Time for a double blonde bombshell overload with this great pair….of posters.

I wrote elsewhere about The Seven Year Itch, in which a middle aged man lusts after his younger sexy neighbour. Well, the same actor (Tom Ewell) does pretty much the same in The Girl Can’t Help It, only this time instead of Marilyn Monroe she is played by Jayne Mansfield.

Mansfield was another platinum blonde Hollywood sex symbol in the late 50s, and an early Playboy Playmate. She was also famously never publicity-shy – not afraid to have a carefully stage-managed ‘wardrobe malfunction’ in order to generate a few headlines. Her star burned brightly for a a few years only, before her death in a car crash.

These posters are for arguably her two best-known films. The Girl Can’t Help It also features a generous helping of contemporary rock n roll, courtesy of Gene Vincent, Eddie Cochran and others. For Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter, Mansfield reprised a role she had previously played on stage. The movie was rechristened La Blonde Explosive in French (a much better title, I think).

The Girl Cant Help It is a rare and valuable poster, even in this well-worn condition. Much as I would like to hold onto it, I am putting it up for sale to fund my collecting hobby. The poster for Rock Hunter is in much better condition, and is also for sale here.