It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World was shot in Ultra-Panavision, which was a wide-screen process that made it possible to shoot a film in Cinerama but with only one camera.

The film was so crammed with action that each leading actor was given two scripts: one for the dialogue and one for physical comedy.

Because he was ill during the shooting of It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (this was one of his last films), Spencer Tracy could only work four hours a day. He was shot mostly in close-ups, with a double doing any action shots required for the character.

When Sid Caesar got into a screaming battle with writer William Rose about re-writing his lines, Kramer defused the situation by bringing out Tracy and introducing him to the comic.

The cast was in awe of Tracy and spent much of their time between scenes keeping him amused. Mickey Rooney and Buddy Hackett delighted him with off-color take-offs on Boys Town (1938), in which Rooney had co-starred with Tracy. Jonathan Winters would improvise entire movies while impersonating Tracy and Katharine Hepburn.

Usually a very disciplined performer who liked to know exactly what was going to happen in each scene before he shot it, Tracy quickly warmed up to the more improvisatory approach of the various comics cast in the film.

Much of It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World was shot on location in Palm Springs during a very hot summer. Kramer set up an air-conditioned truck filled with benches, stools and chairs where the cast could cool off between shots.

In addition to Palm Springs, other locations included the Mojave Desert and various highways in Colorado and California. The final credits include special thanks to fifteen different California communities.

When Jack Benny shot his cameo appearance, Kramer let him hold the comic pause before his signature line, "Well," as long as he wanted. The entire crew was holding back laughter before he finally said the line. In the editing room, however, Kramer shortened the pause a bit.

Milton Berle always made sure he was the last person left on camera any time he was in a group scene. He even invented bits of business that kept him on screen longer than the others.

While filming Winters' destruction of the gas station, the crew forgot that he had been bound in tape and went off to lunch without freeing him.

Producer-director Stanley Kramer asked Buster Keaton to perform one of his signature bits, moving two steps forward then one back before racing away from whatever was threatening him. Even in his eighties, the comedian was as spry as he had been in his prime.

Kramer later said, "During the filming of Mad World with all the comedians, I think Spencer Tracy was in poorer health than I (believed): he had bad color and no stamina whatever. But then, even though this lack of energy showed, I think he had his best time ever during the making of a film. The comedians worshipped him. Never before or since has a king had a court full of jesters who strove only to entertain him so that his majesty might say, 'That was funny,' or just laugh and smile. Milton Berle, Jonathan Winters, Buddy Hackett, Phil Silvers, Mickey Rooney - even the silent Sid Caesar - crowded about him and vied for his affection. They had it. And he talked about them to the very last; he loved them all."

The slapstick stunts were conceived on such a grand scale they required 39 stunt men at a cost of $252,000.

Billing was a huge problem with such a large cast of famous names. Kramer finally decided to give Tracy top billing, since he was the biggest film name in the cast. He then billed the leading comedians in alphabetical order, followed by supporting players billed the same way. The only name which didn't conform to this credit ranking besides Tracy's was Jimmy Durante's. Kramer wanted to give him special mention to compensate for the brevity of his role.

Possibly as a reflection of the battle over billing, after the leading players' names are listed alphabetically, hands appear to shift various names to the top.

The final cost of It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World was $9.4 million.

To publicize the film, Kramer spent $400,000 flying in international press to interview the stars and view a special screening.

by Frank Miller