7 | / 10 |
Users | 4.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.3 |
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...
Starring: Jerry Lewis, Jill St. John, Ray WalstonComedy | 100% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio Mono
None
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A, B (C untested)
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 3.0 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 0.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
A whole generation grew up knowing Agnes Moorehead only as Endora, the mother-in-law from hell on Bewitched. Moorehead’s trenchant delivery and repeated pronunciations of son-in-law Darrin’s name are indelibly imprinted on countless Baby Boomer minds, so much so that when Moorehead is seen in any number of her notable film appearances, there can be a certain disconnect, as if Frank DeVol’s catchy Bewitched theme music should be playing. Of course Moorehead had a long and remarkable screen career before she migrated to the small screen, having made her film debut in no less a film than Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane. Watching her restrained, tamped down performance as the young Charles Foster Kane’s mother is a fantastic glimpse into just how versatile Moorehead was, especially when compared to her outrageous turn as Endora. Like many stars who had been working since the Golden Age in Hollywood, Moorehead found her film opportunities diminishing in the late fifties and early sixties, and she, like many others, began working in television (including in one of the best remembered Twilight Zone episodes of all time, “The Invaders”), ultimately leading to her Emmy winning turn as Endora in Bewitched. But just a couple of years before Moorehead settled down into regular sitcom work, she essayed a sort of Endora-lite performance as the haughty, uptight mother of a gorgeous woman with a nerdish suitor. Sound familiar? There aren’t any witches in Who’s Minding the Store?, but as with many of Jerry Lewis’ early sixties efforts with writer-director Frank Tashlin, the film often plays like a slightly gussied up sitcom itself. Lewis once again is the bumbling but well meaning hero, in this case one Norman Phiffier, who is in love with the pulchritudinous Barbara Tuttle (Jill St. John). Barbara is of course the daughter of imperious Mrs. Tuttle (Moorehead), and the Tuttles are owners of a fabulously successful department store. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that Norman will soon be working at the store, mayhem (and hopefully hilarity) will ensue, and ultimately Norman and Barbara will toddle off to their own happily ever after.
Who's Minding the Store? is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Olive Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. Olive's press materials state that this was mastered from an archival 35mm print, though others have indicated that all of these licensed Paramount titles have been culled from interpositives. One way or the other, this is one of the less appealing looking Olive Paramount titles, at least by degree. The elements (whatever they were) seem slightly faded, with some odd orange tints to a number of scenes and slightly off looking flesh tones, and there's a bit more damage in terms of flecks and specks than what has been on display on other recent Olive Lewis titles. The opening sequence is pretty shoddy looking, no doubt due to the opticals (and what is up with the anamorphically squeezed shots of Manhattan that play under Lewis' name and the film's title?). Once we get past the titles sequence and are post-opticals (at the first edit that cuts to Agnes Moorehead by the desk), clarity and sharpness improve dramatically, but they are still not quite at the level that has been seen in some of the other recent Olive releases. In fact in several midrange shots the film has a pretty gauzy appearance, with negligible fine detail and a lack of precision and clarity. By contrast, close-ups do pop quite nicely quite a bit of the time, with much improved clarity and fine detail. All of this said, the bulk of the film looks at the very least acceptable, if not stunning, and if expectations are set appropriately, most videophiles will at least be able to tolerate this high definition presentation, if not get very excited about it.
Who's Minding the Store? features a perfectly fine lossless DTS-HD Master Audio mono track the suffices quite well for the film's limited sonic ambitions. The bulk of this film is simply dialogue scenes, with of course manic sound effects sequence when mayhem breaks loose. Fidelity here is fine, with a nicely full midrange that supports the swingin' brass based score by Joseph J. Lilley. Some rather noticeable boxiness does creep in with regard to some of the sound effects, notably some dog barks that were obviously ported in, probably from some sort of sound library, and which do not have the same reverb or sonic characteristics of the general soundfield. There's no damage to report here, and even hiss is kept at a minimum, with clear and consistent high end frequencies.
As with most Olive Films releases, no supplements are included on this Blu-ray disc.
Jerry Lewis had been churning out Frank Tashlin written and directed features for years by the time Who's Minding the Store? came along, and there's just a slightly tired feeling to this outing, despite the game attempts of a fun and obviously competent cast. There are some good set pieces here featuring everything from an out of control golf ball to an out of control vacuum cleaner, but the bulk of this film is curiously lacking in energy and consistent comedic impact. This release has just a slightly less agreeable video quality than some other Lewis films released on Blu-ray by Olive, but the mono soundtrack sounds great for the most part. This should be a worthwhile time killer for Lewis fans; others may want to consider a rental first to see how much they like this particular iteration of time honored Jerry Lewis tropes.
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