It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World is a 1963 American epic comedy adventure action film produced and directed by Stanley Kramer with a screenplay by William Rose and Tania Rose from a story by Tania Rose. The film, starring Spencer Tracy with an all-star cast, is about the madcap pursuit of $350,000 in stolen cash by a diverse and colorful group of strangers. It premiered on November 7, 1963.
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Plot
The story begins with an accident on a lonely freeway in the Southern California desert: Ex-con Smiler Grogan (Jimmy Durante) loses control of his car and drives it off a cliff, In his last words, he mentions a cache of loot he hid under a big W at a park in Santa Rosita. The police arrive, but to get out of being held for questioning, all the motorists inform them Grogan was raving and didn't mention anything significant. Under the Big W. All of the motorists set out to find the fortune.
Why It's A Great, Great, Great, Great Comedy Movie
- An interesting premise about a group of motorists going on a mad race to find the fortune of money.
- While it is long, it has a good amount of comedy throughout despite being an almost three-hour film.
- Tons of great actors in an all-star cast film. Not only that, but Spencer Tracy as Captain T.G. Culpeper, Milton Berle as J. Russell Finch, and many others gave amazing performances.
- The movie's opening animation scene is very brilliant, featuring several funny parts to give off a great first impression for the audience.
- Amazing soundtrack that was performed by Ernest Gold, especially the memorable theme song.
- Great directing by Stanley Kramer.
- Many of the characters are absolutely funny and very memorable, such as Captain T.G. Culpeper and J. Russell Finch.
- Fantastic cinematography.
- The car crashes and chases are very epic to watch.
- There are tons of fun and cool action sequences throughout the movie, such as a scene where they chase around the highway, destroying the gas station in the middle of the desert, lose control of an airplane, and that "Everything goes Wrong" scene.
- It's restoration cut (despite having unfinished-looking shots) looks pretty cool to look at, since it was used that it was never been used in the theatrical cut.
- The final chase scene that goes to the abandoned building and goes to a fire ladder cause the ladder loses control and spins around causing a lot of people to fall or fly off to the ground is very fun.
- The ending scene was very funny; Mrs. Marcus enters the room and begins loudly berating everyone. When she comically slips on a banana peel, the men roar with laughter, including Culpeper.
The Only Bad Quality
- Although The restoration edition is interesting since it was never added in the theatrical edition, there are several deleted scenes that the widescreen versions kept that look lazily unfinished unlike the future film with deleted scenes in any special edition, though it was understandable since United Artists were against Kramer's wishes over its 192-minute premiere cut.
Reception
The film received generally positive reviews from critics, and it was well-received by audiences alike. It has a 70% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 37 reviews, with an average score of 6.92/10, while it has an 83% audience score rating on the same site. The consensus states "It's long, frantic, and stuffed to the gills with comic actors and set pieces—and that's exactly its charm." On Metacritic, it has a 59/100 based on 10 reviews, meaning "Mixed or average reviews", it has a 7.5/10 on IMDb. According to Paul Scrabo, Kramer began thinking about his success with Mad World during the 1970s and considered bringing back many former cast members for a proposed film titled The Sheiks of Araby. William Rose was set to write the screenplay.
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World featured at number 40 in the American Film Institute's list 100 Years...100 Laughs.
Trivia
- The film contained many cameo appearances by various stars associated with comedy. According to some exhibitors--from both the original roadshow version shown in Cinerama venues and the 35mm general release version--the biggest audience reaction occurred during the airport sequence when the camera would come down to reveal Moe Howard, Larry Fine, and Joe DeRita (aka The Three Stooges). Although they had no dialog or action, the image of the trio--dressed as firemen, complete with fire axes, waiting for the plane to land--not only resulted in laughter but often in applause from audiences.
- It became well known that Stanley Kramer was casting nearly every comedy performer he could think of. Some famous stars actually contacted Kramer to volunteer for the project or to inquire why they had not been contacted.
- The original roadshow presentation, including overture, entr'acte, and exit music, ran 202 minutes. Using most of the footage included in the extended version released in 1991 on VHS and laserdisc, as well as newly found footage (some with foreign subtitles or without audio), still photos or additional audio (such as the police calls run during the intermission), the 197-minute reconstruction by film preservationist Robert Harris (included in the 2014 Criterion blu-ray release) is the closest rendition of the original roadshow release that we are ever likely to see. About 5 minutes of roadshow material in any format (live action footage, still photos, or audio) remains lost, presumably forever.
- In addition, the original 70mm roadshow version ran 192 minutes (excluding overture and entr'acte music). This 70mm version was then re-edited to 162 minutes, and in the subsequent 35mm general and worldwide release it was cut further to 154 minutes. The original video version was mastered off the 35mm negative and also ran 154 minutes. In the early 1990s, 20 minutes of additional 70mm footage was found in the form of an old theatrical print in an old film warehouse slated for demolition and was transferred to video which was then combined with the 35mm footage video transfer to create the new "video restoration" The original 192-minute, 65mm camera negative print has not been restored and it would appear that the missing original negative segments and the additional scenes, which include a musical dance number, Culpepper and Jimmy's phone conversation, plus a few more scenes involving a TV news anchorman detailing news about the race for the buried money, have been irretrievably lost. The new "video restoration" runs approximately 186 minutes which includes both parts, as well as the overture and entr'acte music, as well as the intermission and closing music.
- While the 186-minute version is occasionally shown, it is important to remember that it is a patchwork job including footage never intended to be shown in any version. The 154 minute version (161 minutes including intermission and exit music) is the only version currently authorized by Kramer.
- It is James Rolfe's (The Angry Video Game Nerd) favorite movie.
- It inspired James Zucker (director of Airplane!) to direct the 2001 cult film Rat Race.
- Kramer announced a possible Mad World sequel, which was to be titled It's a Funny, Funny World, though it was never made since.
