Learning on ScreenWill Success Spoil Rock Hunter?
Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? 2010. 92 minutes + extras. Price £22.99
About the reviewer: Dr Kirsty Fairclough-Isaacs, is Senior Lecturer in Media and Performance at the School of Arts and Media, University of Salford. Here research covers a cross-disciplinary field including Cultural Studies, Media Studies and Film Studies, with a particular focus on celebrity, and stardom, popular comedy and gender, feminism, popular music and contemporary Hollywood. Recent publications include: “Prime Time: Jane Fonda, ‘Appropriate’ Ageing and the Re-Making of a Hollywood Persona’ in Bolton and Lobalzo-Wright (eds), Lasting Screen Stars: Personas that Endure and Images that Fade (Palgrave, 2015); Fairclough, Halligan, & Edgar (eds), The Music Documentary: Acid Rock to Electropop (Routledge, 2013)
Frank Tashlin (1913-1972) is one of the few Hollywood directors who managed to successfully make the transition from animation to live-action films. Often forgotten in the pantheon of more celebrated Hollywood auteurs, and one whose work is often simplified and misunderstood due to his background in cartoons, Tashlin worked firmly in one genre – comedy. It is perhaps because of this fact that he has never been considered an auteur in the same vein as his peers, yet his work bears all the hallmarks of an extremely talented and stylistically thematic director. His use of mise-en-scène is arguably as sophisticated as that of Douglas Sirk and his use of colour remains particularly impressive. The ability to mould and adapt his style to the particular stars he worked with demonstrates a nuanced understanding of framing and timing and his manipulation of elements in the frame to accommodate the improvisational skills of stars such as Bob Hope or Jerry Lewis was often executed with skilled precision.
The mid 1950s are generally considered the pinnacle of Tashlin’s career, with The Girl Can’t Help It (1956) and Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? (1957) widely regarded as the greatest of his achievements. Both Jayne Mansfield vehicles, Tashlin used her star persona as both the embodiment of 1950s excess and as a satire on modern America. By the time Rock Hunter was released in 1957, Hollywood was in a period of huge flux with changing demographics, legal battles and the rise of television. Indeed, Tashlin’s film is preoccupied with these anxieties and presents a satire on the negative effects of television on American culture in a brash and razor sharp manner replete with trademark ribald humour. Rock Hunter is a film that presents its stylistic heart on its sleeve, from the opening frames where the usually unfettered Twentieth Century Fox drum roll and fanfare is performed in the corner of the screen by lead actor Tony Randall, who then complains about the small print in his contract before going on to introduce the film, to a moment where the film pauses to allow him to speak directly to camera.
This film stands out in Tashlin’s oeuvre not least due to the performances of Mansfield and Randall, who traverse the line between satirising and celebrating the excesses of the cultural moment perfectly. Clearly a product of its time, Rock Hunter presents a clever deconstruction of bourgeois society, which appears a little dated when viewing in a contemporary context. However, there are some potent moments regarding the ineffectuality of consumer culture and post-industrial capitalism that remain incredibly prescient.
… This film … traverses the line between satirising and celebrating the excesses of the cultural moment perfectly
The Blu-ray release from Eureka in their Masters of Cinema series sees a high-definition transfer of the film in its original 2:35:1 aspect ratio, which looks impressive and reveals a lush richness in many scenes. The DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 stereo track sounds good; the music in particular has a power and clarity. The disc contains a selection of useful extras including: a Movietone short which captures Jayne Mansfield on the promotional tour of the film; an alternative music and effects track with a different musical score for the opening of the film; an interesting introduction to the film by director Joe Dante, who explains his admiration for Tashlin’s films and highlights some of his favourites; and an excellent 44-page booklet containing two essays by film writer David Cairns and a 2003 interview with Tony Randall.
This is still a smart and funny film that showcases writer/director Tashlin at his creative peak. Rock Hunter remains a rare example of a live action comedy that contains an animator’s sensibility and gets the balance just right. A funny and unashamedly entertaining film.
Kirsty Fairclough-Isaacs
