As you are well aware if you read this site much, I am a big booster of the movie, It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. One of the happier "jobs" (more like "pleasures") I've had lately was appearing with my friends Mike Schlesinger and Paul Scrabo on a very, very long commentary track for the recent, wonderful DVD/Blu Ray release of the film by Criterion. One can order a copy here.
However! I suggest that if you haven't seen the movie before or if you want to introduce it to someone who hasn't, the best place to view it for the first time is in a movie theater…a movie theater with a big screen and a good print and a packed, enthusiastic audience. It really is a film that is diminished by being seen in the TV in your den, no matter how big your screen is.
If you live in Los Angeles, the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood is running it on Saturday, July 11 at 7:30. I will not be there since I'll be in San Diego at Comic-Con but maybe you can be there. Here's the info you need to do that.
If you live in New York, the Museum of Moving Image in Queens will be screening it as part of their 70mm festival on Saturday, August 15 and again on Sunday, August 16. I won't be there because I won't be in Queens and may still be recovering from Comic-Con but maybe you can be there. Here's the info you need to do that.
If you have kids, take them but explain to them first that what they'll be seeing is a gaggle of the greatest comedians who ever lived, few of whom are around today. There aren't many places where they can be introduced to people like Milton Berle and Sid Caesar and Jonathan Winters and Dick Shawn and Phil Silvers. That's one of the many wonderful things about this film.
And before someone writes to ask — and someone always does when I mention this movie — here is the (sadly) short list of cast members who are still with us: Marvin Kaplan, Carl Reiner, Jerry Lewis, Barrie Chase and Nicholas Georgiade.
Also, the California Incline — a key filming location on Pacific Coast Highway — has been demolished as part of a year-long reconstruction project. This link currently will take you to a Google Map view of the bottom of the ramp as it stood in March of this year before the work started. You can click and "drive" up it and look around until such time as Google Maps updates its photos. You might want to take a last look.