Ein Nerz an der Angel

I liked this. I suggest you reserve it for a time when you want something that isn't much work in viewing (which means that 1960 is about the latest you can consider).

The structure is a familiar one: we watch a bunch of actors portraying unlikely characters who themselves play unlikely characters precisely as far away. The joke of course is in the overlap, and the competence of the first contrasted with the incompetence of the second. Its all about coats and appropriation.

There's an interesting performer here, one I haven't seen before. She plays a painfully reserved spinster who's occupation is mending broken china. Her character, Pinkie, is immensely inept and most of the polished humor (this was a successful stage play) is hers. We are introduced to her when the silly major breaks in on her bath because she has extended into his time.

This is moments after having the first long segment of the movie linger on the sexy, pretty maid. And we see a naked skinny old maid in the bath. The major is retired from his duty as commander of "portable baths."

That's the attention to detail you'll find in how this humor is constructed.

Anyway, Pinkie (with the wonderful name of Elspeth Duxbury) only lived a few years after this. Too bad.

Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.

Make Mine Mink is based on Peter Coke's West End play Breath Of Spring. The story centres around a group of odd-ball amateurs, who led by their aging landlady Dame Beatrice Appleby {Athene Seyler}, venture into crime by way of stealing valuable fur coats and then giving the proceeds from their crimes to charity. Joining the eccentric Dame is a has-been military officer {Terry-Thomas}, a larger than life etiquette instructor {Hattie Jacques} and a batty china mender {Elspeth Duxbury}. Oddly, and crucial to the plot of course, the house keeper is an ex-convict {sexy Billie Whitelaw} who is not involved. Just as well since her boyfriend is a Copper! This sets us up for a number of delightful sequences as our "crims" blunder into one caper after another, whilst trying to avoid capture by the increasingly baffled police force. The film even has time to homage The Third Man in one particularly funny scene as Thomas' Major Rayne goes in search of a "fence" for their ill gotten gains.

There are so many great things about Make Mine Mink, but what stands out the most is that it's a testament to what good writing and a quality cast can do for a basic premise. More known for being the director of film's starring that bastion of Jerry Lewis a like British comedy, Norman Wisdom, Robert Asher keeps it simple and lets the cast run with the material. The pace never lets up and there is not one sign of filler or awkward padding. Thomas is revelling in being the sole male actor in the core group and both Jacques and Seyler light up the screen regularly {look out for an hilarious smoke bomb moment from Jacques}. But it's Duxbury's movie all the way, a relative unknown with only 7 acting credits to her name {she passed away in 1967}, Duxbury gives a performance of such high comedic quality, this film becomes a fitting and lasting legacy to her name. As Pinkie she runs everywhere, forgets everything and has all her co-criminals constantly in despair. It's a truly joyous turn that for me personally has become a highlight of my viewings this year.

Available on Region 2 DVD, and part of the wonderful Terry-Thomas Box Set, Make Mine Mink should hopefully now start getting more exposure. It deserves it, a throwback to great British comedy days, and a film that's sure to have you grinning from ear to ear. 8.5/10

A warm view of the criminal temptation as seen through the eyes of the comic displaced. Fine team performances, particularly from the female cast members, topped off by a Terry-Thomas character out of his own flawed top-drawer. A real treat for those who like their view of the British as slightly off-centre, warm and hypocritical...which is not a bad summary of the national character. Kenneth Williams in an early appearance shines as a character that he never really succeeded in developing for the screen but which points to a keen comic enjoying himself in very good company. Billie Whitelaw playing against type is also a revelation in a role that hints strongly at the type of role that she made her own in films later in the decade

The last time I saw this film was about 40 years ago when I was a kid. My sister and I would watch movies on Channels 9 and 11 in NYC and we saw Make Mine Mink about 3 times, I figure. Since then, I have unsuccessfully sought it in movie stores, like a man wistfully returning to the haunts he frequented with his first love, hoping against all odds to catch another glimpse of her. Part of my curiosity is determining whether I would think it as funny today, and my sister wonders the same thing. Terry Thomas was an absolute favorite of mine back then, too, and I haven't seen anything of him on TV for a long time. So what's this got to do with the movie itself? Well, it's just that kind of film. There's such a combination of comedy, sweetness, surprise, and intelligence in it that it sticks with you for a long time. The combination of the odd British major living in a rooming house with an extraordinary collection of women, the craziness of their plans and the situations they get themselves into, and the smart understating of the comedy that was such a British specialty before they became so self-conscious about that particular gift, make it a rarity in more ways than one.

For no reason I can fathom, this title recently popped into the disordered clutter of my memory. I haven't seen it since those halcyon days in Southern California, before multiplexes, when admission prices were affordable on a frequent basis, and when the area where I lived had theaters that booked all sorts of films from all over the globe, or so it seemed. It's one of the few films I went back to see almost immediately, since the uproarious laughter it provoked obscured some of the dialogue during my first viewing.

Terry-Thomas and his female partners-in-crime are truly hilarious and, for me, the special bonus of two of my favorite British character actresses, Irene Handl and Hattie Jacques, appearing in a film together, made this one of those gems I'll never forget. The slapstick elements are handled with that special brand of wit for which English comedies are noted and the modest production values actually enhanced the fun. I note that it's not currently available from American purveyors to the U.S. video market, but a DVD is offered in the U.K. Guess it's time to discover what's involved in exchange rates, international shipping, and so forth. It should prove worth the effort to renew a happy memory.