Line #21 Film/TheGirlCantHelpIt


1	[[quoteright:335:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_girl_cant_help_it.jpeg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:335:She was born to please!]]
3
4	->''"Our story is about music, not the music of long ago, but the music that expresses the culture, the refinement and the polite grace of the present day."''
5	-->-- '''Tom'''
6
7	''The Girl Can't Help It'' is a 1956 musical comedy film starring Creator/JayneMansfield as the titular "girl", alongside Creator/TomEwell, Edmond O'Brien, Henry Jones, Barry Gordon, and Julie London.
8
9	Tom Miller (Ewell) is a down-on-his-luck music agent, called in to help former gangster Marty "Fats" Murdock's (O'Brien) girlfriend Jerri Jordan (Mansfield) make it big in the music business. Of course things get complicated when those two fall in love, and it turns out Jerri doesn't even want to be a singer. Can they get Murdock to understand the latter and not find out about the former?
10
11	The film, directed by former Creator/WarnerBros animation director Creator/FrankTashlin and intended as a vehicle for the sex symbol Mansfield, is also notable for its embracing of rock and roll, as it has many actual recording stars of the time perform their hits. The film also inspired Music/JohnLennon and Music/PaulMcCartney of Music/TheBeatles to get into music, so this film is one of the causes of UsefulNotes/TheBritishInvasion.
12
13	----
14	!!Provides examples of:
15
16	* TheFifties: The definitive portrayal of 50s Rock and Roll.
17	* ArtisticLicenseMusic: The record industry in the film is controlled by rival jukebox manufacturers.
18	* AgonyOfTheFeet: After walking around the clubs in heels, there is a shot of Jerri's swollen bare feet when she gets home.
19	* TheAlcoholic: Tom Miller is seriously on the sauce.
20	* AntiLoveSong: Julie London's "Cry Me a River" is one, apparently to spite him:
21	--> ''"Come and cry me a river\
22	cry me a river\
23	I cried a river over you."''
24	* AspectRatioSwitch: When Tom introduces the film, he notices the Aspect Ratio is wrong, and then has the camera spread to [[WidescreenShot widescreen]].
25	* BabiesEverAfter: [[spoiler:Our two leads show up at the end with their children.]]
26	* DistractedByTheSexy: Jerri causes several accidents (and sexually-charged visual puns) by walking down the street.
27	* DoubleEntendre: A lot of the jokes about Jerri's... equipment, including this famous line:
28	-->'''Tom:''' Rome wasn't built in a day.
29	-->'''Murdock:''' She ain't Rome. What we're talking about is already built.
30	* DrowningMySorrows: Tom started a while back and he didn't stop.
31	* DudeMagnet: Most men end up dazed or tongue tied in Jerri's lovely presence.
32	* EpicRocking: Music/LittleRichard performs "She's Got It" and "Ready Teddy" in the middle section. And of course the opening credits is his title hit, "The Girl Can't Help It".
33
34	%% ZCE * GloryDays: Tom and Murdock had them.
35	* HaveAGayOldTime: A newsreel mentions Murdock "making whoopie" with a bunch of bunch of girls on the French Riviera. The thing is it just meant him partying with them.
36	* HeadTurningBeauty: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uf_qJRwM4CI Men nearly break their necks to catch a glimpse of Jerri]].
37	%% ZCE * HideousHangoverCure: Averts the "Hideous" part.
38	* HollywoodToneDeaf: Jerri [[spoiler: is faking that she cant's sing because she doesn't want that career.]]
39	%% ZCE * IJustWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: Tom and Jerri hope this for each other.
40	* ImagineSpot: "Cry Me A River" as Tom imagining Julie London in his room all around the house in various outfits.
41	* InformedAbility: One might find that about Murdock's song at the end. Of course it's part of the TakeThat against packaged rock music.
42	* LadyInRed: Jerri dresses in red when Tom takes her out to the clubs to get noticed.
43	* MaleGaze: There's lots of shots of these whenever Jerri walks into the scene.
44	* TheManIsStickingItToTheMan: Rock music's popular among kids, the musicians are young and talented, yet the business is owned by 30s gangsters. Indeed, the whole plot is about this trope. Fats Murdoch is trying to promote his moll as a pop sensation so he can cash in on her success, but then it turns out that he's the one with the talent for rock music. Indeed, Murdoch's old rival, who came to the finale to kill Fats, sees how popular he's with the kids and signs him up. It's NothingPersonal, just business.
45	%% ZCE * MissingMom: Subverted. Just watch the scene.
46	* TheOneThatGotAway: In the film, Tom was RealLife singer Julie London's agent, and he fell in love with her. But he let her get away, and that drove him to start drinking and sent his career spiraling.
47	* PimpedOutDress: Quite a few, with Julie wearing as many in her scene as Jerri does in the whole movie.
48	* PrettyInMink: Jerri is a gangster's girlfriend, so she wears several furs. Her first scene is her wearing a white fox wrap and a dress with a white fox hem. Tom even uses one of her fox wraps as part of showing her off. She wears it coming into the club, and when the owner is around, he has her take it off and walk by, so the owner can see her full figure.
49	* PunnyName: One could take the fact that the names of the two leads are [[WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry Tom and Jerri]] as a two-person example of this, although the latter's is just a stage name, and her actual name is Georgiana.
50	* RealPersonCameo: The rock acts on offer: Music/LittleRichard, Gene Vincent and the Blue Caps, Eddie Cochrane, Music/FatsDomino, The Platters, Abbey Lincoln, Julie London and others. In Julie London's case, it is in fact a plot point that Tom was her manager in-universe. Initially Tashlin hoped to get Music/ElvisPresley but UsefulNotes/ColonelTomParker vetoed the offer, so it was very nearly a full set.
51	* SomethingElseAlsoRises: A scene has three of these, including a bottle of milk bursting open at the top.
52	%% ZCE * SupremeChef: Tom thinks this about Jerri's cooking.
53	* SupermodelStrut: A famous scene has Jerri doing a sexy strut down a street, and reactions to her swaying hips causing [[DistractedByTheSexy several accidents]] and [[VisualPun sexually-charged visual puns]], the most memorable including a bottle of milk bursting open at the top. Said scene is depicted on the movie's poster.
54	* TheOneThatGotAway: Julie London is this for Tom Miller, apparently he kept their relationship strictly business and broke her heart, and Tom interprets the song "Cry Me a River" as a TakeThat to him.
55	* UnlimitedWardrobe: She's in the film for one song, but Julie London has a jaw-dropping amount of costume changes during "Cry Me A River".
56	* VisualPun: Jerri holding two jugs of milk against her chest.
57	* WidescreenShot: When Tom introduces the film, he notices the AspectRatio is wrong, and then has the camera spread to widescreen.
58	* WolfWhistle: The paperboy does the two-note whistle after seeing the lovely Jerri.
59	* WorldsMostBeautifulWoman: A strong case could be made that Jerri is this InUniverse.

Context Film / TheGirlCantHelpIt