Many years ago I saw a copy of this movie and I swear it was without the segueing story line that is now the available movie. What I saw originally was barely an hour long and it was about a single room furnished where Jayne Mansfield portrayed 3 different women who lived there and how each one was striving to overcome their loneliness without success. It was 3 vignettes done more as a stage set not unlike " Our Town " except for the Eileen character who had outdoor scenes as a street walker.
This version was a whole different scenario and if the added material had been better inserted then a lot of the questions of certain scenes not making sense would be answered. This movie proved that Jayne did have the ability to play it straight and deliver an excellent dramatic performance. Unfortunately the last scene is of her as an over the top hooker looking the Bimbo that she manufactured herself and relished in the publicity that it garnered. The Flo and Charlie story by itself was great. Flo was a combination of Thelma Ritter and Estelle Parsons where the Charlie character was Al Molinaro and Paul Douglas. Both delivered an excellent performance as their characters were believable and sympathetic but the insertion of their parts in this movie were obviously done to stretch the movie out due to Jayne's death. It's obvious that the "Pops" character was stretched out and originally was to have been a drunk superintendent of the building in the segment of Eileen but that was changed to have him become the nice super who looks out for his tenants and carry out the storyline making Jayne one person who stays at the complex but changes her personality. Again, due to Jayne's untimely death the movie was added to in an attempt to make a film that would have fluidity and a point.
Although I really liked the Flo and Charlie characters, Charlie during the "Mae" character is a completely different person as he talks about all the women he's had in his room until the addition of Flo where she knows of his celibate lifestyle and he admits he is a confirmed bachelor and doesn't date. None of Jayne's 3 vignettes were finished. The Johnie character who marries the scrawny little limey, Frankie, who looks like a reject from some British invasion band never reveals she is pregnant during that segment and the Frankie character appears to have no interest in her but is a bit too interested in his old friend Tony whom he repeats several times as being so good looking. 1966 was not a year of coming out but it sure looks like that's where this was heading. The Mae character comes to Charlie, a situation that is never developed, and divulges her dilemma which Charlie goes off about guys not taking their due responsibilities and that was it. He, Charlie tells Flo about his proposing to Mae but then with just a short phone call he calls it off and there is no reaction from Mae on film to make that situation at all comprehensive ."Pops" who along with the now married and pregnant Flo tell the young Maria/Mary the details of Eileen and how she ended up in her situation. The additional footage added to stretch the movie out caused it to become less than a B movie which is very sad because there was some damn good acting in it but it was like Orson Wells meets Ed Wood. As for Eileen, also sliced and spliced to try to get it synchronized to the rest of the mess this movie became. As I stated in the beginning of my review, I remember seeing this in a shorter version and I believe the Eileen character was shot and killed by the Billy character but this was changed again due to Jayne's death. In the scene where Billy lowers the gun and runs out, you never see Jayne in the frame/footage. When Pops knocks on her door to check on her, you only hear a voice reply that she's Ok.
This version was a whole different scenario and if the added material had been better inserted then a lot of the questions of certain scenes not making sense would be answered. This movie proved that Jayne did have the ability to play it straight and deliver an excellent dramatic performance. Unfortunately the last scene is of her as an over the top hooker looking the Bimbo that she manufactured herself and relished in the publicity that it garnered. The Flo and Charlie story by itself was great. Flo was a combination of Thelma Ritter and Estelle Parsons where the Charlie character was Al Molinaro and Paul Douglas. Both delivered an excellent performance as their characters were believable and sympathetic but the insertion of their parts in this movie were obviously done to stretch the movie out due to Jayne's death. It's obvious that the "Pops" character was stretched out and originally was to have been a drunk superintendent of the building in the segment of Eileen but that was changed to have him become the nice super who looks out for his tenants and carry out the storyline making Jayne one person who stays at the complex but changes her personality. Again, due to Jayne's untimely death the movie was added to in an attempt to make a film that would have fluidity and a point.
Although I really liked the Flo and Charlie characters, Charlie during the "Mae" character is a completely different person as he talks about all the women he's had in his room until the addition of Flo where she knows of his celibate lifestyle and he admits he is a confirmed bachelor and doesn't date. None of Jayne's 3 vignettes were finished. The Johnie character who marries the scrawny little limey, Frankie, who looks like a reject from some British invasion band never reveals she is pregnant during that segment and the Frankie character appears to have no interest in her but is a bit too interested in his old friend Tony whom he repeats several times as being so good looking. 1966 was not a year of coming out but it sure looks like that's where this was heading. The Mae character comes to Charlie, a situation that is never developed, and divulges her dilemma which Charlie goes off about guys not taking their due responsibilities and that was it. He, Charlie tells Flo about his proposing to Mae but then with just a short phone call he calls it off and there is no reaction from Mae on film to make that situation at all comprehensive ."Pops" who along with the now married and pregnant Flo tell the young Maria/Mary the details of Eileen and how she ended up in her situation. The additional footage added to stretch the movie out caused it to become less than a B movie which is very sad because there was some damn good acting in it but it was like Orson Wells meets Ed Wood. As for Eileen, also sliced and spliced to try to get it synchronized to the rest of the mess this movie became. As I stated in the beginning of my review, I remember seeing this in a shorter version and I believe the Eileen character was shot and killed by the Billy character but this was changed again due to Jayne's death. In the scene where Billy lowers the gun and runs out, you never see Jayne in the frame/footage. When Pops knocks on her door to check on her, you only hear a voice reply that she's Ok.