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

It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

Think in something original,mad,crazy,wild,louder,this roadshow comedy goes beyond the border of insanity and greed,when l'd watched it for first time in 1986 right away realize it was the most creative comedies which l never saw until then,for advent of the DVD it's comes to alive again,in this second time l've to admit a little disappoint about that,but on second time around l saw it carefully and so some many funny situations in an original way which convince me totally,a bit dated but still peerless indeed,all star cast proved a comic roots themselves,unfortunately the dealer here in Brazil supplied us with full frame needing a best restoration!! Resume: First watch: 1986 / How many: 4 / Source: TV-DVD / Rating: 8

This was one of my absolute favorite movies as a child. It's both one of the longest and craziest movies I've ever seen. It focuses on several car loads of people driving down a mountainous road, when a car comes racing by doing about 90 and launches right off a cliff. Some of the people from the cars go down to help the injured man who was driving the car, he informs them with his dying breathe that there's millions of dollars buried under a big W out in California. They all talk amongst themselves later on after he's died about the supposed fortune and how they'll divide it up. But the problem is that they can't please everyone, so they just decide to have it as everyone for himself and they race to see who can get there first. The big thing in this movie is the cast. The cast is chock full of big famous stars from that time. They all fit their roles well and play them exceptionally well. I can't go through every single actor because there are simply too many of them. But I will say that my personal favorite member of the cast is Ethel Merman, and that's because she played her role with enthusiasm, sharp wit, and hits every humorous line with just the right amount of craziness, her character alone makes up half the comedy in my opinion. The movie also uses slapstick if that's your kind of comedy. The writing is full of good humor, it's not all crazy stunts, even though there's certainly no shortage of that. 10/10. This really is a very fun movie and I would encourage your whole family to sit down and watch.

I just had rotator cuff surgery and this is one of my first film reviews post-surgery. So, although the movie is 3 1/2 hours long, I am being very brief because I just don't have the energy to write longer AND because they are already a ton of reviews for the movie.The story involves a group of seemingly normal people who go crazy due to greed and quickly become unhinged at the process of sudden wealth. In addition to this core group, you have many cameos (many of which could have been used better) of very famous comedy actors of yesterday such as The Three Stooges, Jack Benny, Joe E. Brown and many others.So is this film a brilliant comedy? Not exactly. Subtlety certainly is NOT something you see in the film and Ethel Merman's performance is ridiculously over the top (no one is THAT obnoxious). Instead it's more a turn off your brain and just enjoy sort of movie. Funny, high energy but rarely brilliant or clever...it's well worth seeing and holds up well but also isn't a film that makes the best use of its many stars.

On a Saturday morning on a Southern California desert road, four carloads of strangers from all walks of life see a reckless criminal driver, Smiler Grogan (Jimmy Durante) go over a cliff with his car. Before he dies, Grogan confides with the witnesses of his car crash, that there is a $300,000 fortune, in which, he stole that is all buried in a park 200 miles away. This inspires, all of the witnesses, to search for this treasure in a free-for-all rat race to the cash. Directed by Stanley Kramer, this slapstick comedy was mostly funny. I love the stunt work in this film. The film was so crammed with action that each leading actor was given two scripts: one for the dialogue and one for physical comedy. However, the film does kinda fall apart, when the police tracking subplot, kicks in. I really don't like how the police, are allowing these idiots to endangering innocent bystanders, with their reckless driver, and odd behavior. There is a scene, where one of the treasure pursuers kidnap a kid and another is planning to set off a bomb for goodness sakes. You would think, it's there, that they could step in, and control these people. I just found it to be too unrealistic not to notice. Another scene that kinda ruins the film is the ladder scene toward the end. I found that sequence, to be a bit over the top with the fake looking stop-motion special effects. It really doesn't hold up. Sorry, to say this, but that whole sequence looks really dated. Another problem with this film, is the pacing. The preview version of this film clocks in, with a length of 210 minutes resulted from a 5-hour-long work-print. Kramer himself made further cuts for its theatrical release which is also super-long with 192 minutes. But that still wasn't enough for producers United Artists, because they intended to show the movie in theaters as often as possible on one single day. As a result, the studio made further cuts on their own, with 161 minutes without Kramer's involvement. It wasn't until later, that a "final" theatrical version was made with both director and producers. Weighting in, with 154 mins running time. This version of the film, is almost the only option to watch the movie, even these days. If anything, the best result of getting everything, you need out of the movie, is to check out the 1991's Special Edition version. This Special Edition contains delete footages found in the archives. Admittedly, the new footage does often some differs from the rest, but unfortunately, only 20 minutes of the footage could have been reconstructed. Another problem is how roughly, it has been reinserted. While, technically, the Special Edition isn't the original Director's Cut, however the resulting version runs more smoothly than the others film versions. Nevertheless, the positive impression of this edition overbalances the negatives. Anyway, no matter, which version, you watch. This comedy is still a marathon to get through. It took me, a few seats to finally, finished this movie. Another problem with this film, is the huge cast. There are just way too much characters to remember. The film starts out with a few characters of the main cast; J. Russell Finch (Milton Berle), an entrepreneur who owns Pacific Edible Seaweed Company in Fresno, Melville Crump (Sid Caesar), a local dentist; Lennie Pike (Jonathan Winters), a furniture mover; Dingy Bell (Mickey Rooney) and Benjy Benjamin (Buddy Hackett), two friends on their way to Las Vegas; that for the most part, were very entertaining and funny. However, I couldn't say, the same for the female cast; while Crump's wife, Monica (Edie Adams) & Finch's wife (Emmeline Marcus-Finch (Dorothy Provine) was mediocre, and kinda bland. Yes, all the character driven by all-consuming greed, but it's Mrs. Marcus (Ethel Merman) who takes the cake for the most annoying character in this film. All of her screaming and whining, really made this film, hard to watch, at times. I really couldn't stand, any scenes that had her, there. Despite that, there were a lot of supporting actors that really shine in this film. Terry-Thomas as, British scientist, Lt. Col. J. Algernon Hawthorne and Spencer Tracy as Captain T. G. Culpeper, the local police trying to solve this case were some of those secret gems. Dick Shawn as Sylvester Marcus and Phil Silvers as Otto Meyer, also did fine, adding to the madness of the film. But, some of the other celebrity cameos in this film, felt a little bit wasted. Actors like Jack Benny, Jerry Lewis, Don Knotts, and Carl Reiner should had played, a bigger role than what they got. However, they do kinda shine, within the small roles, they got. One thing, I could do, without seeing is Buster Keaton, and The Three Stooges. They look way past, their prime. All four of them, look creepier than ever. Even with that, the movie does have other good things going for it. The opening animated credits, designed by Saul Bass was amazing. The main theme song by composter Ernest Gold, really sound joyful. It's remind me of a silly circus. The 1960s vibe in the rest of the music was rich as hell, too. I really can't stop, laughing at the 'Thirty-one Flavors' go-go dance scene. It was so odd and yet, so charming. Overall: I have to say, you have to be bat-sh*t crazy to hate this movie! It was a lot of fun. Yes, it's not the funniest movie ever, but a film worth checking out. This movie proves without a doubt, that the world is full of crazy people willing to do anything for money. If you don't find that funny; then you're mad, in a bad way.