Review by Charles Cassady, Jr.
It's a long, long, long, long comedy chase-epic, this 1963 indulgence in slapstick overkill, directed by Stanley Kramer, who was best known for high-minded, serious movies about racism, justice, war and other social ills. Doing IT'S A MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD WORLD must be seen as his attempt to prove he could do light comedy just as well as preach. But moreover, he wanted to show he could do one of the BIGGEST light comedies conceivable. It's an imperfect analogy, perhaps, but picture Oliver Stone setting skyrocketing-budget records with his own visualization of the Beetle Bailey comic strip. No, please, erase that last thought. Movie ideas are so bad these days compared to 50 years ago that one just might get the green light.
