it's a mad, mad, mad, mad world

the year: 1963

the genre: comedy


the cast: Spencer Tracy (Capt. C.G. Culpepper); Milton Berle (J. Russell Finch); Sid Caesar (Melville Crump); Buddy Hackett (Benjy Benjamin); Ethel Merman (Mrs. Marcus); Mickey Rooney (Ding Bell); Phil Silvers (Otto Meyer); Terry-Thomas (J. Algernon Hawthorne); Jonathan Winters (Lennie Pike); Dorothy Provine (Emeline Marcus-Finch)


the plot: The dying words of a thief spark a madcap cross-country rush to find $350,000.



did you know: during filming of the infamous "gas station" destruction, Jonathan Winters was accidentally left on stage and completely bound in thick tape. Hours later, when the cast returned from lunch, they found that he had not even been able to free his arms from the chair. In retaliation, Winters gave a three-hour lecture to Arnold Stang and Marvin Kaplan on forced potty training.



watch for: cameos by Jerry Lewis, Jack Benny, Peter Falk, The Three Stooges, and Jimmy Durante.



listen for: "Look! We've figured it seventeen different ways, and every time we figured it, it was no good, because no matter how we figured it, somebody don't like the way we figured it! So now, there's only one way to figure it. And that is, every man, including the old bag, for himself!"



did you also know: the actors were given two huge scripts, one with all the dialogue, the other with the action.


extra bonus points: if you know who was originally set to play Ethel Merman's role - but as a father-in-law.



also listen for: "I must say that if I had the grievous misfortune to be a citizen of this benighted country, I should be the most hesitant of offering any criticism whatever of any other."

that darn cat

the year: 1965

the genre: suspense / comedy


the cast: Hayley Mills (Patti Randall); Dorothy Provine (Ingrid Randall); Roddy McDowell (Gregory Benson); Tom Lowell (“Canoe” Henderson); Dean Jones (Zeke Kelso); Elsa Lanchester (Mrs. MacDougall); Frank Gorshin (Iggy)


the plot: Sisters Patti and Ingrid Randall hold down the home fort while their parents are in Europe, under constant snoop-ervision by their neighbor Mrs. MacDougall. Patti is courted by the romantically inert, surf-crazy Canoe Henderson and Ingrid is pestered by her mother-obsessed carpool partner Gregory Benson. Gregory hates the Randall's adopted siamese cat DC (short for Darn Cat), which prowls the neighborhood each night looking for food and tormenting the bulldog next door. But one night DC comes home with a diamond watch around its neck instead of a collar, which Patti decides is a cry for help from a kidnapped bank teller being held by rotten crooks Dan and Iggy. Against Ingrid's wishes, Patti contacts in the F.B.I. in the person of handsome Agent Zeke Kelso. He's assigned to tail DC to find the crooks, even though he's allergic to cat dander.


count: the number of surfing movies Canoe and Patti have seen within a 4 day period.


don’t miss: Mrs. MacDougall telling the police, “ You might as well wait for me. I'm going into the house to murder someone.” (I can hear my dad laughing now.)


check out: Frank Gorshin as Iggy. A year after TDC was released, he starred as The Riddler in the Batman movie and then also in the TV series.


listen for: “Meantime, by authority of the Federal Communications Commission, and the grace of kindly Providence, which gave me the power of not having to listen to people, I am now going off the air.”


did you know: this was Hayley Mills’ last movie under her contract with Disney – and Dean Jones’ first?


extra bonus points: if you can translate the Spanish title for this movie: Un Gato del FBI.