It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963) - Milton Berle drives a 1962 Imperial Crown convertible, while his mother-in-law, Ethel Merman, drives him crazy from the back seat.
Below are several still pictures from the movie. In order to play, just click any of the pictures below--click on a small picture for a small (18 Meg) movie, or a large picture to view a larger, high quality clip suitable for viewing in "full-screen" mode; file size is 61 Meg. Left click to view the movie directly, or save to your hard drive by right-clicking and selecting "Save Target As". If you need help viewing, go to our "How To Play Imperial Movies" page. Enjoy!
Plot Summary from Internet Movie Database: After a long prison sentence Smiler Grogan is heading at high speed to a California park where he hid $350,000 from a job 15 years previously. He accidentally careers over a cliff in view of four cars whose occupants go down to help. The dying Grogan gives details of where the money is buried and when the witnesses fail to agree on sharing the cash, a crazy chase develops across the state.
| Jimmy Durante goes speeding and careening down a California desert road. Right after he passes a 1962 Imperial Crown convertible.... | |
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| ....he goes flying off a cliff. | |
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| Drivers of the cars he passed—Milton Berle, Sid Caesar, Mickey Rooney, Buddy Hackett and Jonathan Winters (not shown)—gather at the point where Durante's car went flying off the highway. | |
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| "He just
sailed out there...." repeats Berle. Nice '62
taillight!
The group goes down to find Jimmy Durante (Smiler Grogan) still alive enough to tell them all about $350,00 buried "under a big W". |
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| While Uncle Miltie explains what Durante said about the money, and endures his mother-in-law, Ethel Merman.... | |
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| Sid Caesar and his wife discuss whether anyone else took the story seriously. | |
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| "Benji, turn around. Sit still. Play it straight." cautions Mickey Rooney, who hopes that he and Buddy Hackett are the only ones who will try to find the money. But Hackett knows better: "They're not kiddin' me; they all went for it." | |
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| "Well, what are ya gonna do now, huh?" wonders Jonathan Winters. | |
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| "I want you to tell me everything that man told you, word for word, and don't you leave out anything!" cackles Ethel Merman. Nice pearlescent leather! | |
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| "There's enough for you, and enough for you, and enough for me..." explains Jonathan Winters. But it's the end of cooperation between the parties, and everyone is off to the races to get the buried $350,000. | |
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| ....then swerving back and forth behind the VW and Plymouth station wagon. | |
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| "WE'RE the ones in the Imperial and WE'RE running last!?" | |
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| Jonathan Winters' truck cuts the corner.... | |
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| ....while Milton Berle swings wide in the 1962 Imperial. | |
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| The '62 Imperial swings around another corner and stops at an airfield in order to charter a plane. | |
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| "Nobody's going to get ME up in the air!" screams Ethel Merman. | |
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| But a moment later, Winters' truck crashes into the Imperial's rear.... | |
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| ....sending Ethel Merman up and over. | |
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| Jonathan Winters' reaction includes some of his classic faces. | |
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| Both vehicles are disabled, so that's the last we see of the Imperial, except for this shot showing the extent of the damage. | |
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From: mckee@wlv.hp.com (Jay McKee)
I have the letter-box edition video of this film. I highly recommend this edition for viewing the film as it takes advantage of the wide shots containing ALL the actors, scenery and you don't miss the subtle nuances that happen away from the center of attention. Big differences in the editing too.
The '62 'vert is rear ended by a furniture truck a split second after Merman says "We're not going in an airplane! Nobody is going to get me up in the air!" Merman is "whiplashed" headfirst into the front seat leaving her feet and butt sticking straight up ^in the air^.
Here's a graphic description of what happened to that '62 'vert when it was rear ended, and it is in the letter-box edition of the movie. Don't know if it appears in the "formatted" version though.
After the rear-ender, the occupants of both vehicles are standing around trying to decide what to do next. They agree that someone needs to get to a phone, and persuade the truck driver (Jonathan Winters) to set out on a small, girls bicycle down the long deserted road. As he sets off down the road, riding away from the other characters and the camera, you see the '62 convertible on the left with the deck lid down and the rear of the Imp bent down in a horrible slump.
The damage in that scene was NOT the damage caused by the take that was printed and edited into the final production.
Close examination of the collision shows the '62 getting kissed in the bumper and the deck lid flying open as the car is launched forward. As the car is moving away from the truck just after the moment of impact, one can see that the damage is minimal to the rear fenders. Not much downward slump of the trunk at all.
The clearer shot a few scenes later shows the trunk literally on the ground. Enough to turn the stomach as there is no question that this car is far beyond repair short of splicing a new rear end on her.
After studying these scenes, I believe that it either took several takes (collisions) or the crew went off-camera to deliberately wreck the poor Imp some more to get the desired damage.
From: MillburnD@aol.com
It should practically be a law that anyone who owns an early 60s Imperial should also own It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. It's so perfect for period car viewing. I've transferred it from the letter-box version to an SVHS VCR which allows frame-by-frame editing, and let me tell you the convertible got more than just a kiss in the rear. I'm sure it was drivable, but I'm also sure you'd have heard some unnatural noises being uttered by her highness.
From: kphilli@datasystems.com (Keith Phillips)
A good friend of mine who is an avid 58-60 Lincoln enthusiast in Durham, NC shared an interesting story with me about the rear-ended Imperial in 'It's A Mad, Mad World.'
My friend, whose name is Barry Norman, is good friends with Buddy Hackett (also a car enthusiast) who comes to Durham every so often to the Rice Clinic to attend to his life-long weight control regimen. Buddy told Barry that when they were filming the movie, that the Imperial got damaged quite badly, but was still driveable. The gas tank did not rupture, but the rear was so mangled that the studio kept it on the lot and did not return it to Chrysler.
They apparently assumed ownership of the car and used it as a studio or company car to run errands, etc. for several years, never fixing the damage to it. According to Buddy it began to wear out quickly in addition to the rear end being crushed. I wonder where the car ended up?
Although Buddy Hackett may, or may not, have embellished this story, I believe it to be true, because I have seen pictures of Buddy with my friend Barry. Buddy told Barry that the rear of the Imperial was squashed in a downward fashion from the rear wheels back. The decklid escaped major damage sinceit popped open and up before the major crushing occured from the truck and that the decklid now, when lowered, was longer than the shortened, crushed rear end.
What a shame! Why didn't they use a Cadillac instead?!
