It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad, World

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad World as far as I'm concerned (and it seems people at the "Psychology Today" blog agree). The movie, "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" originally premiered on November 7, 1963. Forty-six years later and we still agree It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World!

Getting back to the Psychology Today blog, recently they posted articles about Tiger Wood and Adam Lambert discussing the media coverage of the rise and fall of these two high-profile people.

One of the articles entitled, "Adam Lambert and Performance Porn at the AMA Show" ended with this power-packed statement: "But Adam can't expect there to be only an upside. Not in these times of culture wars and polarized passions. Pushing boundaries is walking on razorblades. The bad thing is that, indeed, it is a mad, mad world. The good thing is the times they are a-changin.'"

The original movie, "It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" was about the wild pursuit of $350,000 in stolen cash by a unique group of strangers. Jimmy Durante made his last screen appearance in "It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" as "Smiler Grogan". He's the man who shares the info about the $350,000 with his dying breath.

Other industry giants appearing in "It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" include Mickey Rooney (do you remember Mickey Rooney's Weenie World restaurant?), Milton Berle (who looks better in a dress?), Buddy Hackett (who can't resist his lisp), Jonathan Winters (another genius) and Ethel Merman (what a voice!).

"It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" featured even more major stars including Spencer Tracy, Carl Reiner, Jim Backus, Peter Falk, Edie Adams, Sid Caesar and Buster Keaton. Wikipedia reports the original movie ran 210 minutes then was cut to 192 minutes for the premiere release.

The film ran 210 minutes in its preview showing. Kramer cut the film to 192 minutes for the premiere release. Some cut footage is still missing with 20 minutes of material that has yet to be found. The official MGM release of "It's A Mad, Mad, Mad World" is 161 minutes. Hmm, guess that proves It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World after all!

"It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" won an Academy Award for Best Sound Editing and received Golden Globes award nomination for Best (Comedy) Picture and for Jonathan Winters' as Best Actor.

Whether big money is on the line or not, wouldn't you agree "It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World"?!