It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World - Movie Review

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

It's also long, long, long... well, you get the picture. Mad, Mad World is the brainchild of director Stanley Kramer, best known for films like Inherit the Wind and Judgment at Nuremburg, who figured he really ought to take a shot at directing a comedy, and what the hell if it's over 3 hours long (his first cut was 5 1/2 hours, actually). Kramer hired every comedian in Hollywood -- counting cameos represents Mad, Mad World's special thrill -- and sent them on a chase across southern California in search of $350,000 that a dying Jimmy Durante alludes to after a car wreck. The ensuing adventures stretch the definition of the word madcap.

Of course, this is what we owe movies like Cannonball Run to. But the original will always reign as the only two-tape comedy on the rental rack. Enjoy.

It's a mad mad mad mad jalopy.

Facts and Figures

Year: 1963

Run time: 205 mins

In Theaters: Monday 2nd December 1963

Budget: $9.4M

Distributed by: United Artists

Production compaines: Casey Productions

Reviews

Contactmusic.com: 3.5 / 5

Rotten Tomatoes: 75%
Fresh: 24 Rotten: 8

IMDB: 7.6 / 10

Cast & Crew

Director: Stanley Kramer

Producer: Stanley Kramer

Screenwriter: Tania Rose, William Rose

Starring: Spencer Tracy as Capt. C. G. Culpepper, Milton Berle as J. Russell Finch, Sid Caesar as Melville Crump, DDS, Buddy Hackett as Benjy Benjamin, Mickey Rooney as Ding 'Dingy' Bell, Moe Howard as Airport Firemen #1, Larry Fine as Airport Firemen #2, Joe DeRita as Airport Firemen #3, Ethel Merman as Mrs. Marcus, Dick Shawn as Sylvester Marcus, Phil Silvers as Otto Meyer, Terry-Thomas as J. Algernon Hawthorne, Jonathan Winters as Lennie Pike, Edie Adams as Monica Crump, Dorothy Provine as Emeline Marcus-Finch, Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson as Second Cab Driver, Jim Backus as Tyler Fitzgerald, Ben Blue as Biplane Pilot, Joe E. Brown as Union Official, Alan Carney as Police Sergeant, Chick Chandler as Detective Outside Chinese Laundromat, Barrie Chase as Sylvester's Girlfriend, Lloyd Corrigan as The Mayor, William Demarest as Police Chief Aloysius, Andy Devine as Sheriff of Crockett County, Selma Diamond as Ginger Culpepper (voice), Peter Falk as Third Cab Driver, Norman Fell as Detective at Grogan's Crash Site, Paul Ford as Col. Wilberforce, Stan Freberg as Deputy Sheriff, Louise Glenn as Billie Sue Culpepper (voice), Leo Gorcey as First Cab Driver, Sterling Holloway as Fire Chief, Marvin Kaplan as Irwin, Edward Everett Horton as Mr. Dinckler, Don Knotts as Nervous Motorist, Charles Lane as Airport Manager, Mike Mazurki as Miner, Charles McGraw as Lt. Matthews, Cliff Norton as Reporter, ZaSu Pitts as Gertie - Switchboard Operator, Carl Reiner as Tower Controller at Rancho Conejo, Madlyn Rhue as Secretary Schwartz, Roy Roberts as Policeman Outside Irwin & Ray's Garage, Jimmy Durante as Smiler Grogan, Jack Benny as Man in Car in Desert (uncredited), Jerry Lewis as Driver Who Runs Over Hat (uncredited), Buster Keaton as Jimmy the Crook, Nick Stewart as Driver run off highway, Jesse White as Air Traffic Controller, Sammee Tong as Laundryman, Doodles Weaver as Hardware Store Clerk

Also starring: Stanley Kramer, Tania Rose, William Rose