It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
A ragtag band of strangers races across California to claim a buried fortune, igniting a chaotic, slapstick battle of greed.
“The biggest entertainment ever to rock the screen with laughter!”
Synopsis
A group of strangers encounters a man who is dying from a car crash and reveals that he has buried $350,000 in California. What follows is a series of chaotic adventures as each of the strangers tries to claim the money for themselves.
Credits
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How many hands made this film
The scale of the collaboration
A crew of 85+ credited
Why a floor?
This is a minimum, not a total. We only count the credits we’ve captured so far, and coverage is uneven — a blockbuster might show a few hundred names while another of the same size shows a couple dozen. The real crews all ran into the thousands. The number here only grows as full credits are enriched — so we frame it as a floor, never a headcount.
Craft leads on file
Edited by Gene Fowler JrShot by Ernest LaszloScored by Ernest GoldDesigned by Rudolph Sternad
Box Office
1963 · Box office
💰 Box-office hit — grossed 6.4× its budget
Why 2.5×?
Cinemas keep roughly half of every ticket sold, and a wide release’s marketing often costs about as much again as the film — so a movie needs to gross around 2.5× its production budget just to break even theatrically. It’s a rule of thumb, not the studio’s ledger (home video and streaming come later).
Worldwide gross
$60.0M
Also known as
- Eine total, total verrückte Weltde
- It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Worlden
- El mundo está loco, loco, locoes
- Un monde fou, fou, fou, foufr
- Questo pazzo, pazzo, pazzo, pazzo mondoit
Community tags
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Cast & Crew
85 unique people credited
Top billed cast
Mickey Rooney
as Ding Bell
Spencer Tracy
as Capt. T. G. Culpeper
Milton Berle
as J. Russell Finch
Ethel Merman
as Mrs. Marcus
Sid Caesar
as Melville Crump
Buddy Hackett
as Benjy Benjamin
Dick Shawn
as Sylvester Marcus
Phil Silvers
as Otto Meyer
Terry Thomas
as J. Algernon Hawthorne
Jonathan Winters
as Lennie Pike
Sammee Tong
as Laundryman
Jesse White
as Radio Tower Operator at Rancho Conejo
Supporting cast
64Edie Adams
as Monica Crump
Dorothy Provine
as Emeline Marcus-Finch
Eddie Rochester Anderson
as Second Cab Driver
Jim Backus
as Tyler Fitzgerald
Ben Blue
as Biplane Pilot
Joe E Brown
as Union Official
Alan Carney
as Police Sergeant
Chick Chandler
as Detective Outside Chinese Laundromat
Barrie Chase
as Sylvester's Girlfriend
Lloyd Corrigan
as The Mayor
William Demarest
as Police Chief Aloysius
Selma Diamond
as Ginger Culpepper (voice)
Andy Devine
as Sheriff of Crockett County
Peter Falk
as Third Cab Driver
Norman Fell
as Detective at Grogan's Crash Site
Paul Ford
as Col. Wilberforce
Stan Freberg
as Deputy Sheriff
Louise Glenn
as Billie Sue Culpepper (voice)
Leo Gorcey
as First Cab Driver
Sterling Holloway
as Fire Chief
Marvin Kaplan
as Irwin
Edward Everett Horton
as Mr. Dinckler
Buster Keaton
as Jimmy the Crook
Charles Lane
as Airport Manager
Don Knotts
as Nervous Motorist
Mike Mazurki
as Miner
Charles Mcgraw
as Lt. Matthews
Cliff Norton
as Reporter
Zasu Pitts
as Gertie - Switchboard Operator
Carl Reiner
as Tower Controller at Rancho Conejo
Madlyn Rhue
as Secretary Schwartz
Roy Roberts
as Policeman Outside Irwin & Ray's Garage
Arnold Stang
as Ray
Nick Stewart
as Driver run off highway
Moe Howard
as Airport Firemen #1
Larry Fine
as Airport Firemen #2
Joe Derita
as Airport Firemen #3
Jimmy Durante
as Smiler Grogan
Jack Benny
as Man in Car in Desert (uncredited)
Jerry Lewis
as Driver Who Runs Over Hat (uncredited)
Doodles Weaver
as Hardware Store Clerk (uncredited)
Al Bain
as Spectator (uncredited)
Stanley Clements
as Reporter (uncredited)
Max Wagner
as Spectator (uncredited)
Morey Amsterdam
as Uncle Mike (voice) (uncredited)
Lovyss Bradley
as Matron (uncredited)
Dick Cherney
as Detective (uncredited)
John Clarke
as Helicoper Pilot (uncredited)
Roy Engel
as Patrolman / Police Radio Voice Unit F-14 (uncredited)
Nicholas Georgiade
as Detective at Grogan's Crash Site (uncredited)
Stacy Harris
as Police Radio Unit F-7 (voice) (uncredited)
Don C Harvey
as Policeman in Helicopter (uncredited)
John Indrisano
as Hard Hat in Crowd (uncredited)
Allen Jenkins
as Cop (uncredited)
Tom Kennedy
as Traffic Cop (uncredited)
Charles Sherlock
as Crowd Member (uncredited)
Paul Sorensen
as Hardhat in Crowd Next to Joe E Brown. (uncredited)
Lennie Weinrib
as F-14 / Ladder Fireman (voice) (uncredited)
Rudy Germane
as Police Officer (uncredited)
King Donovan
as Airport Official (uncredited)
James Flavin
as Patrolman (uncredited)
Bobby Gilbert
as Spectator (uncredited)
Robert Karnes
as Officer Sammy (uncredited)
Harry Lauter
as Police Dispatcher (uncredited)
Directors
1Writers
2Producers
1Other crew
7Parents Guide
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