Last night I just watched Rat Race for the zillionth time…it never fails to crack me up. Yet I’ve seen my share of reviews which found that movie unenjoyable, or at least lackingin comparison with its prototype - It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World. So I’d like to discuss the relative merits of the two.
As you can probably tell from the opening paragraph, I like Rat Race better. I think the premise of the chase makes more sense - a rich, eccentric casino owner using six (well, eight) ordinary folk for his and his rich friends’ entertainment rather than a dying ex-con telling some total strangers the location of hidden swag. I think that Rat Race does a better job of mixing the action amongst all the participants (with only a little less going to Rowan Atkinson than to the others) - recall how long Sid Caesar and his wife were stuck in that basement? And in addition, it made little sense for the cops to leave them in there just to make the chase a “fair game.”…unlike Rat Race, they weren’t meant to be playing a game.
IAMMMMW brings in a lot of star power, but IMHO, takes little advantage of the stars’ abilities…probably the biggest example of this is that the credits make a point of mentioning an appearance by the Three Stooges, but all it is is a cameo with them in the crowd as firemen when Buddy Hackett crash-lands his plane. That was it??? Rat Race, on the other hand, gets great comedy out of its stars. The facial expressions are priceless…note the horrified shock on the bus driver’s face when Cuba Gooding Jr cons him into giving him his clothes by mentioning delicate parts of female anatomy. And he was just one of the bit players.
And finally, for sheer zaniness, IAMMMMW can’t compare. Getting a drunk to fly an airplane or getting locked in a basement is small potatoes compared to hijacking a Nazi-mobile, having a milk-fight using a cow’s udders while suspended from a hot air balloon, selfsame cow hitting the windshield of a bus like a bug or having the sonic boom from a rocket-car knock down an unscupulous mechanic’s service station at an opportune moment.
About the only thing that I didn’t care for in Rat Race was the glurgy ending, with that “Feed the Earth” thing. Still, it did provide some form of turnabout on John Cleese’s character.
What did you guys like/dislike? I’m expecially interested to hear the specifics from the IAMMMMW camp. Most of the negative comments I hear regarding Rat Race just say that IAMMMMW was better, but don’t say what they liked better about it.
I haven’t seen either in a while, but I remember liking both about the same. Originality in IAMMMMW (which I first read as I am mot ???) made up for any shortcomings in humor. However, Rat Race also felt a little more forced in humor, although it had plenty more to cover up for it.
I’ve only seen either once, and wasn’t terribly impressed with either. I think if I came across it on TV, I’d watch IAMMMMW again, even though it’s tremendously long. Not sure about Rat Race.
Mad Mad World - I was surprised by how straight most of the comedians were playing it. The pace is fairly slow by today’s standards. However, some of the bits were fantastic. I loved when Johnathan Winters was wrecking the service station. The fight between Milton Berle and Paul Ford is without a doubt one of the top 3 ever on film. And somehow Spenser Tracey was the perfect lynchpin to build the movie around. When I saw it, I had to tap ethe 2nd half, and come back, so that may have ruined the buildup to out-of-control slapstick that was the end of the movie.
Rat Race - I think this movie had a lot of potential that didn’t make it on screen. The Cuba / busload of Lucies gag should have been comedic gold. The Jon Lovitz / Hitler gag was very ballsy, but I thought it came off flat. About the only thing I thought was consistently funny was John Cleese and the high roller. In fact, iirc, the out-takes of the high rollers on the DVD was better than most of the stuff in the movie.
So in my opinion, both are watchable, provide some laughs, but unless I’m missing something (which is entirely possible) neither is really classic.
From the moment Jimmy Durante (?) kicked the bucket until the woman (forgive me, it’s been years) slipped on the banana peel It’s a Mad (X4) World was the prototype for funny chase movies without a doubt. Rat Race was cute but was still a cheap imitation.
Agreed. One reason is that pacing (in terms of cuts and edits) is lot quicker now than it was in 1963 when It’s a Mad4 World came out. Another (and more important) reason is that Stanley Kramer is clearly not a director adept at comedy. Kramer’s best known for making preachy and well-intentioned message movies like **Judgment at Nuremburg ** and Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner not broad (and cynically toned) farces like It’s a Mad4 World. (One wonders on how much better this movie would’ve been had someone like Billy Wilder directed it instead.)
Rat Race was torpedoed by its own stupid ending. Until the last ten minutes or so, it had been an entertaining film. Contrast that to the classic ending of MMMMW.
Further, MMMMW has been parodied on Simpsons, while I expect Rat Race will sink into pop-culture obscurity with nary a ripple.
I loved Rat Race. The scene when Atkinson falls asleep in the casino lobby then wakes up and screams when he sees the kids gathered around to gawk at him is priceless. Cuba Gooding Jr in the middle of the desert in boxers is…erm…hot. The scene where Dave Thomas feels out (if you’ll excuse the expression) the prostitute for the high rollers is hilarious.
I like IAMMMMMMMMMMM(sorry…)W, if only for the campy virtue of watching the background actors and trying to name them. (Zazu Pitts!?)
I too loved Rat Race & would gladly show it again. On the other hand, I don’t think Mad World holds up well at all (except for Jonathan Winters) (& the guy who played Ethel Merman’s son - he’s also Hitler in the original producers). I recall these parts cause we rented Mad World to show my daughter, who likes slapstick. This will be hilarious, we said. Huh? she said.
Aside from pacing, it should be noted that MAD WORLD is more slapstick, where RAT RACE is more absurdist. MAD WORLD draws from the comedy of the 50s and earlier – hence, it’s funny just to see the Three Stooges or Jack Benny standing there, they don’t actually have to do anything. The cameos themselves were funny at that time, reflecting the “guest appearance” on that new-fangled contraption television. And the fun of the movie is from the slapstick and the character interaction, rather than (say) witty dialog.
RAT RACE, however, with its flying cows and Lucy look-alikes, is much more absurdist, full of non-sequitor type of jokes. In a nutshell: When MAD WORLD wants a character to fall asleep, he drinks too much (or gets knocked on the head); RAT RACE makes him a narcoleptic.
In short, despite the plot similarity, they’re very different movies, relying on different traditions for humor.
I haven’t seen It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World. I’m just responding to thank you all. I thought I was the only person in the world who really liked Rat Race. Now I don’t feel so alone anymore. :sniff:
The scene where Dave Thomas feels out (if you’ll excuse the expression) the prostitute for the high rollers is hilarious.