This is the kind of comedy that basically disappeared after the 60s... a kind of lower wattage version of "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World", with a pair of "appealing" young stars (Jim Hutton and Dorothy Provine) backed by mostly aging but still beloved comic support. The plot concerns a treasury employee who accidentally steals and destroys $50,000, and who decides to break into the mint to print it up again so nobody will notice.
The first friend he enlists is a retired printer, played by Walter Brennan. It's always fun to see Brennan in films, but he isn't given as much to do here as he should be. Eventually the two end up enlisting a huge gang to help them, and everybody wants some more of the money. Milton Berle provides some good humorous moments as a selfish pawn shop owner. Joey Bishop is largely forgettable as, I guess, an expert on sewers. Bob Denver provides his usual clowning as an ice cream truck driver (trying to figure out why he is essential to the heist is beyond ordinary reason... but at least it provides a nice small role for the wonderful Jackie Joseph from the original "Little Shop of Horrors"). Victor Buono gives the film's strangest performance, as a psychotic would-be sea captain who must pilot them through the sewers. Jack Gilford is, of course, the funniest of all the support as a deaf safecracker.
I found Jim Hutton totally unappealing and not funny. Provine is a very talented woman, and had a few good scenes, but her character was under-developed and certainly not given enough laugh lines. This is the kind of movie that certain people will feel nostalgic about, and try to justify as some kind of great comedy, but there's very little in the script to laugh at. The great supporting actors (OK, great with the exception of Bob Denver) do their best to give it some life.
The first friend he enlists is a retired printer, played by Walter Brennan. It's always fun to see Brennan in films, but he isn't given as much to do here as he should be. Eventually the two end up enlisting a huge gang to help them, and everybody wants some more of the money. Milton Berle provides some good humorous moments as a selfish pawn shop owner. Joey Bishop is largely forgettable as, I guess, an expert on sewers. Bob Denver provides his usual clowning as an ice cream truck driver (trying to figure out why he is essential to the heist is beyond ordinary reason... but at least it provides a nice small role for the wonderful Jackie Joseph from the original "Little Shop of Horrors"). Victor Buono gives the film's strangest performance, as a psychotic would-be sea captain who must pilot them through the sewers. Jack Gilford is, of course, the funniest of all the support as a deaf safecracker.
I found Jim Hutton totally unappealing and not funny. Provine is a very talented woman, and had a few good scenes, but her character was under-developed and certainly not given enough laugh lines. This is the kind of movie that certain people will feel nostalgic about, and try to justify as some kind of great comedy, but there's very little in the script to laugh at. The great supporting actors (OK, great with the exception of Bob Denver) do their best to give it some life.