|
Stanley Kramer’s It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World premieres at the Cinerama Dome in Los Angeles. Written by William and Tania Rose, the story focuses on a twelve-strong group of wacky, constantly bickering reprobates calamitously slap-sticking their way across the highways and byways of southern California in search of a fortune in buried loot. Featuring a veritable who’s who of the era’s major comedy and drama stars in key or cameo roles - Spencer Tracy, Phil Silvers, Terry Thomas, Mickey Rooney, Sid Caesar, Buster Keaton, Jimmy Durante, Ethel Merman, Peter Falk et al - the film opens to wide critical acclaim and goes on to become the year’s third highest grossing release. Severely edited by the studio for its initial run, a reconstructed director's cut of the film is released on DVD in 2014.
