Promises! Promises!

Infobox Film
name = Promises! Promises!


image_size = 158px
caption = Publicity poster of "Promises! Promises!"
director = King Donovan
producer = Tommy Noonan
Donald F. Taylor
writer = Tommy Noonan
Edna Sheklow
William Welch
starring = Jayne Mansfield
Marie McDonald
Tommy Noonan
Mickey Hargitay
Fritz Feld
T.C. Jones
music = Hal Borne
cinematography = Joseph F. Biroc
editing = Edward Dutko
distributor =
released = 15 August 1963
runtime = 75 min
country = USA
language = English
budget =
website =
amg_id = 1:39496
imdb_id = 0057428

"Promises! Promises!" (also known as "Promise Her Anything") is a 1963 unrated sex comedy film, released before the MPAA film rating system became effective, produced by Tommy Noonan ("Gentlemen Prefer Blondes", "Three Nuts in Search of a Bolt"). It was the first Hollywood motion picture with sound to feature a mainstream star—Jayne Mansfield—in the nude.cite book
last = Black
first = Gregory D.
title = Hollywood Censored: Morality Codes, Catholics, and the Movies (Cambridge Studies in the History of Mass Communication)
publisher = Cambridge University Press
date = January 26, 1996
location = UK
pages =
id = ISBN 0-521-56592-8] Reportedly the credit was to go to Marilyn Monroe, who shot a nude scene for director George Cukor's unfinished film "Something's Got to Give" (1962). The credit of the first movie, with or without sound, featuring a mainstream star in the nude goes to "A Daughter of the Gods" (1916) featuring Annette Kellerman fully nude in a scene.cite book
last = Black
first = Gregory D.
title = Hollywood Censored: Morality Codes, Catholics, and the Movies (Cambridge Studies in the History of Mass Communication)
publisher = Cambridge University Press
date = January 26, 1996
location = UK
pages =
id = ISBN 0-521-56592-8]

Plotline

The plot revolves around two married couples who go on a cruise together. Sandy Brooks (Mansfield) is desperate to get pregnant. But her husband, Jeff Brooks (Tommy Noonan), a television script writer, is too stressed out to make love to her. In an attempt at a sea change, they go on a pleasure cruise and meet another couple—Claire Banner (Marie McDonald) and King Banner (Mickey Hargitay).cite news
last = Brennan
first = Sandra
title = Promises! Promises!
language = English
publisher = The New York Times
date = 2006-11-25
url = http://movies2.nytimes.com/gst/movies/movie.html?v_id=39496
accessdate = 2006-11-25]

Both couples set out on a drunken spree. The foursome end up exchanging partners when retiring to their rooms. Later both women discover that they're pregnant, and set out to find who the fathers are, since no one is sure who the father is for which baby.

uccess and criticism

"Promises! Promises!" was banned in Cleveland and several other cities, though both the original and an edited version enjoyed box office success elsewhere. [cite web
last = Dirks
first = Tim
title = Sex in Cinema: The Greatest and Most Influential Erotic / Sexual Films and Scenes
publisher = FIlm Site
date =
url = http://www.filmsite.org/sexinfilms15.html
format = HTML
accessdate = 2006-11-23] Mansfield was voted one of the "Top 10 Box Office Attractions" by theater owners that year. She also received $150,000 for her role (half of the film's budget) and 10% of the film's profits. ["Jayne Mansfield: A Bio-bibliography by Jocelyn Faris", p. 10]

The film was heavily publicized in July 1963 issue of "Playboy", leading to an obscenity charge against Hugh Hefner, the publisher.cite book
last = Anger
first = Kenneth
title = Hollywood Babylon: The Legendary Underground Classic of Hollywood's Darkest and Best Kept Secrets
publisher = Dell (Reissue edition)
date = November 15, 1981
location = USA
pages =
id = ISBN 0-440-15325-5] In one set of behind-the-scene images in that issue Mansfield stares at one of her breasts, as does her male secretary and a hair stylist, then grasps it in one hand and lifts it high. Hefner was arrested by the Chicago police in June 1963, the only time in his life, and was acquitted by the jury. [cite web
last =
first =
title = Has Hef ever been arrested?
publisher = Playboy Online
date =
url = http://www.playboy.com/worldofplayboy/faq/hef.html#6
format = HTML
accessdate = 2006-11-29] The hung jury voted 7-5 for acquittal. [Edward P. Comentale, Ian Fleming and James Bond: The Cultural Politics of 007, page 57] Copies of the issue reportedly sold for as much as $10 each. [cite web
last =
first =
title = Jayne Mansfield Biography - Part Nine: Taking it off
publisher = Bombshells
date =
url = http://www.bombshells.com/jayne/bio/index9.php
format = HTML
accessdate = 2006-11-29]

Nude scenes

Mansfield appears undressed in three scenes in "Promises! Promises!". These three scenes are repeated a few times in the movie as dream sequences. The first and longest (59 seconds) in a part of the scene where she sings "I'm In Love" (penned by herself) in a foam filled bathtub, then bends over with her back to the camera. The second when she towels herself off (4 seconds), and the most repeated (4 times) third when she writhes around on a bed (6 seconds). [cite web
last =
first =
title = Promises! Promises! (1963)
publisher = Mr. Skin
date =
url = http://www.mrskin.com/Movies/01912/Promises_Promises.htm
format = HTML
accessdate = 2006-11-25] Mansfield reportedly drank some champagne in order to give her the will to get undressed in front of the camera. [cite web
last =
first =
title = Promises! Promises! (1963)
publisher = IMDB
date =
url = http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057428/
format = HTML
accessdate = 2006-11-23] Though the movie actually showed her only topless, a photo in Kenneth Anger's book "Hollywood Babylon" shows Mansfield on the set completely nude with pubic hair visible.cite book
last = Anger
first = Kenneth
title = Hollywood Babylon: The Legendary Underground Classic of Hollywood's Darkest and Best Kept Secrets
publisher = Dell (Reissue edition)
date = November 15, 1981
location = USA
pages =
id = ISBN 0-440-15325-5] In a set of photographs published in the "Playboy" pictorial (titled "The Nudest Jayne Mansfield"), Mansfield stares at her breast, as does T.C. Jones (Babbette, a female impersonator hair stylist), then grasps it in her hand and lifts it high. [cite book
last = Parish
first = James Robert
title = The Hollywood Book of Scandals : The Shocking, Often Disgraceful Deeds and Affairs of Over 100 American Movie and TV Idols
publisher = McGraw-Hill
date = May 28, 2004
location = USA
pages =
id = ISBN 0-07-142189-0]

The nude scenes of this film was incorporated into the documentary "Wild Wild World of Jayne Mansfield" (1968), along with her other films like "Too Hot to Handle" (1960), "The Loves of Hercules" (1960) and "Primitive Love" (1964). The "Wild Wild World" also featured pages from the Playboy pictorial. [Mike Quarles, Down and Dirty: Hollywood's Exploitation Filmmakers and Their Movies, page 27]

Video release

The film was presented for the first time on television in its uncut form in 1984 on the Playboy Channel. A VHS release soon followed that has been long out of print and was fetching as much as $100 from die-hard collectors. On February 14 2006, VCI Video released the film on DVD with extras such as original trailers and a gallery of stills from the Playboy issue referenced above along with never before released lobby cards.

ee also

*Nudity in film
*Sex in film

References

External links

*imdb title|0057428|Promises! Promises!
*amg movie|id=1:39496|title=Promises! Promises!
*rotten-tomatoes|id=promises_promises|title=Promises! Promises!