Who's Minding the Mint?

"Who's Minding the Mint?" is a hysterical comedy-"heist" movie in the classic tradition, as U.S. Mint worker Harry Lucas (Jim Hutton) accidentally destroys $50,000, and endeavours to sneak back into the place and reprint the money so the books will balance. Things start to snowball when he gets his old friend "Pop" (a delightful Walter Brennan) to help out, and more and more individuals get involved in the complicated scheme. Naturally, they want to get something out of this, so the amount of bills to be printed escalates in number.... Harry also gets the co-worker (Dorothy Provine) who is sweet on him to do the job of cutting the bills.

Sadly neglected at the time of its release, "Who's Minding the Mint?" is quite an engaging comedy over 50 years later, benefitting a lot from the efforts of a large cast: Milton Berle, Joey Bishop, Bob Denver, Jamie Farr, David J. Stewart, Jackie Joseph, Mickey Deems, etc. Hutton is wonderful as he mostly does "straight" acting, reacting with increasing weariness to the avarice and bungling of his compatriots. But the ones who tend to steal the show are Jack Gilford as the veteran safe cracker who happens to be hard-of-hearing, and a hilarious Victor Buono as the pompous ex-skipper who's drafted to build the participants a boat. (They need a boat, of course, to navigate the sewers.) There are some truly priceless farcical moments, all brought breathlessly to life by these fine performers and the director, Howard Morris, himself a comic character actor whom you may recognize from his work with Mel Brooks.

It's gratifying to see that the movie does have its admirers, which has presented it from being totally forgotten. It's extremely well paced, pushes some buttons in an endearing manner (Pop actually brings along his female pet beagle, who's about to give birth), and leads to a classic manic finale.

We root for our unlikely heroes all the way, even though we expect, and chortle at, those moments when it seems that everything is going to go up in smoke.

Paul Winfield has an uncredited bit near the end as a garbage man.

Eight out of 10.

This is one of the most underrated caper films of all time. Jim Hutton was perfect in his role as a Harry, a mint worker who somehow sinks $100,000 down his garbage disposal. Also, the cast of characters he has surrounding him from Milton Berle as the weasle of a pawn shop owner to Walter Brennan as the former mint worker who felt he was put out to pasture. Dorothy Provine is also great as Verna, the girl who truly loves Harry. Too bad this film isn't out on video or D.V.D. because it is truly a lost classic.

I consider "Who's Minding the Mint?" THE 1960s comedy. Directed by that certifiable genius Howard Morris it's fast and funny with a marvelous premise, witty lines, and sight-gags that are impeccably set-up and pulled off by a director who knows funny and a fine ensemble cast.

Jim Hutton is Treasury worker Harry Lucas, a fellow who knows all the angles. After hours he lives the life of a minor playboy on no budget by scamming department stores. A superior, played with officious glee by David J. Stewart, suspects Harry of criminal methods and Harry is up against it when he accidentally looses $50,000. However, it shouldn't be too difficult to replace the lost bills with the help of retired printer "Pop" played by Walter Brennan, who aches to get his hands on the presses.

Questions arise as to how to get the plates, how to get into the building, how to cut the bills, et cetera, and before he knows what's happening Harry is the leader of a gang with designs on more than replacing $50,000.

Milton Berle oozes larceny out of every pore. Bob Denver is adorable as a would-be ladies man opposite Jackie Joseph as a bohemian who may be more than he can handle. Victor Buono is simply outstanding as an outlandishly accented "ships captain". Joey Bishop is dry and funny as a gambler and Jamie Farr as his non-English speaking cousin. Dorothy Provine, the 60s comedy go-to-gal, is a nice girl who'd do anything for Harry. And what could go wrong when you have a deaf safe cracker played by Jack Gilford?

Adding to the fun is Lalo Schifrin's sprightly score reminiscent of his famous Mission Impossible theme.

Honestly, this is a movie that keeps me chuckling and laughing throughout its tidy 97 minutes. Highly recommended.

A staple of the 4:30 Movie I haven't seen this film for many years until I came across a long out of print Columbia Video copy in my local video store. And what a find! Here is a sweet fast paced comedy that really works. US Mint worker Jim Hutton accidently destroys a fortune and must replace it in a short time or else! With the help of some friends Hutton must break into the Mint and print the missing millions. This film owes a lot to ITS A MAD MAD MAD MAD WORLD but has enough clever plot twists and antics to call its own. Definetly worth a look at and hopefully Columbia will rerelease it on VHS or even put it on DVD.

It's a smaller-scale "Mad Mad Mad etc World" with some crafty veteran gagsters (Gilford, Berle, Buono, Brennan, Bishop et al) doing their shtick. Small improbabilities build and build until you end up with a string of boats with wildly-costumed characters sailing in an improbable location from an impossible caper. Total on-screen madness, yet it made sense at every small plot step along the way. Tightly-constructed and very much a late-60s comedy. It's one of those favorites you're slightly ashamed of.