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It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World is far from a perfect film. The unflattering female caricatures are outmoded and soon become tiresome. Ethel Merman provides a lot of humor in the film, but the filmmakers went to the "old bag" well one too many times. The other two female "leads" are there as little more than second fiddles to their husbands. The screenwriters definitely had a 50's mentality when it comes to depicting females, as well as the cartoonish attempts at humor, which often echo what one would typically see in a Looney Tunes golden age short.

But It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World does contain plenty of laugh-out-loud moments, and it also contains some unforgettable visuals. Some of the stuntwork is very impressive, though these parts of the film do not overcome the film's tendency to overuse laughable process shots, where it is obvious to anyone that the actors are in a studio. Any movie where Jimmy Durante is killed off in the beginning has to be good, unless of course the remainder of that film is a flashback, which It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World fortunately is not. The cameos are interesting and suitable for the tone of the film, and silent film fans will want to look out for ZaSu Pitts (Greed) and the most talented person to appear in this film, Jerry Lew, err, I mean Buster Keaton.

Two other things I do not like about the film are the absurd letdown ending, and the lyrics to the "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" song, which are very hard on the ears. I know it sounds like I am picking on the film, but I do recommend it despite its sizable flaws. Especially compared to the current theatrical release Rat Race - stay home and spend your money on the original instead.

Note that there was more than one version of It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World released. Roadshow versions were common at the time for 70mm films, which were often given the "spectacle" treatment. But for the regular release the movie's distributors decided a shorter version of the film was more appropriate, and so the film was reportedly cut from 192 minutes down to 154 minutes. This DVD is a 161 minute cut of the film. The history of this film and its various versions is somewhat convoluted, so more research on this topic has much to reveal to those fans of the film who are interested. As I discuss below, an hour of deleted scenes (though much of the footage is repetitive) are provided in a supplemental section.

Video: How Does The Disc Look?

(Note: It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World was at first unplayable on my Skyworth 1050p progressive scan DVD player. I do not know why, but two different copies had the very same problem- the MGM opening plays, but then the disc locks up, and I cannot even access the menu. (There is a workaround: ) I decided to resort to my old Panasonic A110, which played the disc with no problem. Perhaps the problem relates to the fact that the disc is RSDL on one side, but only single layer on the other side? This is the first DVD I have encountered like this. My Skyworth has given me no problems playing DVD-18s.)

Once I got the disc actually spinning, the picture quality of It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World is reasonably good, though it fails to truly impress. Colors are flat and unnatural, and this was the biggest indicator of the age of the film. I have read that this film is in need of a restoration, and the look of the DVD supports this argument. It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World was originally filmed and released in the 70mm format, and undoubtedly this DVD version pales in comparison to what people saw on the big screen back in 1963.

Presented in the very wide 2.55:1 aspect ratio, the DVD's sharpness and detail are very inconsistent, looking excellent during one scene and then dull the next. Scratches, specks, and other such debris are barely in evidence, but that seems to be the norm since the advent of the digital cleanup process. The picture does occasionally take on a faintly grainy, worn appearance, again a reflection of the film's age. The last problem that needs to be mentioned is the frequent shimmering associated with the abundance of car chrome on display. This annoyance might have been exacerbated by my use of my old Panasonic interlaced player, so this problem might be of less significance depending on one's viewing hardware.

Audio: How Does the Disc Sound?

I was disappointed by the audio, but that might have been because I was expecting more punch and fireworks from the included Dolby Digital 5.1 track. The soundtrack is clear with only the slightest presence of background noise, and this is probably the soundtrack's best quality. If not for the music, the 5.1 soundtrack would not be significantly superior to a quality monaural version.

If you know the film, you know that it contains quite a few explosions and such, and yet these fail to make much of an audible impact. I do not know how the film is supposed to sound in these instances, but I was hoping for more low end. I was more impressed with how the opening credit sequence sounded than anything else, and that is not a compliment. Directional dialogue is present. For example, when a character is standing at the side of the screen and talking, that dialogue is emitted from that side's front speaker and also the center speaker. Surround use is very subtle and often nonexistent.

Discerning fans will want to know if this DVD release properly includes the opening overture, intermission, and exit musical segments, and with one caveat these parts appear to be complete. The caveat is that the intermission is apparently different than what was heard on the Roadshow version of the film, as referenced in the documentary. Apparently in that version the audio storyline proceeded during the intermission, with police bulletins keeping the audience updated about what was presently occurring, though the action could not be seen onscreen for those few minutes.

Supplements: What Goodies Are There?

The best supplement by far is the 59-minute Something a Little Less Serious documentary. Apparently produced several years ago, perhaps for previous video incarnations, everyone looks younger than they do now! (Except for Milton Berle who already looked really old back then.) The first 25 minutes are actually disappointing and somewhat monotonous thanks to the self-congratulatory attitude of the interviewees, which included most of the cast that was still living at the time. Eventually, the ass kissing is dispensed with, and the rest of the documentary contains some interesting anecdotes about the making of the film, though under the circumstances of such a large, prominent cast, I would have thought that there would be more hijinks and madcap frivolity. Some detail on the various versions of the film is also included.

The presumably important yet disappointing hour of deleted scenes are quite tedious, and these scenes are difficult to sit through. One of the problems is that they are not in order - a scene at the end of the film is shown, and the next segment might be culled from the beginning of the film. Another problem is that a lot of the scenes are very repetitive, with few differences compared to what made the final cut. Some of the deleted scenes mirror each other so much that you have to pay attention closely just to spot any differences. In my opinion, I felt only one scene should have been left in the film, a sequence explaining why Phil Silvers is so willing to help the guy he picks up. I suppose all these scenes are important to the completist, but I did not get much out of them. The 56 segments are not indexed, though each is provided with a chapter stop.

Last but not least, we have two theatrical trailers: the film's original release trailer in anamorphic widescreen, and the 1970 reissue trailer, which for some reason is not.

DVD-ROM Exclusives: What do you get when you pop the disc in your PC?

No ROM extras have been included.

Parting Thoughts