In It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, convict Smiler Grogan (Jimmy Durante) crashes his car on California State Route 74. Several people rush to investigate the crash, including dentist Melville Crump (Sid Caesar) and his wife Monica (Edie Adams); Ding Bell (Mickey Rooney) and Benjy Benjamin (Buddy Hackett), two friends travelling to Las Vegas; Lennie Pike (Jonathan Winters), a furniture mover; and J. Russell Finch (Milton Berle), a businessman who has his wife Emmeline (Dorothy Provine) and his mother-in-law Mrs. Marcus (Ethel Merman) with him. With his dying breath, Smiler tells this group of a stash of $350,000 he buried in Santa Rosita State Park under "a big W." The group then begins a mad dash to reach Santa Rosita State Park to retrieve the money. Along the way, others join in the search for the money. This brings the group of treasure hunters to the attention of Santa Rosita Police Captain T. G. Culpepper (Spencer Tracy), who had been investigating the Smiler Grogan case.
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World originated with screenwriter William Rose, an American expatriate living in the United Kingdom. He had written the screenplays for the movie Genevieve (1953), which dealt with the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run, and the classic caper comedy The Ladykillers (1955). He had an idea for a film, which he initially called So Many Thieves, which centred on a chase through Scotland. While he had written several successful films for Ealing Studios in the Fifties, by the early Sixties he found it difficult to find work. He then went to California and pitched So Many Thieves to producer and director Stanley Kramer, along with four other ideas. At the time Stanley Kramer was best known for his various "message" films, including The Defiant Ones (1959), Inherit the Wind (1960), and Judgement at Nuremberg (1961). Nonetheless, Stanley Kramer agreed to direct the movie. In fact, his goal became to make "...a comedy to end all comedies."
The title of the film would also change as William Rose and Stanley Kramer worked on the project. Initially called Something a Little Less Serious, it was then titled Where, But in America? and then One Damn Thing After Another. At last, it received the title It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. The plot of the film was also moved from Scotland to the United States.
Of course, to make a comedy to end all comedies, Stanley Kramer would need a cast of comic legends. Various actors were considered for lead roles. In the October 30 1962 issue of Daily Variety it was reported that Jack Benny had turned down the role of Captain Culpepper as filming would conflict with production of his weekly television show, although he did consent to a cameo. According to an article in the January 27 1962 issue of The Los Angeles Times, Carol Channing was cast to play opposite Sid Caesar, a role ultimately played by Edie Adams in the film. Both Martha Raye and Cara Williams were considered for roles, but neither ultimately appeared in the movie. Stan Laurel was offered the cameo of a man driving through the desert, but he turned it down as he did not want to work without his late partner Oliver Hardy, who had died in 1957. The role then went to Jack Benny. According to the the August 20 1962 issue of Daily Variety, Frank Faylen had accepted a role in the film, but had to back out due to conflicts with production of his show Dobie Gillis.
Befitting the epic it was intended to be, It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World was shot using a wide-screen process. It was filmed in Ultra Panavision 70 and shown in Cinerama. In fact, it was promoted as the first movie to be made in "one-projector" Cinerama. Originally, Cinerama required three different cameras and the reels would be shown using three projectors. The movie was filmed on location throughout a wide part of California. The start of film was shot on California State Route 74, near Palm Desert, in the extreme southern part of the sate. A good portion of the film was shot in Long Beach, including the exterior of the Santa Rosita Police Department, a hardware store, the Harbor Pontoon Bridge, and various other parts of the city through which the chase proceeded. Airport terminal scenes were shot at Rancho Conejo Airport in Newbury Park, California, which is no longer open. Both Sonoma County Airport and the Palm Springs International Airport were used for various airplane scenes. The fictional Santa Rosita Park was actually Portuguese Point in Palo Verdes, California. A set was constructed there for the movie, complete with flowers, shrubbery, and the palm trees forming "the big W." Filming began on April 16 1962 and ended on December 6 1962.
Given the number of stunts in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, it should come as no surprise that around thirty-nine stuntmen were hired for the film and it actually had an action budget of $252,000. The stunt supervisor on It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World was Carey Loftin, whose career as a stuntman went back to the Thirties. He had worked on such films as House of Dracula (1945), Raw Deal (1948), Mighty Joe Young (1949), and Thunder Road (1958). He later served as a stunt coordinator on such films as Point Blank (1967), Bullitt (1968), and Vanishing Point (1971).
The animated opening credits for It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World were designed by the legendary Saul Bass. He was already known for designing titles for several movies, among them Carmen Jones (1954), North by Northwest (1959), Ocean's 11 (1960), and West Side Story (1961). At a little over four minutes, it was the longest credits sequence he ever designed. The animation was directed by William T Hurtz, who had previously worked for UPA and Jay Ward Productions. Among the animators who worked on the credits was Bill Melendez, who would soon become famous for the "Charlie Brown" specials.
The movie's score was composed by Ernest Gold, who had also composed the scores of Stanley Kramer's movies On the Beach (1959), Inherit the Wind (1960), and Judgement at Nurembert (1961). Ernest Gold's theme for It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World had lyrics composed by Mack David. The vocal version of the theme served as the entrance music for the movie. Ernest Gold's score was not the only original music to be heard in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. The film had a cross-promotion deal with both Baskin-Robbins and The Shirelles, whose song "31 Flavors" can be heard on a radio in one scene. The Shirelles also covered the theme to It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. Both their cover of the theme and "31 Flavors" appeared on their album The Shirelles-Sing Their Songs in the Movie It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World premiered at the Cinerama Dome in Los Angeles on November 7 1963. The premiere was extra-special as it was also the opening of the Cinerama Dome, making It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World the first movie ever shown at the theatre. The Cinerama Dome was the first new movie theatre built in Hollywood in 33 years.
While it is now regarded as a classic, reviews for It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World were mixed upon its initial release. Bosley Crowther gave the film a positive review, writing, "They have put them together in a story that has eruptive energy and speed; and they have got a bunch of actors to perform it with the fervor of demented geniuses." His only real problems with the movie were that "..it runs too long" and "There is simply too much wild confusion, too much repetition of similar things." Variety also gave It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World a good review, noting, "It's a mad, mad, mad, mad picture. Being a picture of extravagant proportions, even its few flaws are king-sized, but the plusses far outweigh the minuses." Richard L. Coe in his review in The Washington Post was more modest in his review of the film, writing, "Yes, it is furious, fast and funny and it is also vast, vulgar and vexatious because Kramer has not given us one sympathetic character and because it is shown in Cinerama." Philip K. Scheuer's review in The Los Angeles Times tended to be largely negative. He wrote the movie "...really bugged me..." and called it "...a savage morality play in the guise of comedy."
While critics may have disagreed over It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, audiences appeared to be united in their love for the film going by its box office. The movie grossed $46,332,858 domestically and $60,000,000 worldwide. Ultimately, it was the 3rd highest grossing film of 1963, after Cleopatra and How the West Was Won. Unfortunately, It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World cost so much to make that it only made a profit of $1.25 million.
As a result of the enduring popularity of It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, it would be shown on all three broadcast networks in the Seventies. It made its broadcast network debut on NBC Saturday Night at the Movies on October 28 1972. It aired again on NBC Saturday Night at the Movies on March 9 1974. After being shown on NBC, It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World aired on CBS. The Tiffany Network aired the movie on New Year's Eve, December 31 1976 on The CBS Friday Night Movie. CBS showed it again on The CBS Tuesday Night Movie on May 16 1978. Finally, ABC aired It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World on July 16 1979, the last time it was shown on a broadcast network. After being shown on all three broadcast networks, It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World began airing on HBO in October 1980 and was also shown on such cable channels as WTBS. It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World also proved popular on Canadian television. In fact, it became something of a New Year's Eve tradition. CTV aired the film every year on New Year's Eve from the late Seventies into the Eighties.
As might be expected, It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World has seen multiple releases on home media. A 1991 VHS and LaserDisc release ran 183 minutes, using elements that had been stored in a Los Angeles warehouse. According to film preservationist Robert A. Harris in a 2002 interview with Home Theater Forum, this version included footage not meant to ever be shown in any version and thus did not represent the original roadshow version of the film. Robert A. Harris later restored It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World to as close to the original roadshow cut as possible. This version was released on DVD and Blu-Ray on January 21 2014.
Prior to It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, Stanley Kramer was best known for his often weighty "message" films. He had tackled such subjects as racism (The Defiant Ones), nuclear war (On the Beach), and Nazism (Judgement at Nuremerg). On the surface, It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World would appear to depart from Mr. Kramer's earlier oeuvre. That having been said, it does not take a very close examination of It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World to realize that the movie deals with the dangers of greed. After all, it centres on a group of ordinary people who, upon learning of a buried treasure, leave a path of destruction across a good section of California. In this respect, It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World fits in perfectly with Stanley Kramer's heavy dramas. It just happens to be much less serious in tone.
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World would have a lasting influence. The film's success would lead to other epic comedies in the Sixties, including Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines; Or, How I Flew from London to Paris in 25 Hours and 11 Minutes (1965), The Great Race (1965), The Loved One (1965), Jules Verne's Rocket to the Moon (1967), and Monte Carlo or Bust! (1969). It would also lead to other comedies featuring large ensemble casts searching for treasure, including Scavenger Hunt (1979), Million Dollar Mystery (1987), and Rat Race (2001).
Perhaps the most lasting impact of It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World is that, through its continued popularity, it has introduced generations to many comedy greats. For many Gen Xers, Millennials, and Zoomers, the movie might well be the first time they ever saw such legends as Eddie Anderson, Sid Caesar, Buster Keaton, Phil Silvers, and yet others. Many may have sought out other movies starring these greats of comedy, so that ultimately they may well become classic movie buffs.
Even with the many epic comedies that have been made since It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, it still stands as a singular achievement. It featured more comedy legends than any other movie before or since. It also proved to be somewhat of a pioneering film, insofar as it was one of the earliest comedies to feature extensive stunts and several action sequences. Since then comedies from The Blues Brothers (1980) to Rat Race (2001) have featured impressive stunts and a good deal of action. It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World might not have been the first epic comedy, but it was certainly the one that put the genre on the map.
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