DKosty123 Based on a true story, this movie brings off some very unusual things. For example, Jason Robards is not a person you'd expect to bring off the role of a straight man in Vaudeville. While you can tell he is not comfortable in the role, he does more than a walk through in this one. Britt Ekland is in no way an Amish Woman. Who decided to cast her as one is strange. The thing is because she is good looking she fits the story. Elliot Gould is young here without much script so it is one of his lesser roles. He does OK with it. Forrest Tucker is a nice surprise though another limited role. Bert Lahr has a role as Professor Spats which resembles the emcee in Cabaret and considering he looks ill in most of his scenes he is better here than it is reasonable to expect.I think if this had been released in the 1950's it would have sold a lot of tickets. The trouble with 1968 is this type of film was DOA in that era. Even Julie Andrews expensive production "Star" did nothing in this time period. In a way Minsky's actually is better. It does a decent job giving a feel of what Vaudeville was really like.

edwagreen Asinine film where an Amish girl comes to New York to do biblical dancing and winds up at Minsky's Burlesque instead. She is put to the test so that her bible dancing will not lead to a raid; yet, her father shows up and has it out with her causing her to literally bare all.This is a very inane production with a ridiculous plot. Unfortunately, Bert Lahr's part had to be cut as he died suddenly during the production of the film.Jason Robards tries real hard as a king-pin of burlesque, but he is no leading man and his routines are quite stale at best.Britt Ekland is that Amish girl, Elliot Gould runs the club, but is at odds with his orthodox Jewish father, Joseph Wiseman.What's really the point of this total farce?

bkoganbing Although the story line of The Night They Raided Minsky's was more silly than funny, quite a few laughs can still be had from this salute to the good old days of burlesque. It even has Bert Lahr in the cast who was a veteran of that venue of entertainment.Amish girl fresh off the farm Britt Eklund has been given a calling to dance a practice forbidden by her sect. But even with father Harry Andrews in pursuit from the Pennsylvania Dutch Country, Britt is pursuing her dream of interpretive religious dance. Why she didn't seek out Martha Graham instead of Minsky's is beyond me.Her innocence is so beguiling she has comedy team Jason Robards, Jr., and Norman Wisdom panting after her in heat. Gangster Forrest Tucker is looking and even Elliott Gould who is the Minsky who runs the burlesque theater on property his father owns hasn't missed her at all.I did love Jason Robards who apparently has a line for just about every occasion and whose gift of gab gets him out of some tight spots. And Denholm Elliott the pompous moralizing professional do-gooder also has some noticeable moments.This film was Bert Lahr's farewell performance. Lahr was terminally ill when he did the film and didn't finish his role and it was edited around. He doesn't look very good and is remarkably subdued from the Bert Lahr were used to seeing.Weakest part of the film was the musical score by Strouse and Adams. They've done far better on Broadway, still it's serviceable enough and Eklund's alleged invention of the striptease worth the wait.Fans of the cast members will like The Night They Raided Minsky's.

christopher-underwood I hesitated briefly before giving this maximum score but then could see no reason why I shouldn't. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I liked the period clips and the beautifully restaged 'period' clips at the start and felt that this progressed from it's surprisingly innovative start to it's moving and sensational finale without missing a beat. Jason Robards is as good as I've ever seen him, both in his straight part and in his stage antics with Norman Wisdom. Wisdom himself is great throughout and it is when you see him as good as this, that it seems such a shame he was not always given more demanding material. His comic timing is second to none but he was also a very fine actor who unfortunately had a tendency to maudlin in which direction he was often mistakenly led. Good as these two are and, it has to be said, all the rest of the cast, it is such a showpiece performance from Britt Ekland, that one is tempted to get up from the sofa and applaud. Oh, what if she had not spent most of those late 60s looking after Peter Sellers and graced our cinema screens in full sexy mode instead? Great film.