For those who think that Jayne Mansfield's career was nothing more than an overblown publicity stunt I boldly state they should at least see this before making any final judgments. I too started watching this with a fair amount of skepticism, and yet I was blown right out of the water by both Jayne and the movie. Both are a lot better than I was anticipating. This is the best Mansfield performance I've ever seen. She is perfectly cast in the role of Midnight Franklin. She makes the character all too human, and all too believable. The movie itself is fast-paced, packing a lot into its 93 minutes. It's also well-acted by everyone involved, and very well-directed. It's intriguing and holds your interest. It has the air of a good Warner Brothers gangster film, as well as a definite film-noir feel to it. I don't know what happened to the color prints of this, but, in my opinion it's the sort of movie that actually plays better in black-and-white. And Jayne's musical numbers are always worth seeing. I definitely recommend this one.

What a shocker! Who knew that Jayne Mansfield could actually pull off a role that required some real acting? No, she's no threat to knock Ingrid Bergman off of anyone's top actress list, but she's surprisingly good in Too Hot to Handle. It's quite a change of pace from her roles that I'm more familiar with. Mansfield is definitely much more than the blond sex-kitten I had thought.The other "names" in the cast are Leo Genn and Christopher Lee. Genn is his usual solid self. In fact, I can't remember seeing Genn in anything where he wasn't solid. It's a shame this man isn't better known by the general public. Being something of a Christopher Lee completist, Lee is the reason I wanted to see Too Hot to Handle in the first place. But other than introducing a few dancers, he really doesn't do much.As for the movie, it's a total melodrama with one cliché after the next. It may be listed as "Crime" on IMDb, but the crime elements have very little to do with the actual plot. And, it's dull. Who would have thought that a movie with Jayne Mansfield working in a strip club could be so boring. I didn't care if Genn lost his club. I didn't care if Mansfield got her man. I didn't care if there was an underage girl working in the club. I didn't care about any of it. All I wanted was for the thing to end.There's a sub-plot in the movie involving a dancer who is in the country illegally and the writer who falls for and wants to help her. Their story is the most interesting thing in the movie and keeps me from rating the movie any lower. Unfortunately, this sub-plot goes nowhere.

Jayne is at her loveliest and most voluptuous and demonstrates great acting in this fast paced, suspenseful drama. Her costumes are great and she acts incredible. We are even given 2 great musical numbers. Don't believe those rumours that she couldn't act, she demonstrates great ability far surpassing Marilyn Monroe's in this thriller. My only complaint is that it is in black and white. I recently got a big screen TV and this was the first film I viewed on it and Jayne looks sensational! You can really appreciate all of her ASSETS in this pic! Highly recommended to NEW Jayne fans. Will also be of interest to those curiosity seekers of Jayne. Much more fun than THE GIRL CAN'T HELP IT in my opinion.

If you've seen Jayne in her two most successful movies ("Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter" and "The Girl Can't Help It"), it might be easy to dismiss her as a one-trick pony. However, she's startlingly good in her best dramatic role as a clubowner's girlfriend in "Too Hot To Handle". I'm still looking for the plot in this movie (if there even is one), but Jayne steals the show (her motherly talk to mixed-up, ambitious Ponytail played by Barbara Windsor is one of the best moments in Jayne's career). She also demonstrates her singing and dancing skills in a couple of cute musical numbers (watch for her ridiculously long cigarette holder, her see-through gown with strategically placed beaded fringe, and a baffling feathered swimsuit). After seeing this movie, it's hard to believe anyone ever called Jayne Mansfield "the poor man's Marilyn Monroe".