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

 

It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World - 1963

1963's classic comedy "It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" follows a group of people who stop on the side of the road to assist a dying man.  When he reveals a secret about some hidden money, it's a race to see who gets it first.

The film's huge cast includes Spencer Tracy, Milton Berle, Sid Caesar, Buddy Hackett, Mickey Rooney, Ethel Merman, Phil Silvers, Jonathan Winters, Edie Adams, Dorothy Provine, Jim Backus, Peter Falk, Sterling Holloway, Don Knotts, Charles Lane, Zasu Pitts, Carl Reiner, Jimmy Durante, Joe E. Brown, Terry-Thomas, Dick Shawn, Edward Everett Horton, Jack Benny, William Demarest, Andy Devine, and many more.

In the California desert, a man recklessly driving his car around a winding road careens over a barrier and crashes.

The man is barely alive.  When a group of bystanders comes down to assist him, he reveals to them the secret location of $350,000 hidden under a big "W".  After the man dies and the police arrive, the group heads back up to their cars.

Of course, everybody is wondering what everybody else is going to do with the information, and they keep a close watch on each other.  When a certain Russell Finch tries to comfort his wife by saying "These things happen", his mother-in-law jumps in.  "Now what kind of attitude is that, these things happen?  They only happen because this whole country is just full of people, who when these things happen, they just say these things happen, and that's why they happen!  We gotta have control of what happens to us!" she exclaims.

They all decide to pull over to the side of the road and discuss what to do about the situation.  After trying to figure out how to divide up the money a bunch of different ways ("No matter how we figure it, somebody don't like the way we figure it!" exclaims Benjy Benjamin), the group decides to make it every man for himself.

The race is on to see who will get to the money first.  What the group doesn't know is that the man who died was being followed by the police in connection with this money, and they are now all under surveillance.

Once they get out on the road, the mishaps just keep happening.  As Captain Culpepper says, "None of these 10 people have any record at all.  And yet we're ready to book 'em for withholding information, causing accidents, failing to report accidents, reckless driving, theft, at least three cases of assault and battery..."

And because of the urgency felt by everybody, more and more people get involved in the chase (hence a great number of cameo roles for various actors).

Eventually, everyone makes it to Rosita Beach State Park and the big "W".  Of course, the group hurries to find out where the money is.

The group excitedly waits as the money is dug up and brought to light.  Money fever is in the air as each one contemplates what they're going to do with their shares.

Captain Culpepper is on the scene and convinces them to turn themselves in, because juries go much easier on people who do so.  Grateful to him for giving them a chance, the group hands over the money and makes their way to the police station.

But, money fever strikes Captain Culpepper and once the group is out of sight, he bolts with the money.  They suspect a double cross and decide to chase him.

The squabbling is all for nothing, though.  After chasing Captain Culpepper high up on a rickety fire escape, the case holding the money breaks open and the money floats down to the crowd that has gathered below.  All the guys on the fire escape fall off the broken fire escape and, though they escape with their lives, end up with some pretty significant injuries.

In the hospital, all the men moan and groan over their injuries.  They tell Captain Culpepper none of this would've happened if he had just asked for a share like the rest of them.

However, the moans and groans soon dissolve into shrieks of helpless laughter when Mrs. Marcus comes in, slips on a banana peel, and is carted away by two hospital orderlies.

Cast rundown:

   Spencer Tracy......................................Captain 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

   Jonathan Winters.................................Lennie Pike

   Edie Adams.........................................Monica Crump

   Dorothy Provine...................................Emmeline Finch

   Jim Backus.........................................Tyler Fitzgerald

   Peter Falk...........................................Cab Driver

   Sterling Holloway.................................Fire Chief

   Don Knotts.........................................Nervous Motorist

   Charles Lane.......................................Airport Manager

   Zasu Pitts...........................................Gertie

   Carl Reiner..........................................Tower Controller

   Jimmy Durante...................................Smiler Grogan

   Joe E. Brown.......................................Union Official

   Terry-Thomas......................................Algernon Hawthorne

   Dick Shawn........................................Sylvester Marcus

   Edward Everett Horton.........................Dinckler

   Jack Benny.........................................Helpful Driver

   William Demarest................................Chief Aloysius

   Andy Devine.......................................Sheriff

And that's it for It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.  In one of the scenes, Ethel Merman hits Milton Berle with her purse.  He later said that it left him with a bump that didn't go away for six months.  At the time of filming, there were about 100 stunt performers in the USA.  80 of them worked on this film.  The grand prize everybody is searching for is $350,000.  In 2020, that amount would be around $2.9 million.

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