On video: 'Mad World' Blu-ray digs up buried treasure

January 24, 2014 at 9:31PM
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will present the 1963 ensemble comedy "It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" as the inaugural film in its series "The Last 70mm Film Festival" on Monday, July 9, at 7 p.m. at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills. Pictured: IT'S A MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD WORLD, 1963. Left to right: Dorothy Provine, Spencer Tracy, Milton Berle, Peter Falk, Eddie Anderson, Edie Adams, Mickey Rooney, Sid Caesar, Buddy Hacket
Milton Berle, Edie Adams and Sid Caesar in “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.” (The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Even if you know "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World," you've never seen the zany 1963 comedy as in Criterion Collection's new high-def Blu-ray/DVD release ($50). This restored extended edition runs a whopping 197 minutes, five minutes longer than even the original road-show version (itself a rarity). That offers plenty of time to savor the wild performances of comic legends Jonathan Winters, Milton Berle, Sid Caesar and dozens of others as they race across the country to claim a hidden treasure. The vaunted "Criterion treatment" is in full effect, too, with commentary, documentaries and a bevy of vintage extras.

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