Who's Minding the Store?

Released Nov 27, 1963

1h 30m

Comedy

List

57%

7 Reviews

Tomatometer

65%

500+ Ratings

Audience Score

Barbara (Jill St. John) is in love with Norman (Jerry Lewis), the man who looks after her poodle. But she has a secret: She's the daughter of a wealthy society couple and worth more than Norman will ever make. When her mother, Phoebe (Agnes Moorehead), finds out about Barbara's relationship, she sends Norman to work a series of increasingly humiliating jobs at the family's department store. Norman tries to please his cruel boss, Mr. Quimby (Ray Walston), and win Barbara's hand in marriage.

Read More

Read Less

Watch on Fandango at Home

Premiered Jan 03

Buy Now

Fandango at Home

Prime Video

Rent Who's Minding the Store? on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, or buy it on Fandango at Home, Prime Video.

Audience Member

Who's Minding the Store? tells the story of humble dog walker (Jerry Lewis) who gets different jobs from store to store in order to provide money for his fiancée who he doesn't know is the heir of all the stores he is working at. While the film did have blatant and ridicolous product placement with the addition of bad editing, Who's Minding the Store? still has some decency. The film was funny at times as well as pretty decent music. Overall, the film is serviceable.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/18/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Jerry Seinfeld arguably one of the greatest stand-up comedians and TV comics of all time said: "if you don't get Jerry Lewis you don't get comedy" The movie is corny... even sappy but it is very funny; the scene with the lady wrestler, the elephant gun, the sale stampede, the TV bouncing off the mattress are all hilarious. Furthermore, Jerry's exchanges with all the characters were nuanced and funny. Not as good as The Nutty Professor which is his masterpiece but in his 5 for sure.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/11/23

Full Review

Audience Member

misogynistic. duzn't hold up....good bits tho

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

01/17/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Frank Tashlin directed this enjoyably silly Jerry Lewis vehicle, which is essentially a series of set pieces involving Jerry working in different departments in a big city department store. There are some good gags and Tashlin brings a nice visual flair to the proceedings, but for me Jerry is only sporadically funny and it's really the over-the-top sentimentality in the films that he wrote, produced and directed himself that I love. Still, Jerry is always very likable playing his "Kid" character and there is a likable supporting cast that includes a young Jill St. John as the love interest and Ray Walston as the store manager who's helping store owner Agnes Moorehead in trying to kill Jerry so he won't marry her daughter, St. John, though don't think too hard why the gorgeous Jill St. John would want to marry an idiot man-child. Lewis regular Kathleen Freeman also makes an appearance.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

This is the 1st time I've ever sat & watched a full Jerry Lewis movie.I really only sat & watched this 1 because I was flipping through looking for something to watch a couple days ago & this movie was on.It was on the vacuum cleaner scene & it looked pretty good so I thought the next time it's on, I'll check it out (Today was the day) The skits (I guess you could call them that) were just way too corny for me & I didn't really get into the movie until right before the vacuum cleaner scene.The only skit of the movie I really did like was..... The vacuum cleaner scene.I guess I'm just not a fan of Jerry Lewis' movies

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

01/23/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Some more Jerry Lewis and Frank Tashlin genius, can never get enough of that! The best thing about this movie is it's cartoony atmosphere, it's like watching a live action Looney Tunes short with all the slapstick and goofy situations. There's lot of good moments in this movie, the fried ants, Jerry playing a golf simulator a little too well, and the masterful typewriter sequence, one of the definitive Jerry Lewis scenes. Definitely one to check out if you want lots of laughs with one of the most memorable comedians.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/14/23

Full Review

Read all reviews

Post a rating

Frank Tashlin

Director

Jerry Lewis

Norman Phiffier

Jill St. John

Barbara Tuttle

Agnes Moorehead

Mrs. Phoebe Tuttle

John McGiver

Mr. John P. Tuttle

Ray Walston

Mr. Quimby

Show Less Cast & Crew

Show More Cast & Crew

54%

75%

Donovan's Reef

82%

67%

The Nutty Professor

100%

67%

The Ladies' Man

82%

63%

The Patsy

81%

79%

Barefoot in the Park

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

View more photos

Variety Staff

Variety

Frank Tashlin directs with full emphasis on the madcap nonsense and Jerry Lewis has a field day playing it all out in his uninhibited (meaning zany) style. It’s fun.

Mar 26, 2009

Full Review

Serge Daney

Cahiers du Cinéma

Exemplary in its subject, rigorous in its style, troublesome in what eludes it.

Oct 4, 2023

Full Review

Steve Crum

Video-Reviewmaster.com

Frank Tashlin's live action cartoon, as usual w/his favorite star Jerry Lewis.

Rated: 4/5

Mar 8, 2008

Full Review

Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

Rated: 3/5

Jul 16, 2005

Full Review

Jake Euker

F5 (Wichita, KS)

Rated: 2/5

Dec 17, 2004

Full Review

Philip Martin

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Rated: 2/5

Mar 11, 2004

Full Review

Read all reviews

Synopsis

Barbara (Jill St. John) is in love with Norman (Jerry Lewis), the man who looks after her poodle. But she has a secret: She's the daughter of a wealthy society couple and worth more than Norman will ever make. When her mother, Phoebe (Agnes Moorehead), finds out about Barbara's relationship, she sends Norman to work a series of increasingly humiliating jobs at the family's department store. Norman tries to please his cruel boss, Mr. Quimby (Ray Walston), and win Barbara's hand in marriage.

Director: Frank Tashlin
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Production Co: Jerry Lewis Productions, York Pictures Corporation, Paramount Pictures
Genre: Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Nov 27, 1963, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 15, 2016
Runtime: 1h 30m

Most Popular at Home Now