Who's Minding the Store? (1963)

Norman Phiffier works as a store clerk in a large department store. Clumsy and inept, he can't do anything right. Boy are they in trouble!

Director:

Frank Tashlin

Writers:

Frank Tashlin (screenplay), Harry Tugend (screenplay),

Stars:

Jerry Lewis, Jill St. John, Ray Walston

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jerry Lewis	...	Norman Phiffier
Jill St. John	...	Barbara Tuttle
Ray Walston	...	Mr. Quimby
John McGiver	...	Mr. John P. Tuttle
Agnes Moorehead	...	Mrs. Phoebe Tuttle
Francesca Bellini	...	Shirley Lott
Peggy Mondo	...	Lady wrestler
Nancy Kulp	...	Emily Rothgraber
John Abbott	...	Mr. Orlandos
Isobel Elsom	...	Hazel, a Dowager
Kathleen Freeman	...	Mrs. Glucksman
Fritz Feld	...	Irving Cahastrophe, the Gourmet Manager
Milton Frome	...	Francois, the Driver
Mary Treen	...	Mattress Customer
Dick Wessel	...	Traffic Cop (as Richard Wessel)

Storyline

Barbara is a very rich girl who falls in love with Norman Phiffier, a poor young man. She doesn't tell him who she really is and prepares to marry him. But, Mrs. Tuttle (Barbara's mother) doesn't want her daughter to mary such a poor man. So, she hires Norman at one of her big stores, and gives him the most difficult and disgusting works. She hopes that seeing Norman humiliated, Barbara will finally leave him. But things don't work exactly this way...

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Plot Keywords:

department store | dog | clumsiness | obesity | mother daughter relationship | 

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Genres:

Comedy

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 December 1963 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Der Ladenhüter

Filming Locations:

Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Jerry Lewis Pictures, Paramount Pictures, York Pictures Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

One way or another, Norman Phiffier's last name gets mispronounced seven times in the film.

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Goofs

As Norman Phiffier attempts to load a large mirror onto a delivery truck, a reflection of the camera crew is briefly visible.

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Quotes

Mr. Quimby: By some chance, Mr. Phiffier, could you be stealing a TV set?
Norman Phiffier: Me, stealing, Mr. Quimby? Oh, I'd never steal anything.
Mr. Quimby: If I recollect correctly, Mr. Phiffier, you're supposed to be working in the mattress department today.
Norman Phiffier: Oh, yeah, I AM working in the mattress department today.
Mr. Quimby: Then what are you doing here?
Norman Phiffier: Oh, well, I was just really trying to, uh, satisfy a charge customer, you see, sir. Uh, buh, a lady that wanted to see, on a mattress there, just, uh, just how good the TV set was, so I ...

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Connections

Referenced in Animaniacs: Flipper Parody/Temporary Insanity/Operation: Lollipop/What Are We? (1993)

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Soundtracks

"The Typewriter"
By Leroy Anderson

User Reviews

Jerry Lewis at his stupidest and craziest

"Who's Minding the Store?" is a movie that is so stupid its funny. This film contains scenes that are incredibly dim-witted. Other scenes are dumber than dumb. But I found myself laughing at what was going on. I haven't seen alot of Jerry Lewis movies with the exception of a few including this one. "Who's Minding the Store?" stars Lewis as Norman Pfeiffer, a hapless young man who works as a poodle dog walker and animal sitter. He is engaged to be married to a lovely young woman named Barbara played by Jill St. John (before she became a Bond woman in "Diamonds Are Forever"). Barbara works at a department store as an elevator operator. One day she goes to visit Norman while dog-sitting, and she breaks the news to him that her bosses want Norman to come work at the store. Norman is thrilled to get the chance to work close to his girl, and (foolishly) accepts the job. However, what Barbara doesn't know is that this is a scheme by her mother Phoebe Tuttle (played by "Bewitched" star Agnes Moorehead), who just happens to be the store owner. Phoebe is not happy one bit that her daughter is engaged to this imbecile. So she orders the store manager Mr. Quimby (Ray Walston) to give Norman the hardest, most impossible jobs to do so that he'll quit his new job and hopefully end up breaking off his engagement to Barbara. The jobs that Norman does in this film are unbelievable, and in the process ends up turning the store upside down into a disaster area. I laughed, and laughed, and laughed, at the stupidity of what went on and I couldn't help it. This movie cracks me up (interesting, because 20 years after Lewis made this he made a movie titled oddly enough "Cracking Up"). I feel kind of guilty admitting that I like this film, but I did.

*** (out of four)