Here's an excerpt from an e-mail that asks a question I've been getting often, as of late with regard to the movie, It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World…
I wondered if you could help me with a bit of info. Is Santa Rosita a real place? Does the Big "W" exist? If I ever got to visit California is there any advice you could give me as to visiting any of the film locations?
Santa Rosita, home of Captain Culpepper, is not a real city. Most of those scenes were filmed in and around Long Beach, California. The park containing the Big "W" was constructed for the film on a piece of private real estate on a cliff in Palos Verdes, and the fabled four palm trees were transplanted there. Today, at least two of them have fallen. The "park" is part of a private arboretum which is not generally open to the public. (A few fans have asked politely and gained access, but I'm told the owners of the property prefer not to have its landmark status publicized.)
I've heard from quite a few Mad World fans who have tracked down various shooting locations. Some of those places are in the middle of nowhere; others have changed so much that nothing recognizable remains. The most accessible unchanged location is probably the spot on Pacific Coast Highway, not far from Santa Monica Pier, where something called the California Incline leads down from Ocean Avenue. This is where the scenes were filmed of all the stars getting out of and then rushing back into the taxis to pursue Spencer Tracy. Also, several earlier scenes were filmed there, such as the one where the police escort cars leave Tracy alone. If you go to Mapquest and do a search for "California Incline" in Santa Monica, CA, you'll see its whereabouts.