Stanley Kramer’sIt’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Worldmight be among the craziest and funniest comedies of the ’60s, bringing together some of the biggest stars of the time for a madcap race across the country. It was such an influential movie that whenSeth RogenandEvan Goldbergwereinvited into the Criterion Closetrecently,Rogen specifically picked out that movie and mentioned how the duo has been approached by MGM to remake the movie “every three years.” The original movie was groundbreaking for its time because Kramer managed to bring together just about every big star from film and television, many of them appearing on-screen together for the very first (and last) time.
A group of strangers witnesses a horrifying car accident, and they find a dying man in the wreckage, played by Hollywood luminaryJimmy Durante. He tells them of a massive amount of loot buried under a Big “W” in Santa Rosita. $350,000 might not seem like a lot of money in this day and age of billion-dollar Powerball jackpots, but back in 1963, it was a massive payday. That leads to a mad race to find the moolah before others with a group of endlessly amusing characters that already don’t get along.Almost every single character was played by a recognizable star at a time when movies might only have one or two big stars, but rarely a cast this stacked.
Those who haven’t watched older movies and weren’t around during the earliest heyday of television might not be familiar with some of the names.Milton Berlewas already a massive star of Vaudeville and radio before he became known as “Mr. Television,” as one of the biggest stars of the fledgling medium. Casting Oscar-winning actorSpencer Tracyas Culpepper, the police captain trying to put a stop to the madness, was a huge coup, since Tracy was already considered one of Hollywood’s top leading men.
Those two actors were just the tip of the iceberg, asSid Caesarwas on par with Berle in terms of defining comedy television, paired withEdie Adamsas his wife;Buddy Hackettwas already a popular character actor who would later lead Disney’s massive hit,The Love Bug;Ethel MermanandMickey Rooneywere also massive film stars in their own right, as werePhil SilversandJonathan Winters.Jim Backuswouldn’t take on the role of Thurston Howell III onGilligan’s Islanduntil 1964, andNorman Fellwouldn’t become a household name until he appeared onThree’s Companyin the ’70s. Character actorsDick Shawn,Edie Adams,TerryThomas, andCarl Reinerall brought their A-games with a few “surprises” asJerry Lewis,Don Knotts, and even theThree Stoogesshowed up for cameos. It’s like everyone in Hollywood wanted to be part of Kramer’s wacky races, and who could blame them?
Despite being filmed in Ultra Panavision 70mm for the largest screen possible, Stanley Kramer’s movie became a television staple at a time when movies would regularly be shown in prime time. Chances are that many people discovered the movie that way in the ’70s and ’80s.It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Worldwas nominated for six Academy Awards, mostly in technical categories, including Original Song and Score, but it ended up winning only for its sound effects.
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What Makes Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg So Ideal for a Remake?
Cut forward forty years, and a new stable of comic actors came to light in the movies directed byJudd Apatow, and Apatow gave Rogen and Goldberg their big break by producing their script for 2009’sSuperbad.The duo would go on to become directors in their own right, and their directorial debut,This is the End,andtheir popular Apple TV+ show,The Studio, proved they were able to assemble larger ensemble casts with an impressive array of talent. Unlike Kramer,who was not really known for comedy at the time,Rogen and Goldberg have proven, especially withThe Studio,that comedy and even physical comedy are their forté.
One sticking point for a remake is that someone has already attempted to do just that.Airplane!directorJerry Zuckerwas inspired by Kramer’s film to makeRat Racefor Paramount back in 2001, surrounding newer stars likeBreckin Meyer,Amy Smart, andSeth Greenwith a rogues' gallery of comedy stars, includingRowan AtkinsonfromBlack AdderandMr. Bean, Oscar winnersWhoopi GoldbergandCuba Gooding Jr.,Wayne KnightfromSeinfeld,Saturday Night Livecast memberJon Lovitz,Monty Python’sJohn Cleese, andDave ThomasfromSCTV. That massive cast is broken up into six teams traveling from Vegas to New Mexico to find a duffel bag filled with $2 million – a much more respectable sum – before all others. However, despite gaining a cult following years later, the movie receivedmixed reviewsupon release, and didn’t exactly make waves at the box office either.
If Rogen and Goldberg ever decided to remake Kramer’s beloved comedy, there’s no doubt they would do a far better job, and it would be much funnier thanRat Race.The comedic cast they might assemble for a remake is mind-boggling, considering the actors they have worked with already. While in the Criterion Closet, Goldberg also mentioned having never seen the movie and saying he probably never will, which is a shame and probably why this remake might never happen. Regardless, Rogen and Goldberg have a lot on their plates, includinga second season ofThe Studio, so for now, one should just go back and watch the original comedy classic on multiple streaming platforms.
