One other thing I forgot to mention a few items ago when I wrote about It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World…
If you haven't seen this movie before or if you're going to show it to someone who hasn't, this is one of those films that I think can't be fully appreciated unless you see it with a good audience. And a big, big screen is almost as essential.
When I encounter someone who thinks it's an awful, unfunny movie, it's usually the case that they saw it all alone on a 22" Samsung or something. I can well understand not being amused on it then and there. I can also understand not loving it on a big screen in a packed theater if you don't have a great appreciation for the kind of comedian it celebrates…the Milton Berles, the Phil Silverses, etc. If you don't laugh at the mere appearance of Paul Ford on the screen, maybe this ain't the picture for you.
Part of my affection for the movie is because of what it meant to my childhood…like the way you might treasure a favored hamburger stand of your youth. And part is how rich it is with what some might call trivia — all those actors, all their history, all the challenges of making this movie — but which I think are important and interesting.
I always tell people it's my favorite movie. I don't tell them it's the best movie ever made or even the best comedy. I occasionally hear something like, "How can a great comedy begin with someone dying in a car crash?" Well, it can. Hey, Dr. Strangelove ends with nuclear holocaust and it's a great comedy. But when you try to argue the merits of a film like this from that vantage point, you're looking at it all wrong. It's like arguing Goldfinger stinks because of all those plot holes I mentioned here last night.
Anyway, I'm recommending the DVD/Blu-ray set of It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World as the best-possible version ever issued on home video. But I'm also recommending that if you haven't seen this movie, you try to experience it for the first time in a big theater with a warm, appreciative audience. I went to see it again a few weeks ago at the Cinerama Dome even though I'd just gotten through seeing it over and over and over and over (etc.) to record the commentary track. It was quite a different experience at the Dome. Quite different…and for me, quite wonderful.