{"id":4458,"date":"2007-10-04T09:06:41","date_gmt":"2007-10-04T16:06:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=4458"},"modified":"2021-02-05T20:16:14","modified_gmt":"2021-02-06T03:16:14","slug":"promises-promises-1963","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=4458","title":{"rendered":"Promises! Promises! (1963)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;I&#8217;ve never seen a woman so determined to have a baby.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Promises-Promises-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Promises-Promises-Poster-196x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"196\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-22868\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Promises-Promises-Poster-196x300.jpg 196w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Promises-Promises-Poster-83x128.jpg 83w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Promises-Promises-Poster-671x1024.jpg 671w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Promises-Promises-Poster.jpg 1934w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 196px) 100vw, 196px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nWhile on board a cruise ship, a woman (Jayne Mansfield) desperate to have a baby mistakenly believes that her secretly sterile husband (Tommy Noonan) has finally made her pregnant; after a drunken night of revelry with their married cabinmates (Mickey Hargitay and Marie McDonald), Noonan learns that his wife IS pregnant &#8212; but not by him!\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Infidelity<\/li>\n<li>Jayne Mansfield Films<\/li>\n<li>Play Adaptation<\/li>\n<li>Pregnancy<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nThis infamous Jayne Mansfield vehicle holds a &#8220;special&#8221; place in cinematic history for its groundbreaking display of Mansfield&#8217;s &#8220;two best assets&#8221; in all their naked glory; unfortunately, the film itself &#8212; purportedly a light-hearted sex comedy &#8212; is a tedious, unfunny bore. As noted in Stuart Galbraith&#8217;s DVD Talk review, <em>Promises! Promises!<\/em> is &#8220;fascinating as film history and from a pop culture perspective but downright grueling as entertainment&#8221;. Surprisingly, Mansfield&#8217;s bosom is bared within the first few minutes of the film, leaving nothing for male admirers to wait anxiously for; director <a href=\"http:\/\/imdb.com\/name\/nm0233014\/\">King Donovan<\/a> (this was his only movie &#8212; thank goodness!) then flashes the same shots over and over again during &#8220;flashbacks&#8221;, but the effect is clearly strained. <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Promises-Promises-Bath.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Promises-Promises-Bath.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"843\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-69108\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Promises-Promises-Bath.png 843w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Promises-Promises-Bath-300x171.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Promises-Promises-Bath-128x73.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Promises-Promises-Bath-768x437.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Promises-Promises-Bath-474x270.png 474w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 843px) 100vw, 843px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>For what it&#8217;s worth, the central premise of the film &#8212; Mansfield&#8217;s desperate desire to get pregnant, and the mix-up that ensues post-drunken hijinks &#8212; makes no sense either logically (Noonan&#8217;s character contracted the mumps while in the military, which would lead to sterility, NOT impotence &#8212; yet the entire film revolves around a doctor [Fritz Feld] trying to treat Noonan&#8217;s psychological insecurity) or scientifically (there <em>is<\/em> a certain cycle a woman&#8217;s body undergoes throughout the month, with only a small window of time available for conception &#8212; not that movies ever bother with this insignificant detail when it comes to on-screen pregnancies&#8230;). The only mildly amusing &#8212; and somewhat astonishing &#8212; aspect of the film is the inclusion of <a href=\"http:\/\/blakstone.com\/Dragstravaganza%20Site\/tcjones2.html\">drag star T.C. Jones<\/a> as an obviously gay male hairdresser aboard the cruise ship; he seems to be having fun with it all, particularly during a strange baby shower sequence when he dons a series of wigs and imitates, among others, Jayne Mansfield herself. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>T.C. Jones as &#8220;Babette&#8221;, the ship&#8217;s indubitably gay hairdresser<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Promises-Promises-Hair-Salon.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Promises-Promises-Hair-Salon.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"843\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-69109\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Promises-Promises-Hair-Salon.png 843w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Promises-Promises-Hair-Salon-300x171.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Promises-Promises-Hair-Salon-128x73.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Promises-Promises-Hair-Salon-768x437.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Promises-Promises-Hair-Salon-474x270.png 474w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 843px) 100vw, 843px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nNo, but it&#8217;s worth a look simply for its historical notoriety.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/imdb.com\/title\/tt0057428\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve never seen a woman so determined to have a baby.&#8221; Synopsis: While on board a cruise ship, a woman (Jayne Mansfield) desperate to have a baby mistakenly believes that her secretly sterile husband (Tommy Noonan) has finally made her pregnant; after a drunken night of revelry with their married cabinmates (Mickey Hargitay and Marie McDonald), Noonan learns that his wife IS pregnant &#8212; but not by him! Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: Infidelity Jayne Mansfield Films Play Adaptation Pregnancy&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=4458\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4458","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4458","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4458"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4458\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":69110,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4458\/revisions\/69110"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4458"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4458"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4458"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}