It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963)
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79% of critics liked it
(28 reviews) -
79% of users liked it
(21,401 ratings)
With this all-star Cinerama epic, producer/director Stanley Kramer vowed to make "the comedy that would end all comedies." The story begins during a massive traffic jam, caused by reckless driver Smiler Grogan (Jimmy Durante), who, before (literally) kicking the bucket, cryptically tells… More With this all-star Cinerama epic, producer/director Stanley Kramer vowed to make "the comedy that would end all comedies." The story begins during a massive traffic jam, caused by reckless driver Smiler Grogan (Jimmy Durante), who, before (literally) kicking the bucket, cryptically tells the assembled drivers that he's buried a fortune in stolen loot, "under the Big W." The various motorists setting out on a mad scramble include a dentist (Sid Caesar) and his wife (Edie Adams); a henpecked husband (Milton Berle) accompanied by his mother-in-law (Ethel Merman) and his beatnik brother-in-law (Dick Shawn); a pair of comedy writers (Buddy Hackett and Mickey Rooney); and a variety of assorted nuts including a slow-wit (Jonathan Winters), a wheeler-dealer (Phil Silvers), and a pair of covetous cabdrivers (Peter Falk and Eddie "Rochester" Anderson). Monitoring every move that the fortune hunters make is a scrupulously honest police detective (Spencer Tracy). Virtually every lead, supporting, and bit part in the picture is filled by a well-known comic actor: the laughspinning lineup also includes Carl Reiner, Terry-Thomas, Arnold Stang, Buster Keaton, Jack Benny, Jerry Lewis, and The Three Stooges, who get one of the picture's biggest laughs by standing stock still and uttering not a word. Two prominent comedians are conspicuous by their absence: Groucho Marx refused to appear when Kramer couldn't meet his price, while Stan Laurel declined because he felt he was too old-looking to be funny. Available for years in its 154-minute general release version, the film was restored to its roadshow length of 175 minutes on home video; the search goes on for a missing Buster Keaton routine, reportedly excised on the eve of the picture's premiere. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Directed By
- Stanley Kramer
- Written By
- Tania Rose
- Genres
- Drama, Action & Adventure, Classics, Comedy
- In Theaters
- Nov 7, 1963 Limited
- Studio
- United Artists
Critic Reviews
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Don Druker, Chicago Reader
Stanley Kramer strikes out again with this elephantine 1963 attempt at uproarious comedy.
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Variety Staff, Variety
The comic competition is so keen that it is impossible to single out any one participant as outstanding.
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, Time Out
Kramer's 'comedy to end all comedy' stretches its material to snapping point but offers happy hours of star-spotting.
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Bosley Crowther, New York Times
So many excellent actors and stunt men do so much in this film that it is beyond my space allowance to begin to credit them.
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Cole Smithey, ColeSmithey.com
[VIDEO ESSAY] A classic example of the Screwball Comedy genre.
See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)
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Cast
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Spencer Tracy
as Capt. C.G. Culpepper
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Milton Berle
as J. Russell Finch
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Sid Caesar
as Melville Crump
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Buddy Hackett
as Benjy Benjamin
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Mickey Rooney
as Ding Bell
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Ethel Merman
as Mrs. Marcus
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Phil Silvers
as Otto Meyer
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Dick Shawn
as Sylvester Marcus
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Jimmy Durante
as Smiler Grogan
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Buster Keaton
as Jimmy the Crook
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Jonathan Winters
as Lennie Pike
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Edie Adams
as Monica Crump
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Dorothy Provine
as Emmeline Finch
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Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson
as Cab Driver
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Ben Blue
as Airplane Pilot
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Alan Carney
as Police Sergeant
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Barrie Chase
as Mrs. Haliburton
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William Demarest
as Chief of Police
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Peter Falk
as Cab Driver
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Paul Ford
as Col. Wilberforce
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Leo Gorcey
as Cab Driver
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Edward Everett Horton
as Dinckler
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Don Knotts
as Nervous Man
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Carl Reiner
as Tower Control
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Andy Devine
as Sheriff Mason
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Sterling Holloway
as Fire Chief
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Marvin Kaplan
as Irwin
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Charles Lane
as Airport Manager
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Charles McGraw
as Lieutenant
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Zasu Pitts
as Switchboard Operator
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Madlyn Rhue
as Police Secretary
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Arnold Stang
as Ray
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Jesse White
as Radio Tower Operator
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Lloyd Corrigan
as Mayor
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Selma Diamond
as Culpeper's Wife
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Stan Freberg
as Deputy Sheriff
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Louise Glenn
as Billie Sue
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Ben Lessy
as George the Steward
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Bobo Lewis
as Pilot's Wife
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Nick Stewart [Nicodemus]
as Truck Driver
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Sammee Tong
as Chinese Laundryman
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Norman Fell
as Detective
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Nicholas Georgiade
as Detective
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Jim Backus
as Tyler Fitzgerald
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Paul Birch
as Patrolman
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Joe E. Brown
as Union Official
- Chick Chandler
- Stanley Clements
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Howard Da Silva
as Airport Officer
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Curly Joe DeRita
as Fireman
- Minta Durfee
- Roy Engel
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Larry Fine
as Fireman
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Don C. Harvey
as Helicopter Observer
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Moe Howard
as Fireman
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Allen Jenkins
as Police Officer
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Harry Lauter
as Radio Operator
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Mike Mazurki
as Sarge
- Cliff Norton
- Barbara Pepper
- Roy Roberts
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Eddie Ryder
as Tower Radioman
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Terry-Thomas
as J. Algernon Hawthorne
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Doodles Weaver
as Salesman
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Jerry Lewis
as Mad Driver
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Tom Kennedy
as Traffic Cop
- John Zaccaro

