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

"Very Good"

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


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.



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

Facts and Figures

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:

Producer:

Starring: as Capt. C. G. Culpepper, as J. Russell Finch, as Melville Crump, DDS, as Benjy Benjamin, as Ding 'Dingy' Bell, Moe Howard as Airport Firemen #1, Larry Fine as Airport Firemen #2, Joe DeRita as Airport Firemen #3, as Mrs. Marcus, as Sylvester Marcus, as Otto Meyer, as J. Algernon Hawthorne, as Lennie Pike, as Monica Crump, as Emeline Marcus-Finch, Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson as Second Cab Driver, 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, as Police Chief Aloysius, as Sheriff of Crockett County, Selma Diamond as Ginger Culpepper (voice), as Third Cab Driver, as Detective at Grogan's Crash Site, as Col. Wilberforce, as Deputy Sheriff, Louise Glenn as Billie Sue Culpepper (voice), Leo Gorcey as First Cab Driver, as Fire Chief, as Irwin, as Mr. Dinckler, as Nervous Motorist, Charles Lane as Airport Manager, as Miner, as Lt. Matthews, Cliff Norton as Reporter, ZaSu Pitts as Gertie - Switchboard Operator, as Tower Controller at Rancho Conejo, as Secretary Schwartz, as Policeman Outside Irwin & Ray's Garage, as Smiler Grogan, as Man in Car in Desert (uncredited), as Driver Who Runs Over Hat (uncredited), 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

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