It s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World

How old are you? Because I doubt anyone under 30 - 35 would enjoy it. It's a "zaney" comedy of the type that Gen X'ers and below won't find very funny - except unintentionally perhaps.

It has more B grade stars from the 50's, 60's and 70's than you can hit with a swinging dead cat, and that was kinda cool for the original audience, but again, if you're under 30, you won't know any but a handful of them.

If you do watch it, let me know what you think.

I'm under 30. But I've heard of it before and heard good things about it, so I figured since I'm not too tired and don't have work tomorrow I'll catch at least a little of the movie. I recognize names like Milton Berle, Buddy Hackett, Sid Caesar, and Robin Williams' idol Jonathan Winters. I've seen those guys be funny and they inspired most of the people I find funny now.

Oh and it's coming on AMC if anyone else wants to watch it, thanks for the opinions, I probably won't make it all the way through, but I'll report back what I thought of it.

As for the film itself... It's twice as long as it should be, Ethel Merman is extremely irritating and Spencer Tracy looks like he may collapse any minute.

Still, there are some funny moments. Phil Silvers comes off best, but there are also amusing bits from Jonathan Winters, Milton Berle, Dick Shawn, and Terry-Thomas, among others.

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People running around, acting stupidly, just doesn't register with Gen-Xers or Millenials, in my experience.

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You can't be serious?

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Ask anyone under 35 to watch "Beach Blanket Bingo"

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Not exactly the first film -- or even one of the first 5,000 films -- that comes to mind when I hear the phrase "zany comedy".

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Not exactly the first film -- or even one of the first 5,000 films -- that comes to mind when I hear the phrase "zany comedy".

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How would you describe it?

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You can't be serious?

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So are you thinking that It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World would generally be appreciated by today's younger viewers as much as when it was released? If so, "you can't be serious".

(Discussions with nit pickers are tedious.)

i'm 29 and i really like it. always been one of my favorites...i remember watching it with my parents and loving it.

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How would you describe it?




I certainly would not describe it as "zany". It's an innocuous exploitation piece. The fact you would cite something so totally unrelated to the genre instead of The Marx Brothers or W.C. Fields or other famous comedians show how preposterous your "argument" is -- if you can even call it an argument.

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FWIW, I wasn't using Beach Blanket Bingo as an example of a movie in the same genre, but simply an extreme example of a comedy that has no chance of interesting most Gen Xers, etc.

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Popular comedy today is virtually nothing but stupid.

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On this point, I disagree with you completely. I guess it depends on the definition of stupid, but today's audiences are much more sophisticated, or at least psuedo-sophisticated (do not read "mature" into this statement), than previous generations. The very concept of post-modern requires a reflection on a subtext for meaning. But that's just one way that times have changed.

I never intended my original post to be so thoroughly examined. It wasn't a treatise on the definition of zany. If my use of "zany" instead of "madcap" or other descriptor of the movie was incorrect, go sue me. I still maintain that It's Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World will not have the same appeal to people in their 20's and 30's as it did when it was released in the 1960's.

I watched this movie several years ago and enjoyed it immensely. Dick Shawn as the momma's boy is gold.

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Dick Shawn as the momma's boy is gold.

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+1

He was great. I haven't seen this in years though and would be curious to see how it holds up. Also, since my wife and I are 10 years apart, curious to see what she would think of it.