The Lady Wants Mink

An interesting Republic production of the early 50s with Eve Arden and all set in suburbia. It is like a 90 minute color episode of I LOVE LUCY with Eve instead of Lucy. If you think this sounds odd, then consider that Republic usually did not stray into unfamiliar territory from westerns, action films and serials. Research shows that the studio stepped into an A Grade league with its multi million dollar grossing blockbusters like THE QUIET MAN and SANDS OF IWO JIMA. As a result it seems that Herbert Yates, the aging studio head realized Republic might generally upgrade and start making the sort of more sophisticated sub-urban films usually from RKO (like 'SUSAN SLEPT HERE) or even MGM (a year later to make the Lucy comedy THE LONG LONG TRAILER). The income was certainly there and rentals for Republic films 1946-1953 were huge. THE LADY WANTS MINK is a very funny situation comedy about a wife breeding her own mink coat. What is fascinating from a studio film making point of view is that it displays a 'modern suburban' world constructed at Republic which shows off the studio as well with big elaborate sets and a degree of snazziness rarely on screen in a Republic film. Nice to see. It did well at the box office and played initially as a main feature, as a lot of Repubic films were double features or support pix to bigger studio releases. THE LADY WANTS MINK has a proper release all to it's lovely own.

This movie is NOT about a husband raising minks to make his wife a coat.

The female lead, Nora Connors, plunges into breeding minks to make her own coat. Because of her husband's employment problems and her determined business mind, the family's life changes direction.

It is a very funny movie and although I abhor the notion of a fur coat and actually am vegetarian, I love the fact that no one seems to question Nora's capabilities because she is a woman, and this was 1953!

Another plus is the chance to see "Uncle Charlie" and "Mrs. Cleaver" outside of their later sit-com environments.

This is a great classic movie! Very funny antics, very real characters, just a great overall movie.

The best friend is a hoot, and her husband is also very amusing. The change that comes over the kids in the countryside is amazing, but still very believable.

The best character, however, has to be Mrs. Moxie, the lady with the minks. She is hilarious (Ma Kettle)! She provides a great deal of humor with her style of dress and deportment.

Their beautiful house in the country is worth seeing. The transformation that it goes through with their hard work and determination is astounding.

All in all, a very fine movie if you like a wholesome, nice, funny movie for the whole family to watch.

This film is a great example of a good, solid B comedy of the early '50s, and has always been a favorite of mine. A superb cast of veteran studio players make the most of a light, ironic script. Eve Arden is particularly good as the arch, wise-cracking neighbor. The tone of the film is "suburbs-sophisticated" -- it will remind present-day audiences of the best old TV sit-coms of the '50s and early '60s. Suburban man versus nature in the form of a cage full of live minks. Lots of fun.

Jim and Nora Connors (Dennis O'Keefe and Ruth Hussey) have a normal 1950s life in the suburbs. Jim works for a department store in the collections department and Nora is mom to two cute little boys. But when the neighbor (Eve Arden) shows up with a mink coat, Nora loses her mind! She decides to make her own coat...by raising minks. Not surprisingly, this creates all sorts of problems, as it IS the suburbs, minks are possibly the meanest creatures on Earth and expenses are a lot greater than Nora anticipated. Add to that that Jim loses his job and you have a recipe for disaster! So what does become of the Connors clan?

This is an amiable family film...the sort that was pretty popular back in the day. However, nowadays the notion of folks raising minks would never be made due to changing sensibilities about fur coats...though minks are truly nasty creatures and many folks don't realize just how horrid they are. A fun film worth seeing and both O'Keefe and Hussey do a fine job.