It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963)
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A colorful group of strangers engages in a madcap pursuit of a suitcase full of stolen cash.
The story
After a recently released convict, Smiler Grogan, dies in a car crash, he reveals the location of $350,000 buried in a nearby park. A diverse group of motorists who stop to help him soon find themselves in a frantic, multi-vehicle chase to reach the treasure before anyone else. The group includes a couple on a honeymoon, a pair of friends traveling to Las Vegas, and a businessman with his wife and mother-in-law. As they navigate various obstacles and mishaps, they are unknowingly shadowed by a police captain who hopes to close the case before his retirement.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Following the death of Smiler Grogan, who reveals the location of $350,000, a large group of strangers—including a couple in a biplane, a group in a car, and a man in a truck—engage in a chaotic race to Santa Rosita State Park. The group faces numerous obstacles, including being trapped in a basement, a car being swept away by a river, and a series of frantic negotiations. They are shadowed by Police Captain T. G. Culpeper, who is secretly planning to steal the money for himself. Upon reaching the park, they find the 'big W' to be four palm trees and dig up the suitcase. Culpeper confronts them, and during a chase into a building, the money is scattered by the wind. The men are eventually injured when a fire ladder fails. In the hospital, the men realize Culpeper's scheme failed, and the film ends with a moment of shared laughter after a woman slips on a banana peel.
- First release year
- 1963
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Stanley Kramer
- Writers
- William Rose · writer; Tania Rose · writer
- Cast and characters
- Spencer Tracy · not specified; Milton Berle · not specified; Sid Caesar · not specified; Buddy Hackett · not specified; Ethel Merman · not specified; Mickey Rooney · not specified; Dick Shawn · not specified; Phil Silvers · not specified; Terry-Thomas · not specified; Jonathan Winters · not specified; Edie Adams · not specified; Dorothy Provine · not specified
- Genres
- comedy; epic; chase; road movie; slapstick
- Themes
- greed; absurdity
- Tone and mood
- comedic; frantic
- Premise and plot tags
- treasure hunt; ensemble cast; road movie
- Reception
- The film was a commercial success and received mixed to positive reviews, praised for its scale and stunts while criticized by some for its length and lack of character depth. It holds a 69% on Rotten Tomatoes and 59 on Metacritic.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 6.8 · scale: 10 · review count: 39; Metacritic · score: 59 · scale: 100 · review count: 10
- Awards and nominations
- Academy Award · Best Sound Editing · win
- Production trivia
- The film was the first comedy directed by Stanley Kramer.; The title was modified several times during production, adding 'Mads' over time.; The film was intended to be a 'comedy epic' to draw audiences away from television.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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