Who's Minding the Store? (1963)

Best movie of this year hands down!

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

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 plays Norman Phiffier, a poodle dog walker who is going to marry a rich girl named Barbara Tuttle (Jill St. John) who works as an elevator operator at a department store.Barbara doesn't want Norman to know that she's rich.Barbara's mother Phoebe Tuttle (Agnes Moorehead) doesn't want her daughter to marry such a fool as Norman so she gets Norman a job from the store Barbara works and gets him the worst jobs.Norman has to eat fried ants for example.Frank Tashlin's Who's Minding the Store from 1963 is filled with hilarious situations.Jerry Lewis causes disasters and makes people crack up.It's hard to say the best movie of Jerry Lewis but this must be one of the them.It has everything Jerry Lewis fans need.Watch this movie if you want to get a good laugh a'la Jerry Lewis.

Who's Minding the store is Jerry Lewis at his very best! Frank Tashlin directing, and with Tashlin directing Lewis, you know it's going to be a CLASSIC. One moment after another in this 1963 film, Jerry Lewis leads the audience into one madcap nutfilled scene after another, from the scene where Jerry's supposed to be selling gourmet "De-Lights" food, being forced to eat Fried ants in a scent free sauce, to trying to sell shoes to a 300 Lb. Female Wrestler, who's actually been hired to make Jerry want to quit... Well this film is as funny as any film of the 1960's, included are the Pink Panther, Shot in the Dark and It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World....This is also one film of Jerry's that you really don't have to be a fan of Jerry's to appreciate...with an awesome supporting comedy cast of Agnes Moorehead, John McGiver, Ray Walston Jill St. John, this film in my opinion is Jerry Lewis FINEST, without Dean Martin, and maybe his best of all-time. (But that would take alot of doing.) My advice, If you get the opportunity to see "Who's Minding the Store?" See it, if you don't find it utterly hilarious, it's time to make an appointment with the undertaker.