Review of It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963) by Jack G — 02 Feb 2014

I kinda wish I saw this as a kid, it had that big dumb broad humor that maybe I liked more as youngin. Seeing it now, I probably respect it more than I overall like it. And yet, it's a wild feat, and its the movie that reminded me I must watch everything Jonathan winters ever did. other highlights include Dick Shawn (every moment, cracking up), Peter Falk, some of the Berle stuff, and that one moment where Buddy Hackett just staring at Spencer Tracy. And of course some of the set pieces are just so tremendous, with the final set piece chase and highwire comedy on the fire truck makes the Blues Brothers look like child's play. Some of it is just TOO loud and TOO one note (Ethel Merman, jesus) and some of the hijinks end up being very funny one moment and just not funny at all the next. Its hit or miss beat to beat.

But it's the quintessential "zany" 60s comedy, much the way that Kramer was always after That "quintessential" thing with the movies he made, for better and worse, that's what he did. needless to say if you wanna see most of the best talent in comedy in the first half of the 20th century - from Keaton to Carl Reiner - it's in a super deluxe platter of madness like the parody version of The good the bad and the ugly years before it was made.