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

 

We get several partial views of Long Beach's Rivoli Theatre, 525 Long Beach Blvd., in "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" (United Artists, 1963). Here it's over a bit to the right of center with part of the marquee and vertical visible. They used a YMCA that's out of the frame to the left as the police station for the fictional town of Santa Rosita. This gleeful guy has just run over Spencer Tracy's hat that was tossed out a window when he missed the hat rack. We're looking south on Long Beach Blvd. 

 

 

 

Much later in the film we get this view of the side of the Rivoli over on the left beyond the car dealership as Tracy leaves the station to go find the loot everyone's been looking for. Stanley Kramer directed the film that also stars Jonathan Winters, Jimmy Durante, Ethel Merman, and seemingly hundreds of others.

 

 

 

A view west on Ocean Blvd. in Long Beach with the signage of the Roxy Theatre, 127 W. Ocean Blvd., over on the far right. It's a shot from the final chase sequence just before Tracy and the the two cabs following him head out onto the Rainbow Pier. 

 

 

 

A detail from the right side of the Roxy shot.

 

 

 

"Cape Fear" is on the marquee at the State Theatre, 104 E. Ocean Blvd., as the three vehicles head out around the Rainbow Pier. Thanks to Sean Ault for the screenshot. Bruce Kimmel comments: 

"Well, now we know approximately when this was shot - this double bill of 'Cape Fear' and 'Six Black Horses' opened on May 16th, 1962. To put that in perspective, the film did not open until November of 1963. That's over a year of editing. Yikes. And I believe they were editing until just a few weeks before the premiere."

 

 

 

Tracy, carrying the satchel with all the loot, is trying to elude his pursuers on foot when he ends up on the roof of a condemned hotel. The back of the West Coast Theatre, 333 E. Ocean Blvd., is over on the right.

See the pages about the Rivoli Theatre, the Roxy Theatre, the State Theatre and the West Coast on the Los Angeles Theatres site for information about those four now-vanished Long Beach film palaces.

On IMDb: "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World"

 

Searchlights are in the sky over Hollywood for the opening of the Cinerama Dome. "It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" was the inaugural attraction, opening November 7, 1963 in a 70mm reserved seat engagement billed as being "in Cinerama." It had a 67 week run.

It's a Hollywood Citizen - News photo by Peter Banks. Noirish Los Angeles contributor Ethereal Reality spotted it on eBay and has all the data on his Noirish post #7127.

 

The Dome in 1963 with its opening attraction on the marquee. Thanks to Alison Martino for the photo on her Facebook page Vintage Los Angeles where it generated lots of comments.  

 

A panoramic shot taken from the house right side of the wrap-around projection booth by Edward M. Pio Roda graces Stuart Elliot's 2013 N.Y. Times article "TCM Moves to Lure Film Buffs Out of Their Living Rooms." On the Dome's screen is the 70mm presentation of "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World," as part of the 2013 TCM Festival in Hollywood. In this image the screen doesn't look very big but it's actually 32' x 86'.

See the page about the Cinerama Dome on the Los Angeles Theatres site for more about the theatre.  The page includes another half dozen exterior views taken during the "Mad World" engagement.