It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963) is Stanley Kramer's epic comedy, and you can watch it online on iFILM. Nearly three hours of a treasure chase that crams in just about every comic star American screens had to offer at the time.

The setup is gloriously simple. On a California highway, a handful of unconnected drivers witness a violent crash. The dying stranger gasps out that he buried three hundred and fifty thousand dollars beneath a mysterious "Big W." From that moment a businessman with his mother-in-law, a dentist, a pair of buddies and a string of others turn into bitter rivals, wrecking cars, planes and each other's plans in a flat-out sprint for the cash. Spencer Tracy plays the cop who patiently watches the chaos unfold, with designs of his own on the loot.

Kramer lined up Milton Berle, Sid Caesar, Mickey Rooney, Buddy Hackett, Ethel Merman, Phil Silvers and dozens of cameos for a comic parade nobody has matched since. Shot in vast Ultra Panavision 70, it packs in real, hair-raising stunts done for the camera. The film long ago became the yardstick for the buried-treasure chase and still sets the bar for sprawling comedies. Stream It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963) online on iFILM.