17 Behind-the-Scenes Secrets of ‘It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World,’ the Iconic 60s Comedy
Discover more about Spencer Tracey, Milton Berle, Sid Caesar and Ethel Merman, among many others
The 1960s were a time of movie epics and spectacles everywhere you turned. There was Spartacus, Lawrence of Arabia, Cleopatra, and Doctor Zhivago. And then there was 1963’s It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, which was every bit as epic as they were… only funnier. Directed by Stanley Kramer, known primarily for his serious dramas, the film was a comedic tour de force, featuring an all-star cast of comic actors from television and film, spanning both past and present. Together, these stars embark on a wild, cross-country treasure hunt filled with chaos.
The story kicks off with an elderly man (Jimmy Durante) who is involved in a car accident and, in his dying moments, reveals a tantalizing secret to the good Samaritans who stop to help: he’s buried $350,000 beneath a “big W” at a specific location. The motorists, initially united by their shared concern for the man, quickly turn opportunistic as they realize the magnitude of the fortune (a staggering amount for 1963). One by one, they race back to their cars and speed off in pursuit of the treasure. Along the way, mishaps force them to involve others, swelling their numbers and intensifying the competition. What starts as a simple search soon spirals into a hilariously cutthroat quest filled with twists and absurdity.
It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World is a massive film, both in scope and ambition. Clocking in at 160 minutes (cut down from its original, even longer runtime), it originally included an intermission in theaters, yet it never feels dull. Universally regarded as a comedy classic, its legacy remains unmatched.
Join us as we take a look back at who’s who in the film, while providing some behind-the-scenes secrets that you probably didn’t know, but should.
1. It started with director Stanley Kramer
Back in 1963 if there was anyone that you never thought would direct a comedy bordering on farce, it would have to be Stanley Kramer, who had built his career on important social dramas. Films like The Defiant Ones, with Sidney Poitier and Tony Curtis as convicts on the run who are chained together and have to overcome their intolerance to survive; Inherit the Wind, about the battle over Darwinism being taught in schools; Judgment at Nuremberg, the courtroom drama dealing with Nazi war criminals being tried for crimes against humanity; and Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, with Sidney Poitier as the black boyfriend of Katharine Houghton’s Joanna Drayton, and him coming to a family dinner presided over by her parents (Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn). But if It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World was an experiment for him, it absolutely worked, only enhancing Stanley’s already sterling reputation.
2. The script’s the thing
The idea for the film came from writer William Rose, who envisioned a humor-filled chase through Scotland. One big problem is that he had come down with a severe case of writer’s block, and was told to just write a pitch of the idea — not the script itself — for Stanley Kramer. What resulted was a 10-page letter that was so packed with detail that it was immediately purchased as an outline. From there, William eventually started to expand it into what it ultimately became. The setting gradually changed to America, and the title went from So Many Thieves to Something a Little Less Serious, Where, But in America?, One Damn Thing After Another and It’s a Mad World, before the “mad” was expanded multiple times.
3. Jimmy Durante is “Smiler” Grogan
“Smiler” is the guy who kicks things off, just before he kicks the bucket (both literally and figuratively), and sets events in motion. Plahing him is singer paianist, comedian and actor Jimmy Durante, who enjoyed tremendous popularity between the 1920s and ’70s. He got his start in vaudeville and on radio, scoring a hit record in 1934 with the novelty track, “Inka Dinka Doo,” which more or less became and remained his personal theme song. In the ’30s, he played Broadway a number of times and began starring in movies. From 1955-56, he had a half-hour variety show on NBC called The Jimmy Durante Show, and would appear on many other variety shows in the years to come. He lived from 1893 to 1980.
4. Different actors were supposed to look for the loot
The group of actors who found Smiler Grogan following his accident were somewhat different as originally envisioned by writer William Rose. As originally conceived, those pictured above would have included Milton and Sid, as well as Phil Silvers (who does co-star in the film), Jackie Gleason of The Honeymooners, and Red Skelton.
5. There were two scripts for every actor
Besides the fact that the released version of the film is 160 minutes long (with a 197-minute version released many years later), there was so much descriptive action in the screenplay for It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World that every actor was given two scripts. One contained just the dialogue, while the other featured descriptions of all of the action. Not included in either one of them was all the improvising being done by the film’s massive comic cast.
6. Sid Caesar and Edie Adams as Melville and Monica Crump
In the 1950s, Sid Caesar was one of the heavyweights of television thanks to his live sketch comedy series Your Show of Shows (which ran 90 minutes and was watched by more than 60 million people a week) and Caesar’s Hour. His writers included greats like Mel Brooks, Neil Simon, Michael Stewart, Mel Tolkin and Sheldon Keller. Sid was born in September 1922 and lived until February 2014.
Edie Adams, a comedian, actress, singer, and businesswoman, had been married to innovative television funnyman Ernie Kovacs until his death in a car accident back in 1962. She co-starred with Ernie in The Ernie Kovacs Show, which ran from 1952 to 56. While she made numerous other TV appearances and acted in a number of films, in 1963 she was offered her own series — Here’s Edie — which only ran one season, but received five Emmy nominations. She lived from 1927 to 2008.
7. Ethel Merman as Mrs. Marcus
The original idea that Stanley Kramer had was for Groucho Marx of the Marx Brothers to play Russell Finch’s father-in-law, but he wasn’t available, so the director swapped genders and brought on Ethel Merman. Ethel plays Mrs. Marcus, mother to Dorothy Preovine’s Emmeline Marcus-Finch, and mother-in-law to Milton Berle’s J. Russell Finch. Ethel, a showbiz legend, was born in 1908 and made her Broadway debut in 1930 with Girl Crazy. Other hit shows include original productions of Anything Goes, Panama Hattie, Annie Get Your Gun, Gypsy, and Hello, Dolly!. Between 1930 and 1980, she appeared in 18 films, and on television guest starred on numerous variety shows, including Judy Garland’s on which she performed “There’s No Business Like Show Business” with Judy and Barbra Streisand (how’s that for a combo?).
8. Figuring out the credits was not easy
When you have a cast this large and with so many A-list celebrities, how do you figure out which name goes before somebody else’s? After spending more time than he ever thought possible worrying about it, Stanley Kramer decided that Spencer Tracy would get top billing given his stature in Hollywood, and that the rest of the main stars would be listed in alphabetical order, which would be the same way co-stars would be handled. Jimmy Durante also got special billing out of respect and the fact that his part was a pretty small one.
9. Phil Silvers is Otto Meyer
Otto Meyer in It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World isn’t a far stretch from Phil’s most famous role, that of Sgt. Bilko on The Phil Silver Show, in that he finds out about the buried treasure and will manipulate and use anyone to get it. In a career that spanned from 1939 to 1980, and incorporated stage, film, and television, it was his TV show that he was best known for. That series, a military comedy, ran from 1955 to 1959 and saw him play the opportunist Sergeant Ernest G. Bilko. In real life, Phil sadly suffered from both depression and a major gambling problem. He lived from 1911 to 1985.
10. Jack Benny and Jerry Lewis in Unidentified Roles
When director Stanley Kramer decided to film It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, he was determined to get as many comedians into it as he could — past or present — which meant that there were a lot of cameos, most of them in the form of drivers interacting with the main cast. A perfect example, as noted in the photos above, are Jack Benny and Jerry Lewis, who each get to do the things that they’re so good at: Jack the perfectly-paced response to a situation, and Jerry being zany, delightedly turning his car to run over the hat that has blown off the head of Spencer Tracy’s character.
11. Milton Berle is J. Russell Finch
The word “star” is thrown around a lot, but the truth is that Milton Berle was truly television’s first major star. He served as the host of NBC’s Texaco Star Theater from 1948 to 1955, and became known to millions of viewers as both “Uncle Miltie” and “Mr. Television”. Born in 1908, he first began acting as a child in silent films. By the time he was 12, Milton appeared on stage and within four years had become a “Master of Ceremonies” in Vaudeville. He became a staple of radio in the 1930s, and in the 1940s hosted his own shows and appeared on others. When he moved to television, the series was so popular that there were actually theaters, restaurants, and businesses that would shut down for the hour his show aired, or simply closed early. Not surprising considering that 80% of the country was watching him.
Stars fade and so, unfortunately, did Milton. His show was canceled in 1955 and although he worked steadily through the years, he never quite achieved the same level of fame. But don’t cry for Uncle Miltie: In 1951, NBC had signed him to a 30-year contract that guaranteed him $1 million per year whether he was on the air or not.
12. Buddy Hackett is ‘Benjy’ Benjamin and Mickey Rooney is Ding Bell
They’re buddies in the film who stay united throughout, though they get involved in some crazy adventures along the way, particularly when the pilot of the plane they’re in (Jim Backus of Gilligan’s Island) bails on them, drink in hand, leaving them to fly — and land — the vehicle.
Buddy Hackett is another actor who enjoyed a diversified career, starting out as a stand-up comedian, appearing on Broadway and television, and in 22 films between 1953’s Walking My Baby Back Home and 2000’s The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea, voicing the character Scuttle. He lived from 1924 to 2003.
Mickey Rooney, born in 1920, began acting when he was only seven years old in Orchids and Ermine. He made 32 more movies before 1937, when he played the character of Andy Hardy in the first of 15 films. He also enjoyed frequent collaborations with Judy Garland, and they were considered the closest of friends. Sadly, his career was filled with highs and lows and although he made millions of dollars over his lifetime, when he died in 2014, he left an estate worth $18,000. In between all that, he had a major success on Broadway with Sugar Babies in 1979, for which he and co-star Ann Miller played over 1,200 performances before they began a five-year national tour. He also achieved great acclaim for his title role of Bill in the 1981 TV mini-series, playing a mentally handicapped man who was nonetheless trying to live on his own. Married seven times, Mickey reportedly suffered from bipolar disorder and was plagued with a major gambling problem throughout his life.
13. Terry Thomas is Lt. Col. J. Algernon Hawthorne
Like so many of the characters in the film, Terry Thomas’ Algernon Hawthorne is a hanger-on who plots on getting as much of the hidden treasure for himself as he can. The British-born, famously gap-toothed actor, who starred in many films prior to this one, would go on to such projects as The Mouse in the Moon, Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines, Munster, Go Home!; Kiss the Girls and Make Them Die and Where Were You When the Lights Went Out?. He also had a successful career on radio, British television, and the stage. He lived from 1911-1990.
14. Dorothy Provine as Emmeline Marcus-Finch
If there is one pure soul in this batch of money-hungry crazies, it’s Dorothy Provine’s Emmeline, who is married to Milton Berle’s Russell. The more things go on, and the more insane people are getting about the potential treasure, the less interested she is in it. The irony, of course, is that she’s the one who ultimately figures out where it’s located.
Born in 1935, Dorothy got her start handing out prizes on a quiz show broadcast on a local Washington station. Eventually, she started guest-starring on TV shows between 1957 and 1959. She was a series regular on the shows The Alaskans (1959 to 1960) and The Roaring 20’s (1960 to 1962), before going back to guest appearances until 1976. Also, between 1958’s The Bonnie Parker Story (in which she had the lead) and 1968’s Never a Dull Moment, she appeared in a total of 12 films.
15. Jonathan Winters as Lennie Pike
Lennie Pike, a garage mechanic with a really short fuse, is the one in the group who initially finds out about the money hidden by “Smiler” Grogan. Winters, who lived from 1925 to 2013, was a greatly respected comedian, author, and performer. A master of improv (and an inspiration to Robin Williams), he recorded a wide variety of comedy albums, had his own show in the form of The Wacky World of Jonathan Winters, and became a co-star on Mork & Mindy. He was a frequent performer on variety shows, and appeared in more than 50 films. What’s even more impressive is that Jonathan accomplished all of that he did while living with bipolar disorder and a number of nervous breakdowns, driving home the point that great comedy oftentimes comes out of great pain.
16. Spencer Tracy as Captain T.G. Culpeper
When we meet Captain Culpeper, he’s pretty close to retirement and wants to basically solve the case of the missing $350,000 before he does so. Finding out about the cross-country race, he begins investigating and is soon on the trail of everyone involved, though in the end, the temptation of all that money jeopardizes everything he has stood for.
The fact that Spencer Tracy was leading the cast gave It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World an immediate shot of legitimacy. Born in 1900, this two-time Academy Award winner had moved up from stock theater to Broadway between 1923 and 1930, and established a hit working relationship with writer/performer George M. Cohan. From 1930 to 1935, he started making films for Fox and then spent the next 20 years working for MGM to great success. He became a free agent from 1956 to 1967, which is the year he died. On the personal side of things, he and Katherine Hepburn fell in love during the making of 1941’s Woman of the Year, and they were together for the remaining 26 years of his life.
Besides working with director Stanley Kramer on this film, he also starred in Inherit the Wind, Judgment at Nuremberg, and Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner.
17. Going out in comic style!
Toward the end of the film, there is a lot of mayhem that breaks out, so what could possibly make more sense than Stanley Kramer pulling out the big guns in terms of mayhem-making, The Three Stooges? It’s the final cameo in a film filled with cameos, and seems like a perfect way to say goodbye to the comic glory of It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. They definitely don’t make ’em like that anymore!
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