It's A Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963)

Just released from prison, an ex-convict (Jimmy Durante) accidentally drives his car off a cliff. Five motorists (Milton Berle, Sid Caesar, Mickey Rooney, Jonathan Winters, Buddy Hackett) come to his aid. Just before he dies, he tells them of the $350,000 he buried under a "Big W" before he went to prison. Greed sets in and the five men make a mad dash to see who can get to the money first as even more people join in the chase. This is a rather polarizing comedy. The film has die hard fans who swear by it and others that find it loud, long and unfunny. It's one of my all time favorite comedies. The director Stanley Kramer is one of my least favorite directors but he got this one right. When you have an ensemble of comic geniuses like Winters, Caesar, Berle, Phil Silvers etc. who can turn a routine quip into a laugh out loud line, there's bound to be laughs galore. And Kramer has used Ethel Merman (as Caesar's battleaxe mother in law) more effectively on film than any other director. The incredible stunt work is as impressive as ever. I saw the restored (the film was severely cut soon after its opening) three hour and 17 minute roadshow cut and it plays much smoother than the edited general release cut. The massive cast includes Spencer Tracy, Terry Thomas, Dick Shawn, Edie Adams, Dorothy Provine, Peter Falk, Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, Paul Ford, Jim Backus, Barrie Chase, Charles McGraw, William Demarest, Madlyn Rhue, Zasu Pitts and cameos by Jerry Lewis, Buster Keaton, Jack Benny, Joe E. Brown, Andy Devine, Don Knotts and the Three Stooges.