The Hollywood Dream Factory

On 29 June 1967, Jayne Mansfield died in a car crash at the age of 34. Her driver, Ronnie Harrison, crashed her magnificent blue Buick Electra into a semi-trailer truck. When the emergency services arrived, her blond hair lay across the remains of the crumpled metal. Jayne Mansfield’s life was like a Greek tragedy.

With her baby doll face and voluptuous décolleté, Jayne Mansfield was the most photographed actress in Hollywood had everything it takes to become a star. But she accepted many compromises and went from the status of an icon to that of an object. A rival to Marilyn Monroe, she was restricted by directors throughout her career to roles that only served to caricature her. Yet Mansfield remains one of the most famous sex symbols of the 1950s.

This off-beat portrait of the actress will explore the Hollywood dream factory through a casting call. Like Jayne herself, who attended many such events, young women will be auditioned to take on the role of our heroine in such a way that it will be difficult to tell the difference between past and present, between Jayne’s life and the lives of these girls.