Day 27: Film with Great Slapstick
Paint buckets falling and bursting across cascading shelves, (many) bust-up cars, other cars careening off cliffs, biplanes zooming through Coca-Cola signs and hangars, large men on children’s bikes, cars floating down a river, dynamite and fireworks exploding in locked basements, people hurtling off fire truck ladders on palm trees, fountains, and pet shops. And - and...? A banana peel. For my choice today, I like to think of “It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World” (1966) as, in part, a full-throated (I saw someone call it indulgent, and it is), tribute to that great and silly form of humour. Stanley Kramer shows a joyful lack of inhibition in throwing in every visual gag, mishap, pratfall, explosion, collision, stumble and spill you can think of, hours and hours of choreographed chaos: surprisingly, a crystal-clear, almost cathartic release to this satire on avarice and opportunity in the modern world. Add to this the glittering pantheon of American comedy icons younger and older who give the chase all the brilliant lightness and larger-than-life energy of vaudeville, and you get a lot of fun :’) Xo
Paint buckets falling and bursting across cascading shelves, (many) bust-up cars, other cars careening off cliffs, biplanes zooming through Coca-Cola signs and hangars, large men on children’s bikes, cars floating down a river, dynamite and fireworks exploding in locked basements, people hurtling off fire truck ladders on palm trees, fountains, and pet shops. And - and...? A banana peel. For my choice today, I like to think of “It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World” (1966) as, in part, a full-throated (I saw someone call it indulgent, and it is), tribute to that great and silly form of humour. Stanley Kramer shows a joyful lack of inhibition in throwing in every visual gag, mishap, pratfall, explosion, collision, stumble and spill you can think of, hours and hours of choreographed chaos: surprisingly, a crystal-clear, almost cathartic release to this satire on avarice and opportunity in the modern world. Add to this the glittering pantheon of American comedy icons younger and older who give the chase all the brilliant lightness and larger-than-life energy of vaudeville, and you get a lot of fun :’) Xo
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