I watched it about a week and a half ago, for the first time since I saw it at the movies in late '63 or early '64, when I was nine years old. Almost nothing triggered a memory. I thought it was pretty funny throughout though, although maybe not laugh-out-loud uproarious. I've been trying (in quieter moments) to recall all the movies I went to see when I was a kid. A mention in this thread of The Russians are Coming reminded me that that was one. A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum was another. Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines was another; I saw that one recently too, and I liked it. I probably shouldn't mention Santa Claus Conquers the Martians though ...
I remember seeing it as a kid and my dad laughing hard when jimmy durante 'kicked the bucket'! i saw flying machines around that time. I think it might be underrated....but I haven't rewatched in in years/decades lol/ and those daring you men in their daunty jalopies? was that a sequel?
The big movies to me in that period 1962-64 were Mad World, Lawrence of Arabia, Mutiny on the Bounty, and How the West Was Won in 3 panel CINERAMA, all now restored on Blu-ray.
The cast was unbeatable. There was even a Three Stooges cameo! That sealed it for me when I was a kid. My favorite performance in the film is by Jim Backus.
I caugh a bit of this on Decades or Cozi TV and there were only 2 stooges visible. Stupid aspect ratio.
Love it, I just watched it again a while back and when Dick Shawn first appeared I wanted to sing Spring Time For Hitler. He was a funny guy.
I first saw MAD, MAD WORLD in '70 or '71, and so much had changed since 1963, the film seemed older than it was(I noticed a "Nixon for Governor" sign during one of the chase scenes).
I saw it as a youngster with my family at the local theater when it first came out. I remember the place rocking with laughter. I’m sure the kids responded to the almost cartoon levels of slapstick action, while the grownups connected with the absolute mania of normal people taken over by raw greed. It was the first VHS tape I bought as a young adult, making its debut on my “state-of-the-art” Mitsubishi VCR. Later bought the DVD, and re-bought the Criterion super-deluxe edition. It came full circle a couple years ago, when it was featured as part of the Cinemark classic movies series and shown for one night at a local theater. My wife and grown kids surprised me for my birthday. Nothing like seeing it on the big screen. I had tears in my eyes from laughing so hard, and, admittedly, from being more than a bit sentimental. No F-bombs, no toilet humor, just wall-to-wall solid gold comedy. My all-time favorite.
I still enjoy this film although I don't think it's laugh-a-minute. I was born well outside the demographic, so I'm certain for Baby Boomers this film packed a much bigger punch. The main attraction is of course, spotting the endless cameos from the popular comics of the time. They didn't get all of them, but probably a good 90% of them. MAD MAD WORLD did manage to spawn a slew of (mostly) inferior imitations over the decades, so it's certainly a formula that worked: CANNONBALL RUN, SCAVENGER HUNT, MILLION DOLLAR MYSTERY and RAT RACE to name a few.
There are some great lines throughout, but the last time I watched this, I almost pissed myself when Dick Shawn says " we tell 'em to hit the road or we'll beat their brains in".
I'm always bit surprised when I hear James Rolfe (the Angry Video Game Nerd) mention this as his all-time favourite movie... not what I would expect from a guy whose main interest has always seemed to be horror flicks.
We can all count, can’t we? There were EIGHT of us there. She’s right, there were eight of us there. Well, speaking for my wife and myself, we’d be just as happy with… You’d be perfectly happy with two eighths instead of a quarter? That’s awfully big of you. I like how during the first half of that whole scene, Provine’s complete body is pretty much sheltered from the view of the camera by her mother’s, and only has enough courage to emerge for a an occasional random interjection, to which she then retreats to her safe space. It’s different in the second part though.