Who's Minding the Store?

Who's Minding the Store?
Directed byFrank Tashlin
Written byFrank Tashlin
Harry Tugend
Produced byPaul Jones
StarringJerry Lewis
Jill St. John
Agnes Moorehead
Ray Walston
Kathleen Freeman
John McGiver
CinematographyW. Wallace Kelley
Edited byJohn Woodcock
Music byJoseph J. Lilley
Distributed byParamount Pictures
Release date
  • November 28, 1963 (1963-11-28)
Running time
90 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office1,414,588 admissions (France)[1]

Who's Minding the Store? is a 1963 American comedy film directed by Frank Tashlin and starring Jerry Lewis, Jill St. John, Agnes Moorehead, Ray Walston, Kathleen Freeman, and John McGiver.[2] It was released on November 28, 1963, by Paramount Pictures.

Plot

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Rich Mrs. Phoebe Tuttle is upset that her daughter Barbara is engaged to a man beneath their social status, Norman Phiffier. 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.

Phiffier, a dog walker, is as awkward socially as he is physically. Mrs. Tuttle despises Phiffier but arranges for him to get a job at one of her stores. She directs the store manager, Quimby, 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, even though he suffers a series of hilarious mishaps, Phiffier becomes more driven and determined, and Quimby realizes that "he's a man of character". Phiffier also meets and befriends John Tuttle, Phoebe's henpecked husband, with neither suspecting each other's identity.

After a final spectacular failure involving a super-strong vacuum cleaner and a dog trapped inside it, Barbara's identity as an heiress is revealed. Disappointed by the Tuttles' deception, Phiffier breaks off the engagement and quits, returning to his previous job as dog walker. In this way he finally proves his worth to Mrs. Tuttle and, after she, John and Barbara temporarily join the dog-walking service to deliver their apologies to Phiffier, he and the Tuttles reconcile.

Cast

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French actor Christopher Lambert appeared in an uncredited role in this movie.

Production

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Who's Minding the Store? was filmed from March 25 to May 22, 1963.[citation needed]

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.[citation needed]

Reception

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On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 40% rating based on 5 reviews, with an average rating of 4.80/10.[3]

Home media

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The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on March 27, 2012.

Legacy

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  • The film's poster can be seen in the background of Lewis's film The Patsy, when Ina Balin gets into a phone booth to call his character, Stanley Belt.
  • Part of the musical score from the typewriter scene ("The Typewriter" by Leroy Anderson) was used as a title theme for the German comedy series Büro, Büro.
  • "The Typewriter" sequence became a regular part of Lewis' live stage repertoire and he performed it frequently when hosting The Muscular Dystrophy Telethon.[citation needed]

References

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  1. ^ Box office information for film in France at Box Office Story
  2. ^ "Who's Minding the Store?". Turner Classic Movies. Atlanta: Turner Broadcasting System (Time Warner). Retrieved September 1, 2016.
  3. ^ "Who's Minding the Store?". Rotten Tomatoes.
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