Watch Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? for the opening credits -- they are a hoot! While Tashlin did a great job "opening" it up, the tone was uneven and Rita Marlowe had me scratching my head.
She is this Sex Bomb who turns men into jelly with her oh-so kissable lips, but her fans are teenage girls! We never see a single male swoon over her! Rock never wonders why April has pictures of Rita plastered all over her room and not Elvis or Ricky Nelson, or even Pat Boone?
Rita complains about how she finds these hunks and turns them into stars, only to have them leave her. Little wonder, as Mansfield give us no clue how this walking squeak-box has the power to make or break anybody! She Goes Gotham to make her latest "protégé" jealous. But he not only does not take the bait, he predicts she'll crawl back to him on her hands and knees! As it turns out, she never loved him to begin with! What was the point?
Which leads me to my main beef: Rock swears up and down to Jenny he loves her, yet clearly enjoys the perks that go with being Lover Doll. He becomes such an egotistical jerk, the level-headed Jenny getting worked up over Rita makes zero sense! And the "lesson" we're supposed to learn - success is what makes you happy - comes across as totally self-indulgent and insincere.