It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World Details

Director/producer Stanley Kramer assembled the cream of Hollywood's comic talent for this monumental and mostly entertaining chase caper. Yet it's the ever-versatile Spencer Tracy — in his penultimate film and clearly unwell — who catches the eye as the henpecked detective at the front of the race to find a stash of stolen cash. It's also rather ironic that the film was nominated for an editing Oscar, for, while the plethora of breakneck stunts undeniably have pace and precision, the action badly needed cutting by at least 80 minutes. Eventually, the passing parade of cameos begins to offer fewer pleasant surprises and the slapstick descends from the comedic into the chaotic.

Three hours of frantic chasing and violent slapstick is too much even when done on this scale and with this cast, but one must observe that scene for scene it is extremely well done and most of the players are in unusually good form though they all outsta