Commentary It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World is a wacky comedy with an all-star cast. The movie is full of laughs and the story is very funny in a cynical way.
Plot Summary
The movie begins with the occupants of four vehicles pulling off a southern California highway to help a man
named Smiler Grogan, who has just skidded off the road. As he's dying, he tells them of $350,000 hidden in the town of Santa Rosita "under a big W". Shortly thereafter, the eight occupants try to negotiate how they plan to split up the money, but don't manage to do so to anyone's satisfaction. Eventually each of them rushes to try to be the first to find the money themselves. Along the way, several others join in the chase. Secretly they're all being tracked by the Santa Rosita Police, led by Captain Culpeper (Spencer Tracy).
Funny Scenes It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World is full of hilarious scenes. Here are a few:
Otto Meyer (Silvers) gets greedy when he hears Lenny Pike (Winters) describe the buried money. He tells Lenny to move a bicycle out of the way and then drives off without him, leaving him stranded. A few minutes later, Otto's car breaks down and he takes it to a service station to get it fixed. Lenny soon catches up to him in the bike and gets into a fight with him. Two nerdy garage attendants tie him up with duct take, but he breaks free, going on a rampage and destroying the service station.
Melville Crump (Caesar) and his wife arrive in Santa Rosita first. They go to a hardware store to buy a shovel but end up getting locked in the store. They take desperate measures to try to get out, including setting off fireworks.
Two of the people involved enlist the help of a drunken pilot who passes out while piloting the plane. They find they must take control of the plane themselves.
Near the end of the movie, the ten men involved in the chase for the money go onto the fire escape of a building to try to get the $350,000 from Captain Culpeper, who took all the money for himself. They end up simultaneously on top of a crane which can't support all their weight. They drop the money onto a happy crowd on the street below. Then each of them gets flung one by one in various directions and they all end up in the hospital with injuries.
Movie Clips
Here's a clip of Lenny Pike demolishing the service station.
Here's a clip of Sylvester preoccupied with a go-go dancer while his mother is calling him.
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Title: It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World 
