order to make her boyfriend, Bobo (Mickey Hargitay) jealous. Rock goes along with the idea, but this only serves to make his girlfriend, Jenny Wells (Betsy Drake), jealous of the well-endowed Rita. The marketing idea makes Rock Hunter successful beyond his dreams. But: --Will success spoil Rock Hunter? --Will Rock be able to hold on to Jenny in spite of his public sales ploy with Rita? --Will Violet find love and happiness? Does "Junior" find his true love? Tune in tomorrow for the answer to these, and other, burning questions. All in all this is not my type of movie: too much glitz and not enough substance. For me, it even fails as a comedy.

A brilliant comedy that spoofs the world of advertising, publicity and fan worship. Tony Randall scores his greatest role as Rock Hunter, a staid advertising executive looking for the perfect image for a lipstick advertisement. Discovering that his niece is obsessed with movie star Rita Marlowe (Jayne Mansfield), he decides to get her to endorse the lipstick, hoping that it will get him in good with the stuffy head of the company, John Williams, who snubs him, bringing out the beast in thus mild mannered milquetoast. Mansfield not only agrees to endorse the lipstick, but creates a huge publicity scheme that makes everybody believe that Mansfield and Randall are in love. This is ultra upsetting to Randall's secretary/fiancée Betsy Drake and makes Randall's immediate supervisor (Henry Jones) wonder what Randall puts in his wheat germ to look like he does and all of a sudden become "lover boy", the sought after target of a group of determined fan girls.Ironically spoofing his friend Rock Hudson, Randall is both nebbish and sensual as the publicity turns him into somebody even he doesn't know. It is obvious who Mansfield is spoofing, and without making any names, she makes it very clear while gentlemen prefer blondes. Normally I can't stand the sound of female screeching (hawk calls I refer to them as), but when Mansfield does it, I can't help but roar in laughter.In fine support, Joan Blondell (once a popular blonde bombshell herself) is excellent as Mansfield's assistant, especially when she confides her own troubled romantic past. She provides a slew of wisecracks in the manner of her future "Grease" co-star, Eve Arden. Wearing little, sexy Mickey Hargitay is funny as a Tarzan style actor, complete with leading lady chimp, whom Mansfield insists he smelled like when he came to pick her up for their dates.Henry Jones also scores laughs as the dipsomaniac boss, creating guffaws by just pouring a morning martini, sending his daughter off to therapy and later, romancing Blondell. Look fast for Barbara Eden as a buxom secretary. While this might be considered a period piece as far as advertising industry is concerned today (as well as publicity for modern movie stars) it is one of the classic comedies of the 1950's. 20th Century Fox parodies their own publicity department, although it never once mentions the influential star whom Mansfield is spoofing. I can imagine the laughs that Mansfield must have gotten on Broadway, but like her first movie lead, you must admit, the girl can't help it.

Absolutely ridiculous 1957 film where the glib advertiser, Tony Randall, suddenly becomes a great success at the advertising firm he works for by getting Jayne Mansfield to endorse a certain lipstick.It's basically the same old story that success in life isn't everything, especially when it interferes with the relationship of his true love.Other than being a sex object, Mansfield does little to nothing. Ditto for Joan Blondell, her assistant, who did have one funny line. When asked if she goes out on blind dates, she replied: "Only when I'm blind!" The line was appropriate since the film lacked vision and the break for a commercial was really inane.Veteran actor John Williams really changed his usual persona of a tough British officer by playing the head of the firm who finally gives in to his desire of being a horticulturalist.

In the wake of Monroe's success, Hollywood teemed with imitations… This, in itself, was not an unusual phenomenon; what was extraordinary was the number of imitations… Not only every studio but also every country came up with one… England had Sabrina and Diana Dors; France sold Mylene Demongeot in that image and, of course, Bardot… Germany came out with a series of teutonic, pneumatic blondes like Barbara Valentine… Back in Hollywood, Universal came up with the clone-like Mamie Van Doren, Columbia with Cleo Moore, Warner Brothers with Carole Baker, Paramount with Anita Ekberg, MGM tried with Barbara Lang, and on and on ran the list of actresses who found themselves poured into the mold… Even Sophia Loren and Tina Louise were, in a manner of speaking, off-shoots of the 'steamy' Marilyn in "Niagara." No single studio was as determined to increase replicas as Monroe's own lot, 20th Century-Fox, who found the most extravagant pretender in Jayne Mansfield… Although none of the Monroe copies can be said to have made it in that guise, none tried harder (right up to her sudden death in a car crash) than Mansfield… Mansfield worked in a succession of busty bits at various studios, it was the Monroe phenomenon which changed her from brunette to blonde, and made her play down her high IQ to dumb-blonde level… Her breakthrough came with the 'Monroe'–inspired role of the blonde sex-bomb in Broadway's "Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?" The display of her physical wares represented a personal triumph which led her back to Hollywood in 1956 where she became a star for Fox, who were looking to curb Monroe's power