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

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

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 and filmmaker. He was best known for his work on the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' ...

and starring

Jerry Lewis Jerry Lewis (born Joseph Levitch; March 16, 1926 – August 20, 2017) was an American comedian, actor, singer, filmmaker and humanitarian, with a career spanning seven decades in film, stage, television and radio. Famously nicknamed as "Th ...

, Jill St. John,

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

Ray Walston Herman Ray Walston (November 2, 1914 – January 1, 2001) was an American actor. He started his career on Broadway theatre, Broadway earning the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical for his performance as Mr. Applegate in ''Damn Yankees'' (1956 ...

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 i ...

, 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, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...

Plot

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

as Norman Phiffier * Jill St. John 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, character actor, writer and comedian best known as The Beverly Hillbillies#Jane Hathaway, Miss Jane Hathaway on the CBS television series ''The Beverly Hill ...

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. Abbo ...

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, Elsom attend ...

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 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 dozens of movies and t ...

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 "Cue ...

as Traffic Cop (credited as Richard Wessel) French actor

Christopher Lambert Christophe Guy Denis Lambert (; ; born March 29, 1957), commonly known as Christopher Lambert, is a French-American actor, producer, and writer. He started his career playing supporting parts in several French films, and became internationally f ...

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 aggregator, 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 ...

, 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 ki ...

and

Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...

Disc on March 27, 2012.

Legacy

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

) 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.

References

External links

* * {{Frank Tashlin 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 Films scored by Joseph J. Lilley