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Comedy is a Grim Business: The Making of It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 25, 2026
4.5 stars
A must read for fans of the movie!
A must read for fans of the movie!
August 20, 2026
A Good, Solid Recounting Of The Production Of The Movie
Curtis has done a good job of recounting the development, shooting, release and subsequent attempts to restore It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. I would like to have had more anecdotes involving the many comedians who appeared in the film, but he was hampered by the fact that by the time he came to write the book, all of the principles were dead. Still, he’s done enough research to tell the story as completely as possible. If you’re a fan of the film or curious about moviemaking in general, you’ll likely enjoy this book.
Curtis has done a good job of recounting the development, shooting, release and subsequent attempts to restore It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. I would like to have had more anecdotes involving the many comedians who appeared in the film, but he was hampered by the fact that by the time he came to write the book, all of the principles were dead. Still, he’s done enough research to tell the story as completely as possible. If you’re a fan of the film or curious about moviemaking in general, you’ll likely enjoy this book.
August 14, 2026
Excellent Book For Big Fans - Tough Read For Others
The book is well researched but overly technical for fans of the movie but not fans of the movie business. Chapters are devoted to the writers and directors previous lives which is good background but stories about the actual filming and anecdotal pieces about the actors is only part of the book. They were enjoyable but the movie business details about all of Kramer films made for a slow read. Still, a fantastic film.
The book is well researched but overly technical for fans of the movie but not fans of the movie business. Chapters are devoted to the writers and directors previous lives which is good background but stories about the actual filming and anecdotal pieces about the actors is only part of the book. They were enjoyable but the movie business details about all of Kramer films made for a slow read. Still, a fantastic film.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews