Common Sense Media Review
By Charles Cassady Jr.
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
It's a long, long, long, long classic comedy chase-epic.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 8+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
What's the Story?
In IT'S A MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD WORLD , on a Saturday morning on a Southern California desert road, four carloads of strangers from all walks of life see a driver -- who turns out to be a gentlemanly old bandit -- go off a cliff. Before he dies, the victim (legendary comic Jimmy Durante) confides that the $300,000 fortune he stole is all buried under "a big dubya" in a park 200 miles away. This inspires a free-for-all chase by the witnesses. The different carloads of treasure-hunters make more allies and antagonists along the way, all in their frantic, bumbling dash to claw up the money first. Meanwhile a retiring police detective (Spencer Tracey) who has been on this case for 15 years, keeps track of the growing mob and the mayhem by secret surveillance. When he finds he isn't going to get a promised pension, he tries to steal the loot as well.
Is It Any Good?
Kids will laugh at this in parts, though even the comedy gems here bump up against the cumbersome scale. Director Stanley Kramer was best known for high-minded, serious movies about racism, justice, and other social ills; doing It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World was his attempt to prove he could do comedy just as well as preach. But moreover, he wanted to show he could do one of the BIGGEST comedies conceivable, hiring enough comic heavyweights for 10 movies (many of them, like Sid Caesar and Milton Berle, enjoyed their greatest successes on TV rather than the big screen, however), and putting other illustrious screen clowns like Jerry Lewis and the Three Stooges in quick-cut cameos and bit parts. Kramer also mounted epic-level stunts, and he violated a major rule of screen farce by making the whole thing last well over two hours (it was originally shown with an intermission break).
The result is undoubtedly entertaining, sometimes screamingly funny, but also somewhat elephantine and thin in the what's-the-point? department. It's all just a big chase, the sort of thing Charlie Chaplin or Buster Keaton (who appears briefly) would do in the silent era as a nicely compact short subject.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the corrosive effects of avarice in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. It's more absurd now because the $300,000 involved -- these days -- is rather small for all the havoc it inspires.
What modern-day TV contests does this movie remind you of?
The ending of the movie seems to suggest something about the healing power of laughter (though a classic movie called Sullivan's Travels did it rather more successfully). Do you think laughter is the best medicine?
Movie Details
- In theaters : November 7, 1963
- On DVD or streaming : October 7, 2003
- Cast : Dick Shawn , Mickey Rooney , Spencer Tracy
- Director : Stanley Kramer
- Studio : MGM/UA
- Genre : Comedy
- Topics : Transportation ( Cars & Trucks )
- Run time : 154 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- Last updated : October 1, 2025
Did we miss something on diversity?
Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by
Suggest an Update
Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.
See how we rate