Mansfield 66/67

Mansfield 66/67 is a 2017 American/British documentary film directed by P. David Ebersole and Todd Hughes. Mansfield 66/67 is about the last two years of actress Jayne Mansfield's life, and the rumours swirling around her untimely death being caused by a curse, after her alleged romantic dalliance with Anton LaVey, head of the Church of Satan. It is "a true story based on rumour and hearsay", celebrating Mansfield's life on the 50th anniversary of her death.[1]

Mansfield 66/67
Festival poster by Shag
Directed byP. David Ebersole
Todd Hughes
Produced byP. David Ebersole
Todd Hughes
Larra Anderson
Music byJames Peter Moffatt
Robert Davis
CinematographyJohn Tanzer (U.S.)
Larra Anderson (UK)
Edited byP. David Ebersole
Todd Hughes
Joel Maudsley
Luke Smith
Production
company
The Ebersole Hughes Company
Distributed byGunpowder & Sky
Peccadillo Pictures
Release date
  • January 29, 2017 (2017-01-29) (IFFR)
  • October 27, 2017 (2017-10-27) (United States)
  • April 12, 2018 (2018-04-12) (United Kingdom)
Running time
85 minutes
CountryUnited States
United Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Documentary interviews with an collection of people including Kenneth Anger, John Waters, Mamie Van Doren, Tippi Hedren, A.J. Benza, Beyond the Valley of the Dolls star Dolly Read, and gender-bending 1980s pop star Marilyn as well as experts are blended with experimental dance numbers, performance art and animation.

Paris-based International sales outfit Stray Dogs picked up the film at the International Film Festival Rotterdam.[2] The film's score is composed, produced and recorded by James Peter Moffatt and Robert Davis at Leeds Beckett University. The film was produced by P. David Ebersole, Todd Hughes and Larra Anderson. It was co-produced by Alison Martino. It was released theatrically in North America for Halloween 2017 by Gunpowder & Sky.[3] It screened a series of film festivals, including the Marché du Film in Cannes, the Provincetown International Film Festival, Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Cinema, Docs Against Gravity (Poland), Inside Out Film and Video Festival and the Frameline Film Festival at The Castro Theater. Peccadillo Pictures released the film in UK cinemas on April 12, 2018.

The title is a reference to the last two years of Mansfield's life.

Background

Mansfield 66/67 was conceived after writing/directing/producing team P. David Ebersole & Todd Hughes could not get their narrative feature screenplay The Devil Made Her Do It produced and instead decided to follow their previous documentaries Hit So Hard, Room 237 and Dear Mom, Love Cher and present the Mansfield/LaVey story as a documentary. In 2016 Ebersole/Hughes became artists in residence at Leeds Beckett University. More than 100 students and staff from across their School of Film, Music and Performing Arts worked with Ebersole/Hughes in bringing the film to completion.[4] The University invited Ben Wilkins to re-mix the film in Leeds as a Master Class. Ben won an Academy Award in the category Best Sound for Whiplash. He has worked on nearly 150 films since 1991. The University subsequently awarded him an honorary degree.

Synopsis

2017 marks the 50th anniversary of Jayne Mansfield’s fatal and legendary car crash.

Defined by her hunger for publicity, on the one hand Jayne was Hollywood Babylon made flesh, with five kids, three messy divorces, and a lurid death that may or may not have been caused by a Satanic curse. On the other hand, she had perfect comic timing, 163 IQ, spoke five languages and was outspokenly anti-war, making her impossible to categorize, though the headlines that her wild life inspired certainly tried: Can A Sex Siren Be A Good Mother, Love Goddess With A Jinx, the Smartest Dumb Blonde...

And then there was her reported affair with Anton LaVey, head of the Church of Satan. The handsomely devilish Anton started his “church” with a publicist and preached a live and let live lifestyle. “If you’re going to be a sinner, be the best sinner on the block,” said Anton and that was music to sex-positive Jayne Mansfield’s ears. Unfortunately, her then-boyfriend lawyer Sam Brody was sent into a jealous rage and desecrated sacred Satanic talismans in Anton’s lair, prompting a curse to be put on his head that he would die in a car accident within a year. In 1966 and 1967, Jayne and Sam proceeded to have seven fender benders and near-fatal smash-ups until the one that tragically took both of their lives in a bizarre crash where reporters said alternately Jayne was either beheaded on impact or wig-scalped.

Cast

Soundtrack

The film's soundtrack was released in 2017 exclusively on hot pink and black molten lava vinyl by The Ebersole Hughes Company Records and Tapes. The film's score by Dr. Bob Davis and James Peter Moffatt is included along with tracks by Donna Loren singing the film's theme song. All-female band The 5.6.7.8's from Japan contribute '"I Walk Like Jayne Mansfield" and seminal 1980s new wave band The Wayfarers make their 21st-century recording debut with a cover of The Louvin Brothers' song "Satan Is Real".

Performance artist Ann Magnuson does a 2017 take on Mansfield's 1967 single "Suey". Liverpool quartet White Rabbit Club have two original songs, "Love Blind" and "Chinese Whispers". Mikey Silverman and Larra Anderson round out the vocal tracks included on the disc.

The title track "The Devil Made Her Do It! (I Can't Help It)" was recorded transatlanticly with the instrumental tracks by Dr. Robert Davis and James Peter Moffatt being recorded in Leeds, UK and the vocal track by Donna Loren and sax solo were recorded in Silver Lake by Maurice Gainen.[5]

References
  1. Liz Calvario (27 January 2017). "'Mansfield 66/67' Trailer Examines Jayne Mansfield's Interest in Satanic Rituals and Her Untimely Death". IndieWire. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
  2. Geoffrey Macnab (28 January 2017). "IFFR: Stray Dogs picks up Jayne Mansfield documentary". Screen Daily. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
  3. Orlando Parfitt (24 May 2017). "Jayne Mansfield doc heads to America". Screen Daily. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
  4. Kelly Scotney (2016-09-20). "Hollywood Film shoot gives students and staff their first professional film credit". Leeds Beckett University. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
  5. Trey Speegle (24 May 2017). "Bombshell Doc Asks –Was Jayne Mansfield's Gruesome Death 50 Years Ago Caused By Her Affair with a Satanist?". The WOW Report. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
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