It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

Stanley Kramer

Writers:

William Rose (story) &
Tania Rose (story)

Release Date:

7 November 1963 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Comedy | Crime

Tagline:

If ever this mad, mad, mad, mad world needed "It's a mad, mad, mad, mad world" it's now! (1970 re-release)

Plot:

The dying words of a thief spark a madcap cross-country rush to find some treasure.

Plot Keywords:

Race | Desert | Bicycle | Chase | Road

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 2 wins & 9 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Fri. July 10

2:00 AM

AMC

US Showtimes:

(register to personalize)

Cast

Spencer Tracy	...	Capt. C. G. Culpepper
Milton Berle	...	J. Russell Finch
Sid Caesar	...	Melville Crump, DDS
Buddy Hackett	...	Benjy Benjamin
Ethel Merman	...	Mrs. Marcus
Mickey Rooney	...	Ding 'Dingy' Bell
Dick Shawn	...	Sylvester Marcus
Phil Silvers	...	Otto Meyer
Terry-Thomas	...	Lt.Col. J. Algernon Hawthorne
Jonathan Winters	...	Lennie Pike
Edie Adams	...	Monica Crump
Dorothy Provine	...	Emeline Marcus-Finch
Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson	...	Second cab driver
Jim Backus	...	Tyler Fitzgerald
Ben Blue	...	Biplane pilot

Also Known As:

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (USA) (promotional title)
Das Ding (Austria) (reissue title) (West Germany) (reissue title) [de]
Eine total, total verrückte Welt (Austria) (West Germany) [de]
Этот безумный, безумный, безумный мир (Soviet Union: Russian title) [ru]
Çilgin dünya (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
Einai enas trellos... trellos... trellos kosmos (Greece) [el]
El mundo está loco, loco, loco (Spain) [es]
Hopla, vi lever! (Denmark) [da]
Mieletön, mieletön maailma (Finland) [fi]
Vår helgalna värld (Finland: Swedish title) [sv]

Runtime:

USA:154 min (edited version) | USA:192 min (original version) | USA:174 min (restored video version) | 182 min (Laserdisc version) (extended re-edit)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (Westrex Recording System) (35mm prints) | 70 mm 6-Track (Westrex Recording System) (70 mm prints)

Certification:

USA:G (1970) | Iceland:L | Portugal:M/12 (edited version) | Portugal:M/6 (re-rating) (uncut) | West Germany:12 | Australia:G | Canada:G (Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Quebec) | Finland:K-8 | Spain:T | UK:U | Canada:PG (Ontario)

Filming Locations:

Agoura, California, USA

Company:

Casey Productions

Trivia:

Arnold Stang broke his left arm just days before his scenes were shot; in all shots his arm is forever crooked and held in place by a cast under his uniform.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Pike smashes through the gas station wall after breaking free of the chair, he leaves a cartoon-like silhouette cutout in the wall. but when he gets up and comes back through the same hole, it's now a random, jagged shape.

Quotes:

Benjy Benjamin: [while Benji tries to fly the plane, Ding tries putting head phones on Benji's head] Hey, get outta here.
Ding Bell: Put them on.
Benjy Benjamin: I don't wanna.
Ding Bell: Benji, I tell you, he said the man who's flying should be talking on this thing.
Benjy Benjamin: What, am I supposed to everything? You want me to fly the airplane, you want me to work the radio, what are you gonna... What are you, the hostess?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Suhana Safar (1970)

Soundtrack:

You satisfy my soul

A Comedy Classic that Still Holds Up...

A couple of years ago, I finally managed to get IT'S A MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD WORLD on video. I saw it as a kid and remember enjoying it but watching it again for 40 years later, I still found myself LMAO. This is still the granddaddy of all comedy/adventures directed by Stanley Kramer, who up to this point had only directed serious dramas like THE DEFIANT ONES and JUDGMENT AT NUREMBURG. A dying man (Jimmy Durante) who was thrown from a car that careened over a cliff, tells a group of witnesses to the accident (Sid Ceasar, Mickey Rooney, Buddy Hackett, Milton Berle, Jonathan Winters) that there is $350,000.00 hidden under a big "W" in a nearby town, which sets off one of the wildest, craziest chase comedies made in the history of cinema. A rather tired and haggard looking Spencer Tracy heads the cast as the cop on the trail of these greedy money-mongers and just about every comedian or comic actor alive in 1963 appears in this film, either in a starring role or cameo and despite this impressive gathering of the best comedic talent in the business, towering over all of them in one of her few film performances, is Broadway legend Ethel Merman, who gives the performance of a lifetime as Berle's shrew of a mother-in-law. Her performance alone makes IT'S A MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD WORLD worth seeing. Check out this classic if you've never seen it.