Who's Minding the Store?
| Who's Minding the Store? | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Frank Tashlin |
| Produced by | Paul Jones |
| Written by |
Frank Tashlin Harry Tugend |
| Starring |
Jerry Lewis Jill St. John Agnes Moorehead Ray Walston Kathleen Freeman John McGiver |
| Music by | Joseph J. Lilley |
| Cinematography | W. Wallace Kelley |
| Edited by | John Woodcock |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 90 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | 1,414,588 admissions (France)[1] |
Who's Minding the Store? is a comedy film directed by Frank Tashlin and starring Jerry Lewis.[2] It was released on November 28, 1963, by Paramount Pictures.
Plot
The rich Mrs. Tuttle (Agnes Moorehead) is upset that her daughter Barbara (Jill St. John) is engaged to a man beneath their social stature, Norman Phiffier (Jerry Lewis).
Phiffier, a dog walker, is as awkward socially as he is physically. Mrs. Tuttle despises Phiffier but she arranges for him to get a job at one of her stores. She directs the store manager, Quimby (Ray Walston), to assign Phiffier a series of impossible and outrageous tasks, hoping he will become frustrated and quit, proving to her daughter that he is worthless. Instead, he becomes more driven and determined, and Quimby realizes that "he's a man of character".
Barbara has been keeping her heiress status to the Tuttle Department Store fortune a secret from Phiffier, knowing he is a proud person who refuses to marry her until he can afford to buy her a home. When her identity as an heiress is revealed, Phiffier breaks off the engagement and quits, returning to his previous job as dog walker.
Phiffier in this way does prove his worth to Mrs. Tuttle and she accepts him into her family.
Production
Who's Minding the Store? was filmed from March 25 to May 22, 1963.
Cast
- Jerry Lewis as Norman Phiffier
- Jill St. John as Barbara Tuttle
- Ray Walston as Mr. Quimby
- John McGiver as Mr. John P. Tuttle
- Agnes Moorehead as Mrs. Phoebe Tuttle
- Francesca Bellini as Shirley Lott
- Peggy Mondo as Lady wrestler
- Nancy Kulp as Emily Rothgraber
- John Abbott as Mr. Orlandos
- Isobel Elsom as Hazel, a Dowager
- Kathleen Freeman as Mrs. Glucksman
- Fritz Feld as Irving Cahastrophe, the Gourmet Manager
- Milton Frome as Francois, the Driver
- Mary Treen as Mattress Customer
- Dick Wessel as Traffic Cop (credited as Richard Wessel)
Notable facts
- The scene in which Fritz Feld feeds Lewis a delicacy of fried ants actually contained genuine fried ants, a fact that Lewis was unaware of until after the scene was over.
- The film's poster can be seen in the background of Jerry's film, The Patsy when Ina Balin gets into a phone booth to call Jerry's character, Stanley Belt.
- The French actor Christopher Lambert, known for his major roles in Highlander and Luc Besson's Subway, played an uncredited role in this movie.
- Part of the musical score from the typewriter scene was used as a title theme for the German comedy series Büro, Büro.
Home media
The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on March 27, 2012.[3][4]
See also
References
- ↑ Box office information for film in France at Box Office Story
- ↑ "Who's Minding the Store?". Turner Classic Movies. Atlanta: Turner Broadcasting System (Time Warner). Retrieved September 1, 2016.
- ↑ "Who's Minding the Store?". Amazon.com. Seattle: Nash Holdings LLC. ASIN B006X0ZN30. Retrieved September 1, 2016.
- ↑ "Who's Minding the Store?". Amazon.com. Seattle: Nash Holdings LLC. ASIN B006X0ZMZE. Retrieved September 1, 2016.