The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968)

Director:

William Friedkin

Writers:

Arnold Schulman (screenplay) &
Sidney Michaels (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

22 December 1968 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

If You Can't Stand The Terrific Girls (10 Count 'Em 10) There's Always The Comics

Plot:

Rachel arrives in New York from her Amish community intent on becoming a dancer. Unfortunately Billy...

Plot Keywords:

Amish | Female Nudity | Beautiful Woman | Stripper | Murphy Bed

Cast

Jason Robards	...	Raymond Paine
Britt Ekland	...	Rachel Schpitendavel
Norman Wisdom	...	Chick Williams
Forrest Tucker	...	Trim Houlihan
Harry Andrews	...	Jacob Schpitendavel
Joseph Wiseman	...	Louis Minsky
Denholm Elliott	...	Vance Fowler
Elliott Gould	...	Billy Minsky
Jack Burns	...	Candy Butcher
Bert Lahr	...	Professor Spats
Gloria LeRoy	...	Mae Harris
Eddie Lawrence	...	Scratch
Dexter Maitland	...	Duffy
Lillian Hayman	...	Singer in Speakeasy
Richard Libertini	...	Pockets (as Dick Libertini)

Also Known As:

The Night They Invented Striptease

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for suggestive content and brief nudity.

Runtime:

99 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:PG-13 | Sweden:Btl | USA:M (original rating) | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Tandem Productions

Trivia:

Because of the excessive overtime generated by shooting around the death of Bert Lahr, Norman Lear gave gifts of initialed Tiffany silver money clips to many of the crew members, at the wrap party.

Goofs:

Factual errors: Rachel says she has never kissed a man without a beard but an Amishman does not shave his beard after he becomes married.

Quotes:

Jacob Schpitendavel: I need your help, Louis Minsky. My daughter will not be welcome in my home if she stays the night to dance upon your son's stage. There is a train in 51 minutes. You must tell your son to see she is on it.
Louis Minsky: You see this chair? Tell it to dance. See if it listens. That's how much my Billy listens to me.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in "Get Smart: The Day They Raided the Knights (#4.16)" (1969)

Soundtrack:

Perfect Gentleman

Hey, Mr Producers....

I will make this prediction NOW....that within 5 years we see THE NIGHT THEY RAIDED MINSKYS turned into a $100 per seat Broadway stage smash.......all the elements are there and like APPLAUSE or THE PRODUCERS one adds reworked or new songs and gives this bawdy burlesque treat a re tread. What this film is about, and the tawdry bump and grind style is a sitter for another go. Have another look at the film.......I'm right about this. Not a big success on first release, it eventually found an audience with THE PARTY, but somehow it is MINSKYS that is actually a better film and a more rewarding film. It was also Bert Lahr's final performance as he died during filming.