It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
Stanley Kramer followed his Oscar-winning Judgment at Nuremberg with this sobering investigation of American greed. Ah, who are we kidding? It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, about a group of strangers fighting tooth and nail over buried treasure, is the most grandly harebrained movie ever made, a pileup of slapstick and borscht-belt-y one-liners performed by a nonpareil cast, including Milton Berle, Sid Caesar, Ethel Merman, Mickey Rooney, Spencer Tracy, Jonathan Winters, and a boatload of other playing-to-the-rafters comedy legends. For sheer scale of silliness, Kramer’s wildly uncharacteristic film is unlike any other, an exhilarating epic of tomfoolery.
BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES
- Restored 4K digital transfer of the general release version of the film, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
- High-definition digital transfer of a 197-minute extended version of the film, reconstructed and restored by Robert A. Harris using visual and audio material from the longer original road-show version, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
- 2013 audio commentary featuring It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World aficionados Mark Evanier, Michael Schlesinger, and Paul Scrabo
- 2013 documentary on the film’s visual and sound effects, featuring interviews with visual-effects specialist Craig Barron and sound designer Ben Burtt
- Excerpt from a 1974 talk show hosted by director Stanley Kramer and featuring Mad World actors Sid Caesar, Buddy Hackett, and Jonathan Winters
- Press interview from 1963 featuring Kramer and cast members
- Excerpts about the influence of the film from the 2000 AFI program 100 Years . . . 100 Laughs
- Two-part 1963 episode of the TV program Telescope that follows the film’s press junket and premiere
- The Last 70 mm Film Festival, a 2012 program featuring Mad World cast and crew, hosted by actor Billy Crystal
- Selection of humorist and voice-over artist Stan Freberg’s original TV and radio ads for the film, with a 2013 introduction by Freberg
- Trailers and radio spots
- English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- PLUS: An essay by film critic Lou Lumenick and illustrations by legendary cartoonist Jack Davis
Original poster illustration by Jack Davis
BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES
- Restored 4K digital transfer of the general release version of the film, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
- High-definition digital transfer of a 197-minute extended version of the film, reconstructed and restored by Robert A. Harris using visual and audio material from the longer original road-show version, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
- 2013 audio commentary featuring It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World aficionados Mark Evanier, Michael Schlesinger, and Paul Scrabo
- 2013 documentary on the film’s visual and sound effects, featuring interviews with visual-effects specialist Craig Barron and sound designer Ben Burtt
- Excerpt from a 1974 talk show hosted by director Stanley Kramer and featuring Mad World actors Sid Caesar, Buddy Hackett, and Jonathan Winters
- Press interview from 1963 featuring Kramer and cast members
- Excerpts about the influence of the film from the 2000 AFI program 100 Years . . . 100 Laughs
- Two-part 1963 episode of the TV program Telescope that follows the film’s press junket and premiere
- The Last 70 mm Film Festival, a 2012 program featuring Mad World cast and crew, hosted by actor Billy Crystal
- Selection of humorist and voice-over artist Stan Freberg’s original TV and radio ads for the film, with a 2013 introduction by Freberg
- Trailers and radio spots
- English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- PLUS: An essay by film critic Lou Lumenick and illustrations by legendary cartoonist Jack Davis
Original poster illustration by Jack Davis
Cast
- Spencer Tracy
- Captain T. G. Culpeper
- Milton Berle
- J. Russell Finch
- Sid Caesar
- Melville Crump
- Buddy Hackett
- Benjy Benjamin
- Ethel Merman
- Mrs. Marcus
- Mickey Rooney
- Ding Bell
- Dick Shawn
- Sylvester Marcus
- Phil Silvers
- Otto Meyer
- Terry-Thomas
- J. Algernon Hawthorne
- Jonathan Winters
- Lennie Pike
- Edie Adams
- Monica Crump
- Dorothy Provine
- Emeline Finch
- Eddie “Rochester” Anderson
- Cabdriver
- Jim Backus
- Tyler Fitzgerald
- Jack Benny
- Man driving in the desert
- Joe E. Brown
- Union official
- Ben Blue
- Biplane pilot
- Alan Carney
- Police sergeant
- Chick Chandler
- Detective
- Barrie Chase
- Mrs. Halliburton
- Lloyd Corrigan
- Mayor
- William Demarest
- Police chief
- Andy Devine
- Sheriff of Crocket County
- Selma Diamond
- Ginger Culpeper (voice)
- Peter Falk
- Cabdriver
- Normal Fell
- Detective
- Paul Ford
- Colonel Wilberforce
- Stan Freberg
- Deputy sheriff
- Louise Glenn
- Billie Sue Culpeper (voice)
- Leo Gorcey
- Cabdriver
- Sterling Holloway
- Fire chief
- Edward Everett Horton
- Mr. Dinckler
- Marvin Kaplan
- Irwin
- Buster Keaton
- Jimmy the Cook
- Don Knotts
- Nervous motorist
- Charles Lane
- Airport manager
- Jerry Lewis
- Man driving over hat
- Mike Mazurki
- Miner
- Charles McGraw
- Lieutenant Matthews
- Zasu Pitts
- Switchboard operator
- Carl Reiner
- Tower control
- Madlyn Rhue
- Police secretary
- Roy Roberts
- Policeman
- Arnold Stang
- Ray
- Nick Stewart
- Truck driver
- The Three Stooges
- Firemen
- Sammee Tong
- Chinese laundryman
- Jesse White
- Radio tower operator
Credits
- Director
- Stanley Kramer
- Produced by
- Stanley Kramer
- Written by
- William and Tania Rose
- Music
- Ernest Gold
- Cinematography
- Ernest Laszlo
- Edited by
- Gene Fowler Jr.
- Edited by
- Robert C. Jones
- Edited by
- Frederic Knudtson
- Production design
- Rudolph Sternad
- Art direction
- Gordon Gurnee
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Edition introduction to It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
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