Mansfield 66/67 is a film documenting the life and untimely death of actress, starlet and Hollywood legend Jayne Mansfield from directors P. David Ebersole & Todd Hughes and made in association with students at Leeds Beckett university.
It follows her story from her childhood and her first steps in show-business through her relationships and troubled personal life and her association with infamous satanist Anton LaVey through archive footage and a series of wonderfully varied talking heads from the likes of legendary director John Waters and others who either knew Mansfield personally or were inspired by/fascinated with her.
However, Ebersole & Hughes has originally planned to tell this story in narrative from as is clearly apparent from the hybrid documentary/biopic format they have attempted here. Intercut with more ‘standard’ documentary elements are interpretive dance numbers and scenes with actors portraying Mansfield and LaVey. To be honest i found these elements a little confusing and distracting as well as the graphic/animated sequences and original soundtrack featuring songs with lyrics based on the story.
Overall it is a creative melting pot that didn’t quite come together as a cohesive film for me but is an interesting story non-the-less. 2.5/5
