The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968)

Director:

William Friedkin

Writers:

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

Release Date:

22 December 1968 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

Sometimes being a nice girl is too much to BARE!

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Amish | Murphy Bed | Punctuation In Title | Stripper | New York City

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)
Judith Lowry	...	Mother Annie (as Judith Lowery)
Will B. Able	...	Clyde
Mike Elias	...	Immigration Officer 1
Frank Shaw	...	Immigration Officer 2
Chanin Hale	...	Valerie
Ernestine Barrett	...	Minsky Girl
Kelsey Collins	...	Minsky Girl
Marilyn D'Honau	...	Minsky Girl
Kathryn Doby	...	Minsky Girl
Joanna Rush	...	Minsky Girl (as JoAnn Lehmann)
Dorothea MacFarland	...	Minsky Girl
Billie Mahoney	...	Minsky Girl
Carolyn Morris	...	Minsky Girl
June Eve Story	...	Minsky Girl
Helen Wood	...	Minsky Girl
Rudy Vallee	...	Opening Narrator (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Mary Boylan	...	Laughing Lady in the Audience (uncredited)
Henry Calvert	...	(uncredited)
Herbie Faye	...	Waiter (uncredited)
Stephen Fitzstephens	...	Ice Cream Kisser (uncredited)
Trent Gough	...	Minsky Customer (uncredited)
Lester Mack	...	(uncredited)
Joe E. Marks	...	Mr. Flegelman (uncredited)
Remo Pisani	...	Stagehand (uncredited)
Ellen Stretton	...	Bit Part (uncredited)
Fat Thomas	...	Stagehand (uncredited)

Directed by
William Friedkin

Writing credits
Arnold Schulman		(screenplay) &
Sidney Michaels		(screenplay) &
Norman Lear		(screenplay)
Rowland Barber		(book)

Produced by
George Justin	....	associate producer
Norman Lear	....	producer

Original Music by
Charles Strouse

Cinematography by
Andrew Laszlo		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Ralph Rosenblum
Pablo Ferro		(uncredited)

Casting by
Marion Dougherty

Production Design by
Jean Eckart
William Eckart

Art Direction by
John Robert Lloyd

Set Decoration by
John Godfrey

Costume Design by
Anna Hill Johnstone

Makeup Department
Irving Buchman	....	makeup artist
Bob Grimaldi	....	hairdresser (as Robert Grimaldi)

Production Management
Jim Di Gangi	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Pablo Ferro	....	second unit director
Burtt Harris	....	assistant director
Alan Hopkins	....	second assistant director (as J. Alan Hopkins)

Art Department
Richard Adee	....	set dresser
Edward Garzero	....	chief scenic artist
Donald Holtzman	....	property master
Edward Swanson	....	set construction
Walter Way	....	set construction

Sound Department
Jack Fitzstephens	....	sound editor
Dennis Maitland	....	production sound mixer (as Dennis L. Maitland)
Dick Vorisek	....	sound re-recording mixer (as Richard Vorisek)
Richard P. Cirincione	....	assistant sound editor (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Pablo Ferro	....	visual consultant

Camera and Electrical Department
Vinnie Gerardo	....	assistant camera (as Vincent Gerardo)
Richard C. Kratina	....	camera operator (as Richard Kratina)
Michael Mahony	....	key grip
Willie Meyerhoff	....	gaffer (as William Meyerhoff)
Josh Weiner	....	still photographer
Ron Zarilla	....	second assistant camera

Casting Department
Bernie Styles	....	extras casting

Costume and Wardrobe Department
George Newman	....	wardrobe
Flo Transfield	....	wardrobe (as Florence Transfield)

Editorial Department
Michael Breddan	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Philip J. Lang	....	conductor
Philip J. Lang	....	orchestrator

Other crew
Danny Daniels	....	choreographer
Dick DeBenedictis	....	choreographer (as Richard DeBenedictis)
Pablo Ferro	....	title designer: main title sequence
William Giorgio	....	assistant to producer
Marguerite James	....	script supervisor (as Marguerite James Powell)
Shirley Marcus	....	production secretary
Morton Minsky	....	technical advisor
Anne Wallace	....	assistant choreographer
Jane Hoyt Thompson	....	assistant: Norman Lear (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Tandem Productions

Distributors

• United Artists (1968) (USA) (theatrical)
• National Broadcasting Company (NBC) (1974) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Other Companies

• Eaves Costume Company  costumes by (as Eaves)
• Optical House, The  opticals by (as The Optical House N.Y.C.)

Also Known As:

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for suggestive content and brief nudity

Runtime:

99 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

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

Filming Locations:

Myrtle Avenue Elevated Subway, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Tandem Productions

Trivia:

The first cut of the film was considered disastrous by all involved. Editor Ralph Rosenblum worked for more than a year to save it, with director William Friedkin long gone. The extensive use of period film clips was Rosenblum's idea. The technique of returning from these clips to the movie by starting with a black-and-white version of a shot and changing to color was invented accidentally when the editor's assistant couldn't find the color copy of a piece of film fast enough.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the closeup of Rachele's breasts, her hair lies over her left shoulder. When the camera shows her face and upper torso in the next shot, her hair is not over her shoulder.

Quotes:

Raymond Paine:The Bible?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "That Girl: The Night They Raided Daddy's (#4.21)" (1970)

Soundtrack:

The Night They Raided Minsky's

Let Me Entertain You

Although the story line of The Night They Raided Minsky's was more silly than funny, quite a few laughs can still be had from this salute to the good old days of burlesque. It even has Bert Lahr in the cast who was a veteran of that venue of entertainment.

Amish girl fresh off the farm Britt Eklund has been given a calling to dance a practice forbidden by her sect. But even with father Harry Andrews in pursuit from the Pennsylvania Dutch Country, Britt is pursuing her dream of interpretive religious dance. Why she didn't seek out Martha Graham instead of Minsky's is beyond me.

Her innocence is so beguiling she has comedy team Jason Robards, Jr., and Norman Wisdom panting after her in heat. Gangster Forrest Tucker is looking and even Elliott Gould who is the Minsky who runs the burlesque theater on property his father owns hasn't missed her at all.

I did love Jason Robards who apparently has a line for just about every occasion and whose gift of gab gets him out of some tight spots. And Denholm Elliott the pompous moralizing professional do-gooder also has some noticeable moments.

This film was Bert Lahr's farewell performance. Lahr was terminally ill when he did the film and didn't finish his role and it was edited around. He doesn't look very good and is remarkably subdued from the Bert Lahr were used to seeing.

Weakest part of the film was the musical score by Strouse and Adams. They've done far better on Broadway, still it's serviceable enough and Eklund's alleged invention of the striptease worth the wait.

Fans of the cast members will like The Night They Raided Minsky's.