The Girl Can't Help It (1956) on Netflix
Marty 'Fats' Murdock, a slot machine mobster, wants his girlfriend Jerri Jordan to become a singing star. He hires Tom Miller, an alcoholic press agent, to promote her.
- Netflix3.3/5
- IMDb6.8/104,441 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes82%
Trailer
Plot summary
Jerri Jordan's boyfriend, Marty 'Fats' Murdock, runs slot machines and wants her to become a singing star. He hires Tom Miller, an alcoholic press agent, to promote her. Murdock chooses Miller for his past success with singer Julie London and because he never makes advances toward the women he represents. Miller shows Jerri off at night spots, and offers of contracts follow. Jerri would rather be a homemaker, and Miller tells Murdock so. Murdock insists she record a song he wrote in prison.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Girl Can't Help It (1956)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- The cameo performances by Little Richard, Eddie Cochran and Gene Vincent and His Bluecaps showed a 16-year-old John Lennon his American rock 'n' roll idols as living humans for the first time, inspiring him to pursue his own rock 'n' roll dream.
- The film's producers sought to cast Elvis Presley, but his manager, Colonel Tom Parker, demanded too much money.
- Garson Kanin, whose 1955 short story "Do Re Mi" the film was adapted from, did not approve of the new cartoonish take on his story and asked that his name be removed from the credits.
- On September 18, 1968, the Beatles interrupted recording "Birthday" at Abbey Road Studios so they could go back to Paul McCartney's house and watch the British TV premiere of The Girl Can't Help It.
- John Waters's Pink Flamingos (1972) directly parodies the film, with drag queen Divine strutting through Baltimore streets in front of unwitting members of the public while Little Richard's title song plays.
