Memorable, crazy movie

It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

If you can accept the fact that the classy Jill St. John would be heiress of the Tuttle Department Stores is going to fall for Jerry Lewis's klutzy character of Norman Phiffer than you'll really like Who's Minding The Store? Jerry is one walking human disaster, but he's got integrity and that's what counts in Jill's eyes.But not in the eyes of her mother Agnes Moorehead who was giving her Endora character a trial run in this film. Agnes is determined to break up Jerry and Jill so she actually fixes it for Jerry to be hired at her store by her manager and hatchet man Ray Walston who gives him all kinds of assignments that should show what a disaster he is. All it does is it makes Jill love him all the more. It also probably drives the store into bankruptcy.Lewis does more physical comedy here than he does in any two of his other films. Best gags are with Nancy Kulp the great white hunter shopping for an elephant gun. Check the recoil action as Jerry demonstrates the weapon. And the final gag in the store as Jerry fixes Isobel Elsom's vacuum cleaner all too well as it sucks everything in sight. Check Jerry out on the flagpole as his first assignment from Walston. Shades of Harold Lloyd.Jerry and Jill maybe a more odd couple than Felix and Oscar, but the film is a great treat for Lewis fans.

This is one of the all time comedy greats. Jerry Lewis plays a guy who can do nothing right, (to the extreme). Jerry plays a young man who wants to make something of himself so he can marry the girl of his dreams. Jill St. John is wonderful as the girl of his affection.I can't say enough about John McGiver. He plays the "milk toast", Mr. Tuttle. I've seen him in a number of fun films and he always gives a strong performance. His wife, who wore the pants, was played by Hollywood legend, Agnes Moorehead. She gave a strong performance in this film. She was simply wonderful. The things she puts Jerry up to are extremely over the top! Very funny.I was to young to see this film when it came out. However as a child I can remember seeing it on television. I can remember my dad falling out of his chair and rolling on the floor in laughter. I remember joining him on the floor and finding it hard to breath because I was laughing so hard. My mom was hitting the side of her chair and screaming. You can't buy memories like that. I truly believe Jerry Lewis was the best comic of his time. For that matter, Our time.Jerry Lewis is a true comic who isn't afraid to be the butt of every joke. That's what separates great comics from the rest. People like Jack Benny, Phyllis Diller,George Burns, The Three Stooges and on and on. It wasn't about them, It was about laughter. If you want to take a break from the stress of life, if just for a moment, and simply enjoy a little nuttiness for the sake of nuttiness, this is the film for you.

This is one of the funniest films in the career of Jerry Lewis. This film can pretty much be seen as a series of vignettes as Norman bounces around from department to department as he tries to earn enough money to marry the woman he loves. Also, the rest of the cast give solid performances especially John McGiver, Ray Walston and Agnes Moorehead. Walston is great as the weasel of a store manager who does everything he can to break Norman. McGiver is outstanding as Mr. Tuttle who in the process of the film turns from a milquetoast to a tiger as he finally stands up to his wife, Phoebe. However, Agnes Moorehead is perfect as Phoebe Tuttle and she pretty much plays a mortal version of Endorra, the character she would play less than a year later on "Bewitched". However, the one negative criticism of the film that I have is the fact that like what a couple of other commentators said was the fact that this film is pretty much takes great joy in bashing women. Other than that this is a great film.

Who's Minding The Store was once a favorite movie of mine as a kid. Then I grew up and renounced Jerry and all his works. But AMC was recently running a mini-Jerry Lewis festival and this film was in it, so I couldn't resist taking a look back and I have to say this one holds up surprisingly well. Jerry plays the eternal bumbling idiot who's in love with an heiress to a department store fortune. One problem though, her mother is aware of the romance (through the use of private detectives), doesn't approve and wants to break it up any way she can. The upshot is that Jerry is given a job at the department store doing the most impossible unpleasant tasks imaginable so that he will appear a failure in front in his new fiancee. As Jerry Lewis movies go, this one is actually pretty good for a lot of reasons. It has a big-time supporting cast, for one thing, as opposed to Jerry playing six roles by himself in various modes of stupidity. The script is funny- that is, the vignettes of Jerry moving from one disaster to another in different sections of the store. And the slapstick is well-executed without being brutal or forced. Agnes Moorehead is great as the evil would-be mother-in-law, playing a slightly more cosmpolitan version of the character she played in "Bewitched". John McGiver is very good as the cuckolded husband, Jill St. John appropriately nurturing as the girlfriend, and Ray Walston, who, to me, is nothing but a show-biz benchwarmer, is a howl as the whimpering flunky store manager who's complicit in the scheme. As for the best bits, the running gag of the hapless policeman on the blunt end of Jerry's screw-ups is well done, Nancy Kulp is absolutely hilarious in a scene as a famous big-game hunter, and at the top of the pile, Jerry does his classic typewriter bit, where he mimics the movements of a typist set to music. This is a not good, but great routine, a truly inspired bit that is worthy of being described as genius.On the negative side, I couldn't help but think that the message of the film (the man is king of his castle, etc. etc.) mostly fits Jerry's worldview that women are worth little more than sex toys and kitchen utensils. This sort of thing may have been quaint in 1963, but it's downright prehistoric now. But if you can shake off the sexism, this film has a lot of good laughs. It might even be the Citizen Kane of Jerry Lewis movies. And since Agnes Moorehead was in both pictures, I may be on to something. 2 1/2 ** out of 4, but for a Lewis picture, that's a rave.