Make Mine Mink

Make Mine Mink (1960), made by J. Arthur Rank's Rank Organisation and directed by Robert Asher, was based on a 1958 play by Peter Coke called Breath of Spring, which had been a success in both London's West End and New York's Broadway. Two years later, Coke, along with Michael Pertwee and Peter Blackmore, took the play's premise and turned it into a rollicking heist film, Make Mine Mink (1960), with Terry-Thomas as Major Albert Rayne, Athene Seyler as Dame Beatrice Appleby, Hattie Jacques as Nanette Parry, Elspeth Duxbury as Elizabeth Pinkie Pinkerton, Billie Whitelaw as Lily, the maid, and Kenneth Williams as the Hon. Freddie Warrington. Ron Moody, who would become famous as "Fagin" in Oliver! (1968) can been seen in the uncredited role of Jelks. In the same vein as other British wacky comedies about robbery, like The Lavender Hill Mob (1951), the film's plot centers around residents of a boarding house who decide to get into crime. In Make Mine Mink, that house is run by Dame Beatrice, who has lost her fortune and has taken in boarders Major Rayne, Nanette and Pinkie. All live perfectly respectable and perfect dull lives. This all changes when Lily, Dame Beatrice's maid, steals a mink coat from the neighbors and gives it to Dame Beatrice to replace her old, moth-eaten fur. Dame Beatrice is touched by the gesture, but then is horrified to find the mink was stolen. She and the lodgers hatch a scheme to get the coat back without being found out. When their plan is a success, they realize that not only had they enjoyed the excitement, they could raise money for charity by stealing mink coats. The only person in the house who has no idea what's going on is Lily, who is now dating a policeman. Interiors for Make Mine Mink was shot in England at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire, with exteriors filmed in the London areas of Kensington and Hampstead Heath. The "minks" of the title were from famous furriers Swears and Wells, who had provided clothing and furs to Queen Victoria and the Royal Family. Audiences and critics alike applauded Make Mine Mink when it was released in the UK on August 9th, 1960 and in the United States on December 19th. Bosley Crowther of The New York Times called it, "just a round of good clean fun with Mr. T. [Terry-Thomas]." Win Fanning of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette wrote that Make Mine Mink gave "the role of [Terry-Thomas'] career. Never has this odd-ball, heavily moustached, master of theater and movie comedy had a part in which he could better display the wide range of his talents. Particular choice is a scene in which he seeks out a 'fence' in a waterfront bar to the accompaniment of the 'Harry Lime Theme.'" Make Mine Mink certainly helped to solidify Terry-Thomas' career with Hollywood, where he made several films throughout the 1960s like It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963), How to Murder Your Wife (1965) and Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines (1965). By Lorraine LoBianco SOURCES: http://www.avictorian.com/shop_london.html Crowther, Bosley "Screen: Farcical Felons: Terry-Thomas Stars in 'Make Mine Mink'" The New York Times 20 Dec 60 Fanning, Win "'Make Mine Mink' - Squirrel Hill" The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 9 Jan 61 The Internet Movie Database