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

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

Director:

Stanley Kramer

Writers:

William Rose (story), Tania Rose (story)

Stars:

Spencer Tracy, Milton Berle, Ethel Merman

Won 1 Oscar. Another 2 wins & 9 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Spencer Tracy	...	Capt. T. G. Culpepper
Milton Berle	...	J. Russell Finch
Sid Caesar	...	Melville Crump
Buddy Hackett	...	Benjy Benjamin
Ethel Merman	...	Mrs. Marcus
Mickey Rooney	...	Ding Bell
Dick Shawn	...	Sylvester Marcus
Phil Silvers	...	Otto Meyer
Terry-Thomas	...	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

Storyline

After a long prison sentence Smiler Grogan is heading at high speed to a California park where he hid $350,000 from a job 15 years previously. He accidentally careens over a cliff in view of four cars whose occupants go down to help. The dying Grogan gives details of where the money is buried and when the witnesses fail to agree on sharing the cash, a crazy chase develops across the state.

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Plot Keywords:

race | desert | money | mother in law | blockbuster | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Comedy | Crime

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Certificate:

G

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 December 1963 (UK)

Also Known As:

It's a Mad World

Filming Locations:

Santa Monica, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$9,400,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$46,300,000 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Casey Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

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

Sound Mix:

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

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.76 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film features several pairs of actors known for working together who ironically share no scenes--among them, Jack Benny and Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson, Phil Silvers and Paul Ford, Sid Caesar and Carl Reiner, Alan Carney and Wally Brown, Leo Gorcey and Stanley Clements, and Buster Keaton and Jimmy Durante.

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Goofs

When the characters board the two cabs as they leave the park, Pike is refused entry by Sylvester's cab and then refused entry by the other cab, so he returns to Sylvester's cab and pushes his way into the cab next to Sylvester in the backseat. In the next shot of the cab's interior, Pike is not on the end nor he is he even next to Sylvester - he is the THIRD passenger from the door he entered. (Sylvester is closest to the door, then Colonel Hawthorne, then Pike.)

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Quotes

Otto Meyer: I haven't got much time, so if you love your country, if you're a patriot, you listen and you listen hard. You've got to get to a phone and you've got to make a call.
Nervous Motorist: I gotta make a call?
Otto Meyer: Yes, you gotta call Intelligence. Central Intelligence Agency, Washington D.C.
Nervous Motorist: Well what on earth...?
Otto Meyer: [shouts] Listen! All right, tell them you heard from X-27, you got it? X-27. X-27 told you to tell them they've made three attempts on my life already today. They had me down a silver mine, they tried to drown ...
[...]

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Crazy Credits

The animators who animated the opening title sequence were technically uncredited on film, but they did get their names in during the shot where the giant globe "explodes" and there is a shower of name credits strewn over the screen. Freeze-frame reveals the names of all the animators. This is the same animation team who did A Charlie Brown Christmas.

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Connections

Referenced in Board James: Dream Phone (2013)

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Soundtracks

"It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World"
(1963) (uncredited)
Music by Ernest Gold
Lyrics by Mack David
Sung by an offscreen chorus during the Overture
Variations in the score throughout the film

User Reviews

Just push the button marked BOOZE!

What can I say? It's an epic adventure and comedy rolled into one! It's been my #1 all-time favorite film since childhood, which says a lot. I was surprised to find out how underrated it is. Critics always talk about how it stars so many famous comedians. The novelty overshadows the movie itself. Like I said, I saw this at a very young age, and didn't know who all these actors were. This is the movie that introduced me to them.

It also gets downplayed, being labeled as "slapstick." But that's cutting it short. There's a lot of subtleness in there too. The performances are outstanding. I've never seen a movie that has so many memorable characters all in one.

Each of them go on their own adventure, inter-cutting along the way, as they each have to overcome their own obstacles and meet other characters on their journey. It's like several movies all intertwined together, and most of it happens in real time. The 2 1/2 hour run time feels appropriate and passes like nothing. Every second is entertaining, which is the greatest accomplishment for a motion picture to achieve.

The film resonates with me on a deeper level. All these characters met on the side of the road. They were just ordinary hard working people who had nothing in common, except for one dream. That unreachable fantasy. They all wanted the money so bad. They weren't happy with their lives. They wanted a change, and they would do anything to beat each other. They're overcome by greed which becomes their overlying problem.

Fantastic movie! Full of hilarious moments, and a great story!