User Reviews

After THE DISORDERLY ORDERLY, this is Jerry Lewis's best film. Like DD, WMTS is directed by the great Frank Tashlin. The sight gags are hysterical, highlighted by a very funny fight between Lewis and a very aggressive vacuum cleaner. Nancy Kulp, herself a sight gag, is pretty amusing as a great white hunter. Lewis gets a terrific foil in shrewish department store owner Agnes Moorehead. Although Jill St. John is a bit harder to take as her daughter. She's insistent on being with Jerry and that's tough to digest. Lewis usually kept his leading ladies to the Ina Balin type...semi-ingenues who would believably be smitten with him. Nevertheless, the movie is terrific with the now famous typewriter gag.

This film got a lot of prime time television play. There is no wonder why. Jerry Lewis gets benefits here not just from Jill St. John and a great supporting cast, but Tashlin's special effects sequences show a lot of imagination in this film. Veteran comedy writer Harry Tugend and Tashlin combine on the script from Tugend's story.

Despite all the special effects that are funny by themselves, Lewis manic comedy style is put into the script in a way that makes more sense than some of his other films. It's a match made in comedy, for sure.

Ray Walston is solid from Mars supporting, and Richard Deacon from Dick Van Dyke, Abbott & Costello, and many other supporting roles is his baldy self.John McGiver, Agnes Moorehead, Nancy Kulp,and more are plenty of great support people. Kulp who was Drysdales secretary on The Beverly Hillbillies was so so good in so many supporting roles. Mooreheads Endora on Bewitched. Even Barbara Pepper, Mrs. Fred Ziffel on Green Acres gets a turn in this one.

Lewis(Norman Phiffier) is a manic store clerk who gets into trouble at every job in the big department store. The imagination and physical comedy levels for Lewis are very high in this one. This is a film to enjoy everything and it was very popular when it ran on prime time TV (CBS I believe) years ago.

This is one of my favorite Jerry Lewis films. The plot isn't intricate and there are no musical numbers; just sheer lunacy and a great cast.

This time out, Jerry is a young man in love; with an heiress. The only thing is, he doesn't know she's an heiress. Jill St. John is the love interest and undercover heiress. She is secretly working in her mother's department store, where her father is the figurehead president. Got all of that? Oh, I almost forgot. The mother, played by Agnes Moorehead (Citizen Kane and Bewitched), knows about her daughter's romance and wants it squashed. She sets a plan in motion to disrupt the couple, a plan involving Jerry's hiring at her department store.

The film is filled with little episodes of slapstick and sightgags galore. As Jerry moves from department to department, chaos ensues. It's a wonder that the store is still standing by the end! What really makes the film work are the wonderful character actors who populate the screen. John McGivers plays the hapless father, Ray Walston is the scheming manager. There are cameos by such TV favorites as Richard Deacon (Leave it to Beaver & The Dick Van Dyke Show) and Nancy Kulp (The Beverly Hillbillies).

Although it's not the greatest comedy ever made, it is a lot of fun. It's basically a live-action cartoon; not surprising, as the director is former Warner Brothers cartoon director, Frank Tashlin. Tashlin knows how to pace a film like this, building gag after gag, until the final eruption of laughter.

This is definitely one of Jerry's more entertaining films, perfect for a quiet afternoon or evening.

Jerry Lewis made some of his best films with Frank Tashlin, of which this is one. He plays dog walker 'Norman Phiffier', one of nature's dorks, with whom the lovely Barbara Tuttle ( Jill St.John ) is hopelessly besotted. Bab's mother is the fearsomely rich Phoebe Tuttle ( Agnes Moorehead ), owner of Tuttle's world-famous department stores. Not wishing this idiot to become one of her relatives, she arranges for Norman to work in one such store. He is given a succession of dirty, dangerous jobs by manager Mr.Quimby ( Ray Walston ) in the hope that he will quit and leave Barbara alone...

The first twenty or so minutes are virtually laugh-free, but then something marvellous happens. Jerry wanders into an empty office and begins tapping an imaginary typewriter to the sound of Leroy Anderson's 'Typewriter Song'. The idea is not brilliant, but the execution is. Lewis' facial expressions are a joy to behold. From this point on, the film does not put a foot wrong, as with each new job Norman screws up big time. Tashlin's background as a cartoonist is evident in these scenes. When demonstrating a golfing game, Norman sends the ball crashing through the window, beginning a long journey that sends it around the street ( knocking out a traffic cop along the way ) and right back where it started. Working in the shoe department, he tries to fit shoes on a lady wrestler. Thinking he is trying to get fresh with her, she belts him one. He is not totally stupid though - required to paint the ball on the end of a flagpole at the top of the store, he finds a way to do the job without endangering his life. The surreal climax has Norman attempting to deal with an out-of-control vacuum cleaner which is behaving like a '50's sci-fi movie monster.

Despite the slapstick tone, the script manages a neat dig or two at our consumerist society, most notably in the sequence where Norman has to deal with dozens of women out to take advantage of a sale. Its like watching the Sack of Carthage in Technicolour.

Barbara's infatuation with Norman is hard to understand, but then this is a comedy, after all. As ever, Jerry is surrounded by top-notch comic talent, including John McGiver ( as Barbara's Dad ) and the ever-reliable Kathleen Freeman.

This is an engaging, wacky farce, and worth catching for the aforementioned 'typewriter' mime which is comedy gold.

Post-Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis films were a mixed bag. You must totally suspend reality to enjoy the somewhat bizarre visual humor Lewis encompasses in his films. This movie is no exception for some of its gags, but for the most part, many of these bits offer genuine laughs.

That future witchy mother-in-law Agnes Moorehead is at her domineering best as department store owner Phoebe Tuttle (even the name is domineering!) as she schemes to keep her beautiful daughter Jill St. John from marrying Lewis, whom Moorehead considers a useless idiot. She has her department store personnel manager Ray Walston hire Lewis and give him the worst jobs possible in hopes of discrediting him with St. John. She doesn't count on Lewis befriending her milquetoast husband (John McGiver), the in-name only president of the firm, as well as succeeding in many of the tasks and somehow escape the others without quitting and proving her right.

Lewis is an acquired taste, but how can you not laugh at Lewis pretending to type to the popular instrumental ditty "The Typewriter"? He's also very funny as he finds a way to paint the tip of a 9th story flagpole. Dealing with a lady wrestler (Peggy Mondo) trying to fit into shoes way too small is painfully unfunny as is (sadly) the sequence with the usually delightful Nancy Kulp as a butch big game hunter. Usual Lewis nemesis Kathleen Freeman is wasted as another one of Lewis's customers in basically a walk-in. (Pardon the pun; Her appearance is in the shoe department.) The three most hysterical sequences involve store products-a golf ball, a small boat and a vacuum cleaner. These are all farcial in presentation and lack the violence of the other sequences mentioned above. Dick Wessel is funny in a recurring gag as a traffic cop who is the unfortunate victim of some of Lewis's work assignments gone wrong. Walston is appropriately "effette" as Moorehead's co-conspirator, but it seems odd to giver his character sort of a lothario trait.

St. John has nothing to do but be lovely and noble, so she is upstaged by her on-screen parents McGiver and Moorehead. Each of them offers a lot of laughs, especially Moorehead, who is basically indistinguishable from her portrayal of "Bewitched"'s Endora. At least viewers in 1964 could see her ravishing red hair several years before "Bewitched" went to color, not to mention the blue eye shadow. Such familiar classic character comics as Fritz Feld, Mary Treen, Isobel Elsom and Milton Frome also appear in nice bits, although Feld's sequence (as manager of an exotic food shop) is literally, in bad taste.

"Who's Minding The Store" may seem prehistoric to many, but it did reflect the times (namely, 1963). Just watch an episode of "Mad Men," and you'll see why.

That said, it is a very fun movie! Jerry Lewis is, well, Jerry Lewis, getting into all sorts of nonsense. Thing is, at the end, we see real humanity in his character when he asserts his integrity as a worker, and that may be the thing the French latch onto. Though the movie may seem misogynistic, I see Jill St. John's character as being assertive in a positive way, especially when she expresses her love of Jerry Lewis. The bit about "man must be a king in his castle" was likely a reaction by John McGiver about how his wife acted in such a disrespectful manner.

No matter. Times were different in 1963. The movie was made when John F. Kennedy was president, and released six days after he died. From that standpoint, this movie was a relic.

Castingwise, this movie was brilliant! The actors rocked! Jill St. John did a great job, as did Francesca Bellini, who turned in a sexy performance worthy of "Mad Men." The male leads fared well, especially Ray Walston! He ROCKED!!! And Agnes Moorehead fared well! Come to think of it, everyone else did! I did not give the film 10/10, because of the attitudes of the times, but it earned the other nine points for its comedy, the visuals and the brilliant cast!! And thank you for getting this out on DVD!!

Most expensive and funniest movie ever made, and never fails to cheer me up

Right up front, I think it's important you know I am not particularly a fan of Jerry Lewis films. I am sure he's a wonderful human being, but I have never really understood the appeal of his comedies--particularly his solo efforts. Now that does not mean I dislike all his films ("The Delicate Delinquent" and "The Sad Sack" are very good comedies), I just don't have a burning love for his movies like some reviewers. So why am I watching many of his films recently? Well, because I want to be fair--and in recent months I have deliberately chosen some big name stars whose work I am not all that fond of in order to re-assess them--to give them a fair chance. For example, I was never a fan of Marlon Brando, so I recently saw almost all his films and have a greater appreciation for some of his movies. Now, I am working on Jerry Lewis--especially since a good friend felt I was being too hard on the man's work.

"Who's Minding the Store" begins with a rich lady (Agnes Moorehead) consulting with some of her help. Apparently, she's had them spy on her daughter's boyfriend (Lewis) to see what sort of guy he is. She sees him as an uncultured idiot and feels she must do something to break up the couple--she CAN'T have her daughter marrying THAT! Moorehead decides to try to break them up by proving to her daughter that he is weak and incompetent--and she plans on making his new job at the department store (one she owns) horrible--to make him quit and to humiliate him. So, she gets her manager (Ray Walston) to give him every horrible job he can think of...and the manager thinks of many! As for Lewis, he has no idea his girl (Jill St. John) is wealthy, as she lives simply and he also has no idea he's been under surveillance or that he's being set up to fail on this job.

The style of this film is very episodic--and that's not a bad thing. Each time Lewis is given a new job, it's like a separate comedy bit. And, when they don't work so well, they come so often that the momentum is quite nice--and most of these situations are very enjoyable (such as the lady wrestler, his very famous invisible typewriter bit and the ladies sale). In addition, Jerry is much more likable in this one, as he does NOT mug for the camera and is pretty restrained (often a problem in some of his other films)--he's also a very a nice guy. It's also very, very nice seeing his relationship with his future father-in-law (John McGiver)--it's really sweet. Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by this one--it was restrained, well-acted and had some nice laughs. Even the over the top vacuum bit was worth seeing--even if this one did lack subtlety! Because I enjoyed this so much, perhaps I can look past some of Lewis' duds like "Cracking Up" (ewww....now THAT'S bad) and I look forward to the next.