I was totally surprised — and delighted — when the Criterion Collection invited (and, full disclosure, paid) me to write an essay for their super-deluxe 50th anniversary combo Blu-ray/DVD edition of Stanley Kramer’s epic, all-star comedy “It’s a Mad, Mad Mad, World,” out on Tuesday.
What I didn’t know until this arrived in the mail was that my essay has new illustrations by one of my heroes, legendary Jack Davis of Mad magazine, who did the iconic artwork for the film’s original release (featured on the set’s cover as well on the five-disc digipak inside).
The excellent Blu-ray transfer of the 154-minute general lease edition is basically the same one MGM released (initially as a Walmart exclusive) two years ago, which a single extra feature, an-hour long documentary ported over from the DVD release.
That documentary isn’t on the Criterion, but there are tons more new extras, all duplicated on three DVD and two Blu-ray discs in the set. Fans will be excited most by a new 197-minute reconstruction of the long-lost roadshow version assembled under the supervision of restoration expert Robert Harris, It incorporates some less-than-pristine 70mm footage that’s been discovered since an earlier reconstruction from the Laserdisc era.
Though I was thrilled to finally see a fuller cut, mostly it’s material that was justifiably trimmed out of scenes to make the film move more quickly. But there is a telephone conversion between Buster Keaton and Spencer Tracy that was eliminated from the roadshow cut (unfortunately only audio and stills exist, where in other instances missing sound is replaced by subtitles).
Also, a new ending for the fabled gas station sequence that shows Arnold Stang and Marvin Kaplan emerging from beneath the rubble (with Roy Roberts, who appears in the opening credits but whose entire role as a cop was trimmed for general release). There’s also significant added footage of Phil Silvers giving a lift to Mike Mazurki, and an added scene with Dick Shawn and Barrie Chase (who actually has some dialogue).
The whole 197-minute shebang is accompanied by a hugely informative commentary track by “Mad World” aficinados Mark Evanier, Michael Schlesinger, and Paul Scrabo, and there’s a featurette explaining how Harris and his team were able to miraculously piece together an almost-complete version from often compromised elements, including some with burned-in Asian subtitles.
The set’s major new featurette is a fascinating 36 minutes wherein visual-effects specialist Craig Barron and sound designer Ben Burtt pull the curtain back behind the movie’s very complex pre-digital effects, utilizing some rare behind-the-scenes footage from 1963 showing exactly how the climactic sequence was put together using various mechanical techniques.
The most interesting of the archival materials included is a two-part Canadian TV show with footage of the “Mad World” press junket and the film’s Los Angeles premiere, which opened the Cinerama Dome (where I “Mad World” with surviving cast members last year during the TCM Classic Film Festival).
There are also filmed interviews with the cast that were distributed to TV stations in 1963, a 1973 reunion with Kramer and the principal actors, as a 37-minute Q & A from the motion picture academy’s “Last 70mm Film Festival,” including one of Jonathan Winters’ last public appearances before his death.
As it happens, the only cast member of “Mad World” that I’ve ever interviewed (except Mickey Rooney) is humorist Stan Freberg, who has a dialogue-free appearance as sheriff Andy Devine’s radio officer in the general release version (which is the only one I saw back in the day). The extended reconstruction gives him a single-line of voice-over dialogue, as well as restoring a series of radio calls with him and other actors slightly advancing the stotory that were played during the film’s intermission during the roadshow run. Freberg provides a new introduction to the clever TV and radio advertising spots that Kramer commissioned him to do.
It’s a fantastic package, and I’m honored to be a part of it.