Make Mine Mink

Make Mine Mink
Directed by	Robert Asher
Produced by	Hugh Stewart
Written by	Michael Pertwee Peter Blackmore (add. dialogue)
Based on	the play Breath of Spring by Peter Coke
Starring	Terry-Thomas Athene Seyler Hattie Jacques Billie Whitelaw
Music by	Philip Green
Cinematography	Reginald Wyer
Edited by	Roger Cherrill
Production company	Rank Organisation
Distributed by	J. Arthur Rank Film Distributors
Release date	9 August 1960 (London)
Running time	101 min.
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

Make Mine Mink is a 1960 British comedy farce film directed by Robert Asher and featuring Terry-Thomas, Athene Seyler, Hattie Jacques and Billie Whitelaw. The screenplay concerns a group of eccentric misfits who go on a spree, stealing mink coats for charity in a Robin Hood-style gang. It was based on the play Breath of Spring by Peter Coke, and its sequels. Seyer and Elspeth Duxbury reprised their stage roles from the London production of Breath of Spring.

A group of lodgers - Major Rayne, Nanette ("Nan") and "Pinkie" Pinkerton - staying at the Kensington apartment of Dame Beatrice, an elderly philanthropist, are bored with their humdrum, restricted lives. Lily, Dame Bea's beautiful, young housekeeper, overhears an argument between their neighbours, the Spanagers. When Mrs. Spanager rejects her husband's gift of a mink coat due to his lies about his business trip, he pretends to throw the coat off their balcony, but actually just hides it. Lily snags it and gives it to her employer to show her gratitude for hiring her despite her criminal record. Dame Beatrice is at first delighted, but then assumes Lily has stolen it. She and the lodgers concoct a scheme to return the fur coat before its owners realize its absence. Despite several comical mishaps, the gang manage to do so using a plan drawn up by the retired Major. The four are so exhilarated by their escapade that they decide to steal more furs, with all the proceeds going to charity.

Their attempt to rob Madame Spolinski's boutique goes somewhat awry, due to Pinkie's ineptitude, but they still manage to get away with a fur coat. However, they have not considered how to dispose of their loot. The Major, pretending he is writing a book on delinquency, gets Lily to direct him to a shady cafe in Limehouse in search of a fence. It turns out that Lily is behind the times; it is now run by the Salvation Army. Meanwhile, they have to hide their activities from Lily, who is now dating policeman Jim Benham.