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

Director(s) Stanley Kramer
Producer(s) Stanley Kramer
Top Genres Action, Adventure, Comedy, Crime, Drama, Family
More Films Directed by Stanley Kramer More Films Produced by Stanley Kramer More Films from 1963 More Films from the 1960s Top Classic Movies of the 1960s

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World Overview:

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963) was a Action - Adventure Film directed by Stanley Kramer and produced by Stanley Kramer.

SYNOPSIS

They emptied the comedy hall of fame to make this frantic epic. It's like a wide-screen, big-budget disaster movie - only played for laughs - in which half the fun is pointing to famous faces. Tracy is the relatively calm center of a whirlwind as a detective keeping an eye on a herd of citizens out to uncover a stash of stolen bank loot. He has his hands full following Berle, Caesar, Rooney, Winters, Durante, Adams, et al. and on and on. 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. (imdb)

(Source: available at Amazon AMC Classic Movie Companion).

Academy Awards 1963 --- Ceremony Number 36 (source: AMPAS)

AwardRecipientResult
Best CinematographyErnest LaszloNominated
Best Film EditingFrederic Knudtson, Robert C. Jones, Gene Fowler, Jr.Nominated
Best Music - ScoringErnest GoldNominated
Best Music - SongMusic by Ernest Gold; Lyrics by Mack DavidNominated
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It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World BlogHub Articles:

IT'S A MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD WORLD From Criterion

By Dan Day Jr. on Feb 11, 2014 From The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog

Criterion has just come out with one of their most impressive home video releases ever. Stanley Kramer's IT'S A MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD WORLD gets a 3-DVD, 2-Blu-ray set featuring two different versions of the movie and tons and tons of extras. The 1963 super-epic all-star comedy was the brainchild of s... Read full article

CMBA Film Passion Blogathon: IT'S A MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD WORLD

By Irish Jayhawk on Dec 4, 2013 From Outspoken and Freckled

Growing up as a kid, classic comedies were a shaping influence in my life. My earliest memories of classic film derives from the comedies I watched with my family. I recall my grandmother and my uncle Patrick introducing me to comedy classics like Marx Brothers films, the Pink Panther films, Blake E... Read full article

TCM Classic Film Festival - It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963)

By Raquel Stecher on May 19, 2013 From Out of the Past - A Classic Film Blog

Cinerama Dome's Honeycomb Ceiling On Sunday April 28th, 2013, I attended a special screening of It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963) at the Cinerama Dome in Los Angeles. Even though this film is played regularly on TCM and I have had many chances to see it, this was my first time I had watched t... Read full article

How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World"

By David on May 30, 2012 From The Man on the Flying Trapeze

My name is David, and I am a recovering baby boomer. I mention this to help explain the affection I have for movies made when I was a kid, especially from about 1957-65. You can tell me they're cheesy and cliched, and tell me that they reinforce negative stereotypes. I know, and the "intellectual" w... Read full article

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It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World Quotes:

Mrs. Marcus: Now for the last time. Are we calling Sylvester or not?
J. Russell Finch: No! We are not! And I'll tell you why not. Because your son Sylvester is an irresponsible, unreliable, big loudmouth no good bum! Who if he isn't a crook? It's because he doesn't have the brains or ambition even to become a crook!
J. Algernon Hawthorne: I say: *Good show*!
Lennie Pike: Weath... Witch... Work. That's it, work. I gotta work on where it is.
Lennie Pike: *Everybody* pays taxes!- Even businessmen, who rob and cheat and steal from people everyday, even *they* have to pay *taxes*!
Mrs. Marcus: [holding cactus plant] Where should I stick this?
J. Russell Finch: [double take] Oh boy.
Police Chief Aloysius: [to Captain Culpeper] It's no. The answer is no. He won't back any increase in pensions. He won't even talk about it. And there won't be any increase in pensions. And do you know why? Because they got a solid majority of both Republicans and Democrats who've agreed that if anything is said about pensions, they'll actually reduce your pension! Why? Because they know that you personally were more responsible than anybody else for closing down the houses. And could I do anything? Would he listen to me? Hah! All right. So you're an honest cop. And you've spent a lifetime being an honest cop. And you've got that, and that's all you've got! It's no good saying I'm sorry. I'm too angry and sick at my stomach to be sorry.
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It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World Facts
The role of Ray (one of the gas station attendants) was intended for Jackie Mason. Mason withdrew due to his nightclub commitments and Arnold Stang replaced him at late notice.
Milton Berle's character is 6 months younger than his mother-in-law played by Ethel Merman.
Premiered at and was the first film ever shown at the Cinerama Dome in Hollywood, California, 7 November 1963.
The billboard that the twin-engine Beechcraft flies through was made of thin balsa wood, except for a thicker frame for support. Stunt pilot Frank Tallman had to fly the aircraft directly through the center of the billboard or the thicker frame would shear off a wing. The billboard was located at the end of the runway of the Chino Airport(40 miles from L.A. and just southeast of Pomona, CA) which made it ideal and isolated enough for filming. It was placed at runway's end due to the fact that the plane's prop would come to a halt after crashing through the wood, making it necessary for the pilot to land immediately. He did just that, flying through the billboard and landing on the runway directly behind it.
Many of the locations for "Santa Rosita" were filmed in Long Beach, CA. The "Santa Rosita" Police Department was in real life the main branch of the YMCA at 6th and Long Beach Blvd. The hardware store the Crumps were locked in was at 5th and Locust.
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