Make Mine Mink - DaaVeeDee

Make Mine Mink (DVD) (*)

$29.99

Language Selections:
English ( Dolby Digital 2.0 )
English ( Subtitles )

Product Origin/Format:
United Kingdom ( PAL/Region 2 )

Running Time:
96 min

Aspect Ratio:
Fullscreen

Special Features:
Interactive Menu
Scene Access
Black & White

Movie filmed in 1960 and produced in:
United Kingdom ( Great Britain, Ireland )

Directed By:
Robert Asher

Written By:
Peter Blackmore
Peter Coke

Actors:
Terry-Thomas ..... Major Albert Rayne
Athene Seyler ..... Dame Beatrice Appleby
Hattie Jacques ..... Nanette Parry
Elspeth Duxbury ..... Elizabeth Pinkie Pinkerton
Billie Whitelaw ..... Lily
Jack Hedley ..... Jim Benham
Raymond Huntley ..... Inspector Pape
Irene Handl ..... Madame Spolinski
Sydney Tafler ..... Lionel Spanager
Joan Heal ..... Dora Spanager
Penny Morrell ..... Gertrude
Freddie Frinton ..... Drunk
Michael Balfour ..... Rowson's Butler
Noel Purcell ..... Burglar
Kenneth Williams ..... Hon. Freddie Warrington

Synopsis:

Make Mine Mink (1960) was adapted from a West End stage farce, Breath of Spring. In a mansion block in Knightsbridge, a gang of middle-aged biddies decide to brighten up "the dullness of the tea time of life" by staging a series of robberies on furriers, then donating the proceeds to charitable concerns. Terry Thomas as a retired army officer leads the gang, which includes Athene Seyler and Hattie Jacques, on a series of capers that nearly go awry when their maid, Billie Whitelaw, an ex-con and also a resident of the block, falls for a police officer. Among many funny scenes is a particular gem between Seyler and Kenneth Williams, her nephew to whom she hopes to palm off a stolen mink, and another where Terry Thomas enters a low-down dive to the accompaniment of the "Harry Lime theme". The playing of the whole cast is second to none under the direction of Robert Asher, who with his cameraman disguises the stage origins of the piece very adeptly. On the DVD:Make Mine Mink comes to DVD in 4:3 ratio with a mono soundtrack. The theatrical trailer is introduced by Terry Thomas, who presents us to his gang of fur thieves as the voice on the soundtrack announces him as "fur, fur funnier than you've seen him before". More TT tomfoolery can be found in the three-disc Terry Thomas Collection.

Terry-Thomas plays the military-officer head of an amiable gang of amateur British thieves. He is recruited for this task by wealthy dowager Athene Seyler, who merely wants to retrieve stolen minks from genuine crooks. Any profits accrued by this undertaking are to be turned over to charity. Once we're aware that everyone's heart is in the right place, we can laugh freely at the film's collection of would-be reprobates, and vicariously hold out hopes for their success. Best bit: Terry-Thomas, backed by Anton Karas' "Third Man" theme, skulking into what appears to be a waterfront dive to make contact with a "fence," only to discover that he's stumbled into a Salvation Army mission. Make Mine Mink was based on Breath of Spring, a play by Peter Coke.

Zany collection of misfits led by aging military man (Terry-Thomas) go on a spree of robbing mink coats. An unlikely trio of women (Athene Seyler, Hattie Jacques, and Elspeth Duxbury) find new reasons to live ... until their housekeeper (Billie Whitelaw), an ex-con is suspected of the robberies.

This product was added to our catalog on Thursday 25 November, 2010.