Promises! Promises! (1963)

Actors: Jayne Mansfield, Marie McDonald, Tommy Noonan, Mickey Hargitay, Fritz Feld. This sexy shipboard romp about two women who are pregnant but don't know which of the husbands is the father resulted in a headline-grabbing photo spread in Playboy Magazine. Comic Fritz Feld gives Tommy Noonan a pill to help him become a father … was this the original "blue pill?" DVD Bonus & Features: Actors Bios, Scene Selection Menu, Uncensored on the set Photo Shoot, Original Theatrical Trailers for both "hot" and "cold" versions: DVD-5, Dolby Digital, 75 minutes, B&W, 1.85:1, NR, 1963.

5 Stars Just for Jayne

In 1959 a man named Russ Meyer released a film called "The Immoral Mr. Tees" and created a genre of his own called Nudie Cuties. Many immitations soon followed by other exploitation filmmakers like David Friedman, Harry Novak and Doris Wishman. But the most famous of these other cuties was the one that featured the world famous Hollywood legend, Jayne Mansfield in all her naked glory called "Promises! Promises!".

The film has been often credited as the first time a major actress has appeared nude onscreen. This is not necessarily true, Heddy Lamarr exposed her assets in "Ecstasy" in 1933, and Annette Kellerman did the same in "A Daughter of the Gods" even earlier in 1916. However, being this is mainstream Hollywood here, this certainly can be considered very bold for it's time.

In 1963, Jayne's career was on the decline. Blonde bombshells were being tossed aside in favor of more sophisticated brunettes like Audrey Hepburn, Mary Tyler Moore among others due to what I call the "Jackie Kennedy cultural phase". So Jayne needed a gimmick to boost her career and this is what she chose, something totally outragous as always.

Is this film worth watching? Yes, for Jayne's eyepopping figure only! The rest of the film is pretty bad involving a silly plot taking place on cruise liner co-starring her then-husband Micky Hargitay and comedian Tommy Noonan. It has a few humorous moments scattered about here and there, but all just silly cornball stuff. The nude scenes are basically random clips edited in with not much relevance to the "plot" and are more or less dream sequences. We see Jayne coming out of the bathroom topless, then readying a bath with her hiney exposed (I still say her rear is every bit as eyecatching as her chest!), and her lounging naked in bed. It's been said that Jayne would get a little tipsy on champagne to get her nerve up for these scenes.

When released, the film was critically panned but that didn't stop filmgoers from paying the admission. It ended up making a good bit of money despite being banned in Cleveland. Why just there and not along with the Bible-Belt cities, I'll never know! Further publicity came about when Playboy released stills from the film in their July 1963 issue. Old Hef found himself being arrested and facing obscenity charges due to one photograph showing a fully clothed Tommy Noonan in bed with a naked Jayne. Hef was aquitted with a hung 7-5 jury.

The film laid dorment for many years until the Playboy Channel presented it uncut in 1984. A VHS release soon followed and went out of print and stayed that way for a long time with the exception of a cheap EP tape that surfaced briefly.

So now we can see Jayne naked on DVD courtesy of VCI Video. The picture quality is about as good as it gets for an old almost forgotten film. Very clear and well transfered. However, I despute the 1.85 aspect ratio on this and think it's just plane cropping. I've seen the full screen versions and you can see Jayne's panties in her topless scene where here you can't. I think the real ratio was more of a 1.33 to 1. The sound is in mono which is fine, I don't think too many people are going to complain over the lack of a 5.1 DTS surround mix!

The extras are ok, nothing elaborate. We get the original theatrical trailers and a gallery of the same stills from the Playboy issue awashed in some very annoying animated bubbles! There includes some never released lobby cards that are quite interesting.

All in all this is a great addition for Jayne completists. While as a film in general, it doesn't measure up to her classics like "The Girl Can't Help It" and "Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?" but it certainly made a mark like Jayne usually does. April 21, 2008

"Wow!!!"

Both the picture and sound is great. So are the 'extras'. Unfortunately, it is not 'close-captioned'. Definitely if you are a 'Jayne Mansfield' fan. Thank so much. March 15, 2008

Promises! Promises!

As a story it was the basic 1960's style, flashy and very little substance. High sensationalism than storyline but it was a most viewable movie if you were looking for lightweight entertainment. Some scenes are cringe worthy by todays standard but still an enjoyable movie. August 14, 2007

Nude Nostalgia

When I was a little boy I found my dad's Playboy issue where Jayne Mansfield appeared nude in a pictorial about a movie she was filming. The title was "Promises, Promises" and it never played here, in Mexico, due to censorship. The memory stayed within me and now, quite older, I could get the film and notice that it's a low budget comedy that exploited Mansfield's sex appeal and her magnificent body. Nothing much to it, except that it brings back memories about an era where we were naïve. It's fun and one gets to see a female legend of the fifties. June 10, 2007

Voyeur and Peeping-Tom Delight !

It is quite understandable that this film was seen as 'shocking' when it was released.After all,Jayne was the first 'major-star' to appear naked in a movie.Actually those naked scenes are quite strange,and seem out-of-context in the movie plot(if you call that a movie plot!).When,at one point she is in bed naked,she actually looks like she is mastur...Jayne was 30 years old,looked absolutely sensational,mostly as she sings'Promise Her Anything' in that floor-lenght gown.Wow !
This movie is a must-see for any Mansfield fan.We see her with Mickey Hargitay the year before they finally got their divorce;also on a sad note,we get to see Marie 'The Body' McDonald in her last film role(died in 1965).Also another bonus is to watch T.C. Jones,the female impersonator,being himself (Gay as a picnic basket,as Sophia in The Golden Girls,would say !)
In no way is this film a Classic,but it is good-fluff,and it sure beats the other poor choices Ms. Mansfield made in her career. July 19, 2006

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