For nearly two decades, I have had this 8×11 B&W photo of Sophia Loren and Jane Mansfield among my collection of classic Hollywood photographs. Two popular and beautiful actresses together in a photo which I really never knew the story behind it.
Sophia Loren and Jane Mansfield
The image features Sophia Loren glaring at the cleavage of Jane Mansfield but in truth the story behind the photo is featured in Jane Mansfield’s Wikipedia profile:
In April 1957, her bosom was the feature of a notorious publicity stunt intended to deflect attention from Sophia Loren during a dinner party in the Italian star’s honor. Photographs of the encounter were published around the world. The most famous image showed Loren raising an eyebrow at the American actress who, sitting between Loren and her dinner companion, Clifton Webb, had leaned over the table, allowing her breasts to spill over her low neckline and exposing one nipple.
The world media was quick to condemn Mansfield’s stunts, and one editorial columnist wrote, “We are amused when Miss Mansfield strains to pull in her stomach to fill out her bikini better. But we get angry when career-seeking women, shady ladies, and certain starlets and actresses … use every opportunity to display their anatomy unasked.
Nevertheless, I still enjoy this photo!