It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World

Starring: Spencer Tracy, Milton Berle, Ethel Merman, Mickey Rooney, Sid Caesar, Buddy Hackett, Dick Shawn, Phil Silvers, Terry-Thomas, Jonathan Winters, Edie Adams, Dorothy Provine, Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson, Jim Backus, Peter Falk, Sterling Holloway, Buster Keaton, Don Knotts, Carl Reiner, Joe DeRita, Larry Fine, Moe Howard, Jack Benny, Jerry Lewis
Directed by: Stanley Kramer
Rating: G
Genre: Action, Adventure, Comedy
1963

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A group of motorists go to the aid of a man in a serious car accident. His dying words describe a buried treasure, and they begin a mad dash to beat each other to the prize.

Review:

Tim: I was a big fan of It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. The movie is insane, larger-than-life, routinely funny, and always entertaining. It takes a great premise, assembles an all-star cast, and lets them go all out. I can't think of too many silly comedies that clock in at 3.5 hours long. Stanley Kramer certainly crafts a memorable, unique film here.

The basic premise is tremendous- a group of strangers engage in an absurd cross-country road race to find a buried treasure that may or may not exist. They are monitored and followed by the police, and they continually attract more people into their orbit. It's stunning how many characters eventually become part of this crazy race. Along the way, these treasure hunters run into all sorts of shenanigans. Some are plausible, many aren't, but they are all entertaining. We see one guy rip apart a gas station with basically his bare hands and a few bodies. We see a couple get stuck in a hardware store basement and try literally everything to escape. We see planes nearly crashing, cars flipping, betrayals and counter-betrayals, weird dancing, and so much more. It's beyond belief what Kramer is able to shove into this movie. The film is extraordinarily long, but Kramer uses every frame to the max. It ends up being a totally madcap, ridiculous journey.

I enjoyed the cast. I'm a huge Spencer Tracy fan and I really enjoyed him in this role. It starts out very minor but then gets quite larger towards the end. It isn't even close to Tracy's best, but it was fun seeing him here. Milton Berle was funny and had a fairly substantial role here. Sid Caesar was definitely one of the funniest cast members, everything he did on screen was interesting. I liked the pairing of Mickey Rooney and Buddy Hackett. They felt relegated to the sidelines a few times, but generally were positive influences on the overall film. Jonathan Winters gave a great performance. Ethel Merman and Dorothy Provine were solid, but the women were definitely minimized throughout this film. Edie Adams got big things to do, but I grew to be so annoyed with her screeching. Phil Silvers had some nice moments- he tended to play things more straight, so he got a lot of laughs when he exploded. Terry-Thomas brought a nice, different energy to his scenes. Don Knotts was great in his small role. It was fun seeing people like The Three Stooges and Buster Keaton, although their roles were so small. It was wonderful to see them included, though. As a whole, you can't help but be impressed by this cast.

This film felt really unique to me. When's the last time you saw such a huge cast of talented comedies in a 3.5 hour epic comedy? Has there ever been an "epic comedy" before this one? It flips the whole idea of a 90 minute comedy approach on its head. The movie might be too long, but it didn't feel that way to me. I was so engaged in the insane shenanigans on screen, the time flew by. This all culminates in an absolutely fantastic finish. I wasn't sure what the climax would look like, because it felt like Kramer threw everything, including the kitchen sink, in before that point. How do you top 3+ hours of craziness? Well, the film finds a way. The final confrontation in the abandoned building, the ridiculously funny fire escape chase, the firetruck ladder sequence, I was rolling. It was so unexpected, so outlandish, so wonderfully executed that all you could do was laugh. It felt like a fitting end to this chase and a terrific way to close the movie. The final scene is perfect, too, a wonderful summary of what this movie tried to be.

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World does so much right from beginning to end. I'm not sure Kramer's film ever quite hits greatness, but this is undoubtedly one of the better comedies out there. The film was nominated for an impressive 6 Academy Awards. They were all technical categories, but that speaks to Kramer's strong direction of this film. The movie did win 1, for Best Sound Effects. I'm glad it won something, it helps remind us of the effectiveness of this film. One last note, as much as I liked this film, both my kids wandered down at various points in the film and had a blast watching the craziness on screen. There were a few scenes I wish they didn't watch (the weird dancing scene being one), but it was mostly worthwhile entertainment for them, too. This movie is definitely a big success.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7.5



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