Thursday, May 16, 2019 at 7:00 p. m.
Every month, films from the Library’s collection are shown at the Mary Pickford Theater in the James Madison building, ranging from titles newly preserved by the National Audio Visual Conservation Center film lab, classics from the National Film Registry, and lesser known titles worthy of discovery.
WHO’S MINDING THE STORE (York Pictures – Jerry Lewis Pictures / Paramount, 1963). Directed by Frank Tashlin. Written by Frank Tashlin & Harry Tugend. With Jerry Lewis, Jill St. John, Ray Walston, John McGiver, Agnes Moorehead. (90 min, Technicolor, 35mm).
Lobby card from “Who’s Minding the Store?” (York Pictures – Jerry Lewis Pictures / Paramount, 1963).
Determined to break up the engagement between her daughter and a lowly dog walker, a wealthy department store owner gives the fiancé a job at one of her stores and sets him up to fail. While not subdued, and with plenty of opportunities for elaborate gags, Lewis’s performance here stays away from overt sentimentality, undoubtedly due to the influence of director and co-writer Frank Tashlin, who doesn’t allow the star to overplay the pathos, thereby making his character’s perseverance and idealism thoroughly convincing. According to Lewis himself, “This was totally Tashlin’s project. I came to it strictly as an actor.”
Preceded by the Looney Tunes cartoon “Scrap Happy Daffy,” one of the many animated shorts Tashlin directed for Warner Bros. during the 1930’s and ‘40’s. (8 min, black & white, 35mm).
Seating is on a first-come first-serve basis. Doors open at 6:30 pm.
For more information on our programs, please visit the Mary Pickford Theater website.
The Mary Pickford Theater is located on the 3rd floor of the Library of Congress James Madison Building, 101 Independence Ave. SE, Washington, DC, 20540.