50 Fun Facts About It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World

Which slapstick comedy team makes a wordless cameo as airport firemen in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World?

The Three Stooges appear for only a few seconds, standing motionless in their gear. By 1963 the line-up was Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Curly Joe DeRita.

In It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, what does the 'big W' marking the buried cash turn out to be?

Four palm trees grouped together form the W. The dying crook gave no other clue, so the treasure hunters search the state park frantically before the shape finally shows itself.

Which two-time Best Actor winner plays weary police captain Culpeper in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World?

Spencer Tracy was in poor health and completed the part in nine non-consecutive days. He was the first actor to win back-to-back Best Actor Oscars, for Captains Courageous and Boys Town.

What does the scolding Mrs. Marcus slip on in the final scene of It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World?

A banana peel dropped earlier sends her sprawling mid-tirade. The men she was scolding burst out laughing, and even the gloomy police captain finally joins in.

Which human failing, shared by nearly every character, is the satirical target of It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World?

Greed turns helpful strangers into rivals minutes after they hear about the buried cash. The director was known for issue dramas, and this was his comic take on a vice.

Which future television detective plays a cab driver who joins the treasure hunt in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World?

Peter Falk shows up only in the last fifth of the film, as a cabbie who catches treasure fever. He already had two Oscar nominations, and Columbo was still five years away.

What does furious trucker Lennie Pike tear apart with his bare hands in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World?

A gas station comes down around its two mild-mannered owners after they try to detain Pike. The one-man demolition is often called the film's most memorable set piece.

Which 2001 comedy starring Rowan Atkinson and Whoopi Goldberg was inspired by It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World?

Rat Race sends six teams sprinting toward a storage locker holding a duffel bag of $2 million. The film borrowed the all-star chase idea almost 40 years after the original.

Which silent-comedy star has a late cameo as a crook in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World?

Buster Keaton turns up near the end of the film for a few moments. His unsmiling deadpan in 1920s classics had earned him the nickname The Great Stone Face.

A stunt pilot flew a real plane through a billboard for which soft drink in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World?

Coca-Cola was the brand on the sign, which a Beechcraft Model 18 burst through for real. The same pilot also flew the plane through an airport hangar.

How much stolen money does the dying Smiler Grogan say he buried in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World?

$350,000 was the haul from a robbery fifteen years earlier. The strangers who hear the secret try to agree on shares, fail, and start a mad dash instead.

Which veteran comedian plays the dying Smiler Grogan in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World?

Jimmy Durante, nicknamed the Schnozzola for his prominent nose, is on screen only for the opening minutes. His character's last words set everyone else in motion.

What is the profession of Melville Crump, the husband on a second honeymoon in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World?

A dentist by trade, Crump is travelling with his wife Monica when the pair join the hunt. They reach the town first, then get locked in a hardware store basement.

What do the trapped Crumps finally use to escape a hardware store basement in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World?

Dynamite blows out the basement wall after several other escape attempts fail. The couple then hire a cab to finish the trip.

Which former child star plays Ding Bell in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World?

Mickey Rooney plays one of two pals who end up trying to land a plane themselves. He outlived the rest of the main cast, dying in 2014.

Where were pals Ding Bell and Benjy Benjamin headed before the treasure hunt in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World?

Las Vegas was the plan until a stranger's dying words changed the trip. The friends charter a small plane instead, and its alcoholic pilot soon knocks himself out.

Which comedy star has a seconds-long cameo running over a hat in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World?

Jerry Lewis drives over the police captain's hat and is gone in a flash, without screen credit. He directed, co-wrote and starred in The Nutty Professor the same year.

What relation is the overbearing Mrs. Marcus to businessman J. Russell Finch in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World?

His mother-in-law rides along with Finch and his wife Emmeline, bickering the whole way. After one argument too many, the two women get out and hitch their own ride.

Which English actor plays Lt. Col. J. Algernon Hawthorne in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World?

Terry-Thomas first turned the part down, then changed his mind on the flight home to London. He phoned his acceptance from the airport and flew back the same day for a fitting.

The climax of It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World used effects work by a veteran of which classic monster film?

King Kong animator Willis O'Brien worked on the miniature shots of men dangling high above the street. He died in 1962, before the comedy reached cinemas.

Which director of serious dramas like The Defiant Ones directed his first comedy with It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World?

Stanley Kramer had built his name on issue films about racism, nuclear war and fascism. He set out to make the ultimate comedy and packed it with dozens of comedians.

Which Broadway musical star plays the loud Mrs. Marcus in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World?

Ethel Merman, known for her distinctive, powerful voice, spends the film berating everyone in earshot. She has been called the undisputed First Lady of the musical comedy stage.

Which television comedy star plays the double-crossing Otto Meyer in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World?

Phil Silvers, television's Sergeant Bilko, plays a motorist who learns the secret from a stranded driver and promptly abandons him. He later loses his car in a river he tries to drive across.

Which improv comedian earned a Golden Globe nomination as trucker Lennie Pike in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World?

Jonathan Winters was nominated for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy for the part. He later played Mearth, the middle-aged child hatched from an egg on Mork & Mindy.

Which 1950s television comedian plays Melville Crump in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World?

Sid Caesar spends a long stretch of the film trapped below ground with his screen wife. His series Your Show of Shows went out live for 90 minutes every week in the early 1950s.

Which early television star plays businessman J. Russell Finch in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World?

Milton Berle was known to millions as Uncle Miltie, the first major American television star. Here he plays a harried husband whose lift from a British officer ends in a fistfight.

Which comedian plays Benjy Benjamin, Ding Bell's travelling pal, in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World?

Buddy Hackett was reunited here with his co-star from Everything's Ducky, a comedy about sailors and a talking duck. Disney audiences also know him from The Love Bug.

Which half of a famous comedy duo turned down a cameo in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World after retiring?

Stan Laurel had stopped performing after his partner Oliver Hardy died in 1957 and would not return, even for a few seconds on screen. He had received an honorary Oscar in 1961.

Where do the battered treasure hunters end up in the closing scene of It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World?

A prison hospital holds the men, heavily injured after their fall. There they grumble about the lost money and blame the police captain for everything.

Which new Hollywood cinema on Sunset Boulevard opened with the premiere of It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World?

The Cinerama Dome, a concrete geodesic dome, was finished in time for the premiere on 7 November 1963. The comedy then played there for 66 weeks.

Which event involving ex-convict Smiler Grogan sets off the treasure hunt in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World?

A fatal crash on a mountain highway leaves him dying in front of passing motorists. He uses his last breath to tell them where his stolen cash is hidden.

What finally flings the men through the air at the climax of It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World?

A swaying rescue ladder whips around under the combined weight of every man at once and hurls them all off. A miniature built for the sequence went on show at the Hollywood Museum.

What happens to the suitcase of cash dug up in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World?

The wind scatters it when the case falls open during a chase up a rickety fire escape. The police captain had just tried to make off with the lot himself.

Which television comedy actor plays a nervous motorist in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World?

Don Knotts has a brief cameo, one of dozens of famous faces who appear for a scene or less. He won five Emmy Awards as deputy Barney Fife on The Andy Griffith Show.

Which cartoon voice actor plays a tipsy plane owner in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World?

Jim Backus plays Tyler Fitzgerald, the alcoholic pilot who knocks himself out and leaves two passengers to land the plane. He was later Thurston Howell III on Gilligan's Island.

What relation to Mrs. Marcus is Sylvester, who misunderstands her phone call in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World?

Her son lives close to the state park, so she phones him to get there ahead of the others. He misunderstands and drives off to meet her instead.

Which television comedy producer plays an airport tower controller in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World?

Carl Reiner mans the control tower during the runaway-plane sequence. His sitcom The Dick Van Dyke Show was on the air at the time, with him producing, writing and appearing in it.

Which veteran radio star has a brief desert cameo in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World?

Jack Benny appears for a moment as a man driving through the desert. On his own shows he played a vain miser who scraped away badly at the violin.

Which 1967 drama reunited the director, writer and top-billed star of It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World?

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner won its screenwriter an Oscar and was the leading man's final film. It also swapped slapstick for a drama about an interracial engagement.

Which Disney voice actor appears as a fireman in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World?

Sterling Holloway is another of the film's blink-and-miss guest stars. His voice gave Disney Winnie the Pooh, the Cheshire Cat in Alice in Wonderland and Kaa in The Jungle Book.

In which country was the comic chase first set before It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World was moved to America?

Scotland was the backdrop of the original outline, written while its American author was living in Britain. The story crossed the Atlantic once a Hollywood director agreed to make it.

Which was the only Oscar won by It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World from its six Academy Award nominations?

Best Sound Effects went to Walter Elliott, the first winner of a category introduced at that ceremony. The comedy lost in its other five categories, including a nod for its title tune.

Which American writer of The Ladykillers co-wrote It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World with his wife Tania?

William Rose had settled in Britain after the war and written hit comedies such as Genevieve before sending this outline to Hollywood. He later won an Oscar for an original screenplay.

Which girl group sings two songs heard in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World?

The Shirelles recorded 31 Flavors and You Satisfy My Soul for the soundtrack. The first of the two was also used to promote the Baskin-Robbins ice cream chain.

Which studio released It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World and cut its running time against the director's wishes?

United Artists trimmed the comedy from 192 minutes at its premiere to about 163 for general release, against the director's wishes. A longer restored version finally appeared in 2014.

Which designer of the Psycho titles created the animated opening credits of It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World?

Saul Bass filled the sequence with visual puns built around a globe. He also designed the titles for North by Northwest and The Man with the Golden Arm.

Which actor, later the hippie star L.S.D. in The Producers, plays Sylvester Marcus in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World?

Dick Shawn is introduced dancing with his bikini-clad girlfriend, played by Barrie Chase. He made a speciality of sending up counterculture types in 1960s comedies.

Which silent-era actress made her final film appearance as a switchboard operator in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World?

ZaSu Pitts plays Gertie, who works the police switchboard. She died in June 1963, five months before the comedy opened.

Which Oscar-winning composer of Exodus wrote the score and title song for It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World?

Ernest Gold worked on almost every film this director made. Both his score and the title song, with words by Mack David, were Oscar-nominated.

Which widescreen process, later revived for The Hateful Eight, was used to shoot It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World?

Ultra Panavision 70 gave an extremely wide 2.76:1 picture from a single strip of 70mm film. Ben-Hur had been shot in the same system under the name MGM Camera 65.