THE GIRL CAN'T HELP IT

Special Features: 70th Anniversary

A landmark showcase of first-wave rock ‘n’ roll talent — and simultaneously an incendiary send-up of the showbiz machinery behind pop culture —THE GIRL CAN’T HELP IT stands as one of writer/director/producer Frank Tashlin’s greatest accomplishments. A talented cartoonist and animation director in his early career, Tashlin retained a penchant for absurdist sight gags, anarchic energy and breakneck pacing in the feature films of his later career, which at times play like live-action cartoons. In her first starring role, blonde bombshell Jayne Mansfield plays a gangster’s moll reluctant to be pushed into the spotlight by her boyfriend, Marty “Fats” Murdock (Edmond O’Brien), who hires down-on-his-luck PR man Tom Miller (Tom Ewell) to transform her into a singing pop star — no matter if she lacks talent. Appearing alongside this BORN YESTERDAY-like love triangle is a roster of actual singing stars providing showstopper performances, including Little Richard, Fats Domino, Gene Vincent, Eddie Cochran, Julie London, Abbey Lincoln and The Platters. DIR/SCR/PROD Frank Tashlin; SCR Herbert Baker, from the story “Do Re Mi” by Garson Kanin. U.S., 1956, color, 99 min. NOT RATED

“More than a good film, more than a funny film, more than an excellent parody; it is a kind of masterpiece of the genre [...] It’s more beautiful and more successful each time you see it.” – François Truffaut

“Written and directed with low-class, adolescent flair by former cartoonist Frank Tashlin, THE GIRL CAN’T HELP IT is a mother-lode time capsule and a double parody: of rock music, which in 1956 was just breaking through to mainstream culture, and of the Hollywood ritual of star-making.” — Foster Hirsch, “Hollywood and the Movies of the Fifties: The Collapse of the Studio System, the Thrill of Cinerama, and the Invasion of the Ultimate Body Snatcher–Television” (2023)

Run Time: 99 Minutes

Opening Date: Saturday, August 15, 2026

Genre: Music, comedy

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