Good news. ‘It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World is back up on Netflix again.
A sprawling ’60’s comedy. Probably far too long but it contains both Jonathan Winters and Phil Silvers in fine form.
And Terry-Thomas
And Ethel Merman!
Knock yourselves out.
A big W
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I had some good recollections of this from my childhood and recently picked it up on Blu-ray for $4.99 in a Woolworths type store. My God it is terrible. What a waste of talent!
Frantic shouting is no substitute for comedy, and there’s too much of it in this film.
I will happily defend IAMMMMW, though admittedly mostly from a position of nostalgia than quality… it’s one of the first movies I ever saw at the cinema as a child, more than once in fact, back in the days when films used to come back every few years, and I have fond memories of my Dad (and the whole audience in fact) absolutely convulsed with laughter the whole time… perhaps it works better with an audience?
Yes, it’s way too long, but the set-pieces are still terrific, and that’s a once-in-a-lifetime cast however you look at it…
My Dad’s favourite film (he also thought TV was only good for cowboys and Tom & Jerry- which is odd given that he repaired tellys for a living). I might check if my fond memories stand up to the reality
It was the look on Jonathan Winter’s face just after he lobs the bike into the bush and Phil Silvers drives away and leaves him behind that sold it for me on first viewing in the dim distant. He was a funny man.
It is much too long, yes, and Ethel Merman reminds me of an old girlfriend, but every so often it tickles well enough.
My favourite moment is just a few seconds long – (this is from memory so forgive me if I’ve got the details wrong) – an airport runway is being prepared for a potential crash landing and everyone is getting into battle stations – someone asks if the emergency crew is ready and the camera pans to … The Three Stooges, in firefighters gear and grimly holding on to a hose.
Thank you!
Can I recommend the Criterion Blu Ray? A fully restored 163 minute version and a partially restored 198 minute ‘roadshow’ version. Fantastic picture and sound and nice extras. Unmissable.
http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Its-a-Mad-Mad-Mad-Mad-World-Blu-ray/88112/#Review
Not sure longer is better in the case of this film.
Even at 198 mins I was ready for more, it’s brilliant.
Me and my sister still laugh about this film. We watched it when we were wee, one slow Sunday afternoon on telly, and we absolutely gutted ourselves the entire way through. We didn’t even know who the cast were either, had no awareness at that age it was an all-star cast. ‘A big dubyah!!!!’
I watched it again on Netflix a couple of years ago and it actually held up pretty well. It strikes me that only Bollywood now makes those massively long whimsical films that are genuinely aimed at the entire family.
The film that opened the Cinerama in Wellington NZ in 1967
Very fond memories although I haven’t seen it for donkey’s years.
The all-star cast is often the signal for disaster rather than quality (think also: charidee records/”Ebony and Ivory”/Children in Need), and a prime example was shown on Talking Pictures last week, “The Sandwich Man.”
Starring Michael Bentine, not the funniest man who ever lived, pretty much every non-“Carry On” comedian (they must have been making a “Carry On” at the time) appears, and the whole thing was about as rib-tickling as Tottenham winning a trophy.
That said, filmed in Spring ’66, it’s almost a companion piece to the recent Michael Caine/”My Generation” documentary as 75% of it is filmed on the streets of Swinging London.
In the background of one scene is a Who poster for a gig in Goldhawk Road dated 3/12/65 … the very date of the release of their first L.P.
Yeah but, yeah but…Suzy Kendall.