It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World Rating: Release Date: 07 October, 2003 Retail Price: $14.98 OUR Price: $9.99 You SAVE: $4.99! Cast: Spencer Tracy Milton Berle Sid Caesar Ethel Merman Complete Cast (15 total)

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

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Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World dvd
I returned this as I found out it was either letterbox or wide screen format, I only buy or want tapes or dvds that fill the entire tv screen, otherwise I dont buy them

WHAT A CAST!! AND A TRULY OVER THE TOP 'MAD' EPIC TOO!,
FIRST THOUGHTS: SAW THIS FILM AT RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL -- UNDER SUFFERANCE - 1963

I truly felt going in that this film was not going to be worth waiting on line for an hour to see, in Manhattan, and have to endure the rockettes too! Poor me! The year was 1963, and I wanted to see "THE GREAT ESCAPE", but my sister would not here of it. She had forced 'Around the World in 80 Days" on me some years before, and I saw another bloated epic on my dance-card.

SOMETIMES IT IS GREAT TO BE PROVED WRONG:

As silly as it now seems, I pretended to cover my eyes for about the first 20 minutes of the film, to show my big sister that I was not going to enjoy the film. Somewhere along the way, I began watching and uncovered my eyes. The silliness I saw on this 150 foot wide screen, seemed completely impossible 43 years ago. What some people would do for money, we got to see for 3 hours. Although I was a pre-teen, I did recognize most of the cast, which was the best I had seen in a film up to that time and the antics just kept on coming.

THE QUICKEST 3-HOURS I EVER SPENT:

Actually, including the rockettes, it was a 4 hour show, and I actually wanted to see the whole thing again.

WHY THE FILM WORKS: THE THEME IS SIMPLY 'SHAMELESS GREED'!

A very simple theme - 'GREED', is introduced to a group of strangers from all walks of life, and they all behave exactly the same. Utterly shameless behavior from beginning to end that is punctuated by Ethel Merman, Phil Silvers, Spencer Tracey and an incredible ensemble of hollywoods finest behaving like Planet Earth's lowest!

-- AN INCREDIBLE CAST:

Spencer Tracy - Capt. C.G. Culpepper
Milton Berle - J. Russell Finch
Sid Caesar - Melville Crump
Buddy Hackett - Benjy Benjamin
Mickey Rooney - Ding Bell
Ethel Merman - Mrs. Marcus
Phil Silvers - Otto Meyer
Dick Shawn - Sylvester Marcus
Jimmy Durante - Smiler Grogan
Buster Keaton - Jimmy the Crook
Jonathan Winters - Lennie Pike
Edie Adams - Monica Crump
Dorothy Provine - Emmeline Finch
Eddie "Rochester" Anderson - Cab Driver
Ben Blue - Airplane Pilot
Alan Carney - Police Sergeant
Barrie Chase - Mrs. Haliburton
William Demarest - Chief of Police
Peter Falk - Cab Driver
Paul Ford - Col. Wilberforce
Leo Gorcey - Cab Driver
Edward Everett Horton - Dinckler
Don Knotts - Nervous Man
Carl Reiner - Tower Control
Andy Devine - Sheriff Mason
Sterling Holloway - Fire Chief
Marvin Kaplan - Irwin
Charles Lane - Airport Manager
Charles McGraw - Lieutenant
ZaSu Pitts - Switchboard Operator
Madlyn Rhue - Police Secretary
Arnold Stang - Ray
Jesse White - Radio Tower Operator
Lloyd Corrigan - Mayor
Selma Diamond - Culpeper's Wife [Voice]
Stan Freberg - Deputy Sheriff
Louise Glenn - Billie Sue [Voice]
Ben Lessy - George, the Steward
Bobo Lewis - Pilot's Wife
Nick Stewart [Nicodemus] - Truck Driver
Sammee Tong - Chinese Laundryman
Norman Fell - Detective
Nicholas Georgiade - Detective
Eddie Ryder - Tower Radioman
Jerry Lewis - Mad Driver
Terry-Thomas - J. Algernon Hawthorne
Doodles Weaver - Salesman
Tom Kennedy - Traffic Cop
Stanley Clements
Chick Chandler
Howard Da Silva - Airport Officer
Curly Joe DeRita - Fireman
Minta Durfee
Jim Backus - Tyler Fitzgerald
Joe E. Brown - Union Official
Jack Benny
Paul Birch - Patrolman
Roy Roberts
Mike Mazurki - Sarge
Harry Lauter - Radio Operator
Cliff Norton
Barbara Pepper
Roy Engel
Larry Fine - Fireman
Allen Jenkins - Police Officer
Don C. Harvey - Helicopter Observer
Moe Howard - Fireman

-- MAJOR PRODUCTION CREDITS:

Stanley Kramer - Director / Producer
Tania Rose - Screenwriter
William Rose - Screenwriter
Ernest Laszlo - Cinematographer
Mack David - Songwriter
Ernest Gold - Songwriter / Composer (Music Score

***** -- MAJOR AWARDS --

Best Color Cinematography (nom) Ernest Laszlo 1963 Academy
Best Editing (nom) Gene Fowler, Jr. 1963 Academy
Best Editing (nom) Frederic Knudtson 1963 Academy
Best Editing (nom) Robert Jones 1963 Academy
Best Original Score (nom) Ernest Gold 1963 Academy
Best Song (nom) Mack David 1963 Academy
Best Song (nom) Ernest Gold 1963 Academy
Best Sound (nom) Gordon E. Sawyer (Samuel Goldwyn Studio Sound Department) 1963 Academy
Best Sound Effects (win) Elliott, Walter G. 1963 Academy
Best Actor - Musical or Comedy (nom) Jonathan Winters 1963 Golden Globe
Best Picture - Musical or Comedy (nom) 1963 Golden Globe

ABOUT THE DVD: RESTORED CINERAMA

Includes several deleted scenes and a 1 hour featurette which includes many of the original cast members, filmed around 1993.

BOTTOM LINE: FOR ME - THIS IS THE BEST COMEDY OF ALL TIME!

If this is your kind of comedy, you'll love this film. If on the other hand this seems too cliched or trite, you might find this 3 hour cimeramic epic a bit too much and rather tiresome. Obviously, I feel this is the best comedy for the sake of comedy of all time.


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