Spencer Tracy, Sid Caesar, Mickey Rooney and host of good-old-fashioned-comedy chums cram in the action, but miss the laughs in this frantic bank caper comedy.
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963)
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Reviews Counted:26
Fresh:20
Rotten:6
Average Rating:6.7/10
Runtime: 3 hrs 12 mins
Genre: Comedies
Synopsis: This wacky comedy classic directed by Stanley Kramer features one of the largest collections of American comedians ever brought together on celluloid, resulting in the kind of far-out comic gem... This wacky comedy classic directed by Stanley Kramer features one of the largest collections of American comedians ever brought together on celluloid, resulting in the kind of far-out comic gem that only the 1960s could dish out. Filled with sharp one-liners, plenty of pratfalls and double takes, and unstoppable slapstick humor, this film never stops entertaining. The laughs come mostly from vehicle accidents of all kinds: car crashes, bike accidents, airplane failures, and almost everything else imaginable. But a good amount of humor is also lent to major wrestling matches, terrible mix-ups and misunderstandings, and increasingly absurd personalities such as Mrs. Marcus (Ethel Merman), the screeching and impossible mother-in-law. The film even laughs at itself, showing its flimsy cardboard sets as characters punch out walls or accidentally explode whole boxes of dynamite. The cast includes such favorites as Jonathan Winters, Phil Silvers, Milton Berle, Buddy Hackett, Mickey Rooney, Sid Caesar, Spencer Tracey, Terry-Thomas, and Dick Shawn, among countless others. Brilliantly simple, the plot concerns a caravan of motorists who witness a terrible accident on a dangerously windy California highway. The auto-crash victim (Jimmy Durante) reveals in his dying words that he has hidden a fortune of stolen cash, sending the drivers on a rambunctious race to see who can claim the loot first! [More]
Starring: Spencer Tracy, Mickey Rooney, Ethel Merman, Buddy Hackett
Starring: Spencer Tracy, Mickey Rooney, Ethel Merman, Buddy Hackett, Sid Caesar, Milton Berle, Jimmy Durante, Dick Shawn, Jonathan Winters, Terry-Thomas, Phil Silvers, Carl Reiner, Dorothy Provine, ZaSu Pitts, Buster Keaton, Sterling Holloway, Leo Gorcey, Paul Ford, Peter Falk, Edward Everett Horton, William Demarest
Director: Stanley Kramer
Director: Stanley Kramer
Screenwriter: William Rose, Tania Rose
Producer: Stanley Kramer
Composer: Ernest Gold
Reviews for It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
Kramer's 'comedy to end all comedy' stretches its material to snapping point but offers happy hours of star-spotting.
This comic extravaganza starts off funny, but exhausts rather than delights.
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.
Favorite line: "Why don’t we just shoot ‘em down and be through with it.
The comic competition is so keen that it is impossible to single out any one participant as outstanding.
Latest News for It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
February 14, 2007:
Zombie Keeps Adding Bodies to His "Halloween" Cast
At this point it feels like Rob Zombie is doing a remake of "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" instead of a "Halloween" reboot. We have some more casting news... More...
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