Who's Minding The Mint as a film proves that while money may not grow on trees, access to the presses can give you an unlimited supply. Director Howard Morris assembled a really bright group of scene stealing players that pretty much overwhelm the leads of Jim Hutton and Dorothy Provine.
Hutton and Provine work at the US Mint in Washington, DC which with its many national monuments provides an interesting backdrop for the caper that unfolds. Some fudge that Provine brought to work gets spilled on $50,000.00 of new bills. That's a loss Hutton is going to find hard to make up on his salary. What to do?
When Walter Brennan a former printer at the Mint asks Hutton to intercede on his behalf to get his job back, Hutton hits on the brilliant idea to break in the Mint after hours and print up the loss. But the task proves daunting and Hutton has to put more and more members on his team and of course after the first $50,000.00 they can print some additionals for their own use.
This is not a team you can keep up with in scene stealing. The rest of the members of the gang consist of Milton Berle, Victor Buono, Bob Denver, Joey Bishop, Jamie Farr, and Jack Gilford. What chance did Hutton and Provine have against this whole group and Walter Brennan although they do get some innings in with the comedy.
There is one constant sight gag throughout the caper. Due to some security changes the gang has the caper moved up a day as Hutton tells his team they have to drop all plans and work that night. They all show up in these ridiculous costumes with Denver in his ice cream man uniform, Buono decked out like the captain of the HMS Pinafore, Berle as George Washington, and Joey Bishop as a Boy Scout troop leader. And the idea was to be inconspicuous.
It's all bright and amusing and if you want to know what the ending is, let's just say there's a possibility it might work out all around.
Hutton and Provine work at the US Mint in Washington, DC which with its many national monuments provides an interesting backdrop for the caper that unfolds. Some fudge that Provine brought to work gets spilled on $50,000.00 of new bills. That's a loss Hutton is going to find hard to make up on his salary. What to do?
When Walter Brennan a former printer at the Mint asks Hutton to intercede on his behalf to get his job back, Hutton hits on the brilliant idea to break in the Mint after hours and print up the loss. But the task proves daunting and Hutton has to put more and more members on his team and of course after the first $50,000.00 they can print some additionals for their own use.
This is not a team you can keep up with in scene stealing. The rest of the members of the gang consist of Milton Berle, Victor Buono, Bob Denver, Joey Bishop, Jamie Farr, and Jack Gilford. What chance did Hutton and Provine have against this whole group and Walter Brennan although they do get some innings in with the comedy.
There is one constant sight gag throughout the caper. Due to some security changes the gang has the caper moved up a day as Hutton tells his team they have to drop all plans and work that night. They all show up in these ridiculous costumes with Denver in his ice cream man uniform, Buono decked out like the captain of the HMS Pinafore, Berle as George Washington, and Joey Bishop as a Boy Scout troop leader. And the idea was to be inconspicuous.
It's all bright and amusing and if you want to know what the ending is, let's just say there's a possibility it might work out all around.