''Who's Minding the Store?'' is a 1963 American

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

directed by

Frank Tashlin Frank Tashlin (born Francis Fredrick von Taschlein, February 19, 1913 – May 5, 1972), also known as Tish Tash and Frank Tash, was an American animator, cartoonist, children's writer, illustrator, screenwriter, and film director. He was best kn ...

and starring

Jerry Lewis Jerry Lewis (born Joseph Levitch; March 16, 1926 – August 20, 2017) was an American comedian, actor, singer, filmmaker and humanitarian. As his contributions to comedy and charity made him a global figure in popular culture, pop culture ...

Jill St. John Jill St. John (born Jill Arlyn Oppenheim; August 19, 1940) is a retired American actress. She may be best known for playing Tiffany Case, the first American Bond girl of the 007 franchise, in '' Diamonds Are Forever''. Additional performances i ...

Agnes Moorehead Agnes Robertson Moorehead (December 6, 1900April 30, 1974) was an American actress. In a career spanning four decades, her credits included work in radio, stage, film, and television.Obituary ''Variety'', May 8, 1974, page 286. Moorehead was th ...

Ray Walston Herman Raymond Walston (November 2, 1914 – January 1, 2001) was an American actor and comedian, well known as the title character on ''My Favorite Martian''. His other major film, television, and stage roles included Luther Billis (''South Paci ...

Kathleen Freeman Kathleen Freeman (February 17, 1923August 23, 2001) was an American actress. In a career that spanned more than 50 years, she portrayed acerbic maids, secretaries, teachers, busybodies, nurses, and battle-axe neighbors and relatives, almost in ...

, and

John McGiver John Irwin McGiver (November 5, 1913 – September 9, 1975) was an American character actor who made more than a hundred appearances in television and motion pictures over a two-decade span from 1955 to 1975. The owl-faced, portly character ac ...

. It was released on November 28, 1963, by

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

Plot

Rich Mrs. Phoebe Tuttle is upset that her daughter Barbara is engaged to a man beneath their social stature, 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 true 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

as Norman Phiffier *

as Barbara Tuttle *

as Mr. Quimby *

as Mr. John P. Tuttle *

as Mrs. Phoebe Tuttle * Francesca Bellini as Shirley Lott * Peggy Mondo as Lady wrestler *

Nancy Kulp Nancy Jane Kulp (August 28, 1921 – February 3, 1991) was an American character actress and comedienne best known as Miss Jane Hathaway on the CBS television series ''The Beverly Hillbillies''. Early life Kulp was born to Robert Tilden and Mar ...

as Emily Rothgraber *

John Abbott Sir John Joseph Caldwell Abbott (March 12, 1821 – October 30, 1893) was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the third prime minister of Canada from 1891 to 1892. He held office as the leader of the Conservative Party. Abbot ...

as Mr. Orlandos *

Isobel Elsom Isobel Elsom (born Isabelle Reed; 16 March 1893 – 12 January 1981) was an English film, theatre, and television actress. She was often cast as aristocrats or upper-class women. Early years Born in Chesterton, Cambridge, Chesterton, C ...

as Hazel, a Dowager *

as Mrs. Glucksman *

Fritz Feld Fritz Feld (October 15, 1900 – November 18, 1993) was a German-American film character actor who appeared in over 140 films in 72 years, both silent and sound. His trademark was to slap his mouth with the palm of his hand to create a "pop" s ...

as Irving Cahastrophe, the Gourmet Manager *

Milton Frome Milton Frome (February 24, 1909 – March 21, 1989) was an American character actor. Career Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Frome landed his first acting job in the short subject ''Daredevil O'Dare'' in 1934. He did not act again until 1939 ...

as Francois, the Driver *

Mary Treen Mary Treen (born Mary Louise Summers, March 27, 1907 – July 20, 1989) was an American film and television actress. A minor actress for much of her career, she managed to secure a plain, unassuming niche for herself in the Hollywood of the ...

as Mattress Customer *

Dick Wessel Richard Michael Wessel (April 20, 1913 – April 20, 1965) was an American film actor who appeared in more than 270 films between 1935 and 1966. He is best remembered for his only leading role, a chilling portrayal of strangler Harry "C ...

as Traffic Cop (credited as Richard Wessel) French actor

Christopher Lambert Christophe Guy Denis "Christopher" Lambert (; ; born March 29, 1957) is a French-American actor, producer, and novelist. He started his career playing supporting parts in several French films, and became internationally famous for portraying Ta ...

appeared in an uncredited role in this movie.

Production

''Who's Minding the Store?'' was filmed from March 25 to May 22, 1963. The scene in which

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.

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film holds a 40% rating based on 5 reviews, with an average rating of 4.80/10.

Home media

The film was released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

and

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...

Disc on March 27, 2012.

Legacy

*The film's poster can be seen in the background of Jerry's film, '' The Patsy'' when

Ina Balin Ina Balin (née Rosenberg; November 12, 1937 – June 20, 1990) was an American stage, film, and television actress. She is best known for her role in the film ''From the Terrace'' (1960), for which she received two Golden Globe Award nominations ...

gets into a phone booth to call Jerry's character, Stanley Belt. *Part of the musical score from the typewriter scene ("

The Typewriter "The Typewriter" is a short composition of light music by American composer Leroy Anderson, which features an actual typewriter as a percussion instrument. Composition Anderson completed "The Typewriter" on October 9, 1950 in Woodbury, Connectic ...

" by

Leroy Anderson Leroy Anderson ( ) (June 29, 1908 – May 18, 1975) was an American composer of short, light concert pieces, many of which were introduced by the Boston Pops Orchestra under the direction of Arthur Fiedler. John Williams described him as ...

) was used as a title theme for the German comedy series ''

Büro, Büro ''Büro, Büro ("Office, Office")'' is a German comedy television series. Plot summary The series' plot revolves around the everyday life at Lurzer KG, a small firm producing gym equipment. It deals with both the personal relationships among the ...

''. *"The Typewriter" sequence became a regular part of Lewis' live stage repertoire and he performed it frequently when hosting The Muscular Dystrophy Telethon.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Who's Minding The Store? 1963 films 1960s English-language films 1963 comedy films American comedy films Films directed by Frank Tashlin Films set in department stores Films with screenplays by Frank Tashlin Paramount Pictures films 1960s American films