It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World

Continuity mistake: In the wide-angle shots of the blue Willys (Jeep) wagon, the windshield is a 2-piece version with a vertical divider in the middle. The close-up shots don't have the divider.

Continuity mistake: In the scene where Dick Shawn and all the characters find the box of money under the big W, Shawn has just thrown Jonathan Winters out of the hole so he would have room to work. But in the next five edits, Winters is both in the hole helping Shawn struggle with the box and is also shown standing outside the hole observing himself along with the others.

Continuity mistake: In the last scene when they are all on the fire escape, there is one part where the landing nearly collapses and Sylvester is seen nearly flying off the landing. The next immediate shot shows Sylvester fighting for the ladder. He apparently climbed up the landing and crawled over a bunch of people in a fraction of a second.

Continuity mistake: About three quarters into the movie, Sylvester, in his red '62 Dodge Dart convertible, sees brother-in-law Russell Finch and Mr. Hawthorne drive by in a '61 blue Chevy Impala. When Sylvester does a u-turn to give chase, you can see the passenger side of the Dart is already caved-in. A few moments later, when he rams the Dodge into the Chevy, kind of Ben-Hur chariot style, is when the initial damage should have occurred. Evidently, the chase scene was filmed out of order. Also, prior to the chase, the Dodge is shown primarily from the driver's side, perhaps to conceal the damage on the passenger side of the car.

Other mistake: When the English guy and Russell are in the car watch the background - all of a sudden it changes.

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Suggested correction: When?

Continuity mistake: When the fire engine escape ladder begins swaying out of control, the actors and stuntmen are never in the same place on the ladder from scene to scene.

Revealing mistake: When the couple in the truck are driven off and down the side of the mountain the direction of the truck does not match the direction he steers the truck.

brantlee

Continuity mistake: In the scene near the end when everyone piles into the two cabs, Mr. Pike is refused entry a few times, but finally squeezes in on the left side. When the camera cuts to inside the cab, he is second from the right. There is no way he could have slid past Sylvester and the English guy.

Continuity mistake: During the scenes where Jonathan Winters is destroying the garage, he starts off the fight with his hat on. Later his hat is off. Then magically it is back on.

Continuity mistake: While in the airplane, Sid Ceasar smashes the windshield and other parts of the plane attempting to squash a bug; when they land, however, the plane is intact. (01:08:19)

Revealing mistake: The blue Willys (Jeep) station wagon used for the blue-screen shots was a two wheel drive version. During the argument shortly before the crash, the Englishman driver abruptly shifts gears, revealing the three-on-the-tree shifter on the steering column, used only on 2WD versions. The on-location filming used the 4WD version, with the logos visible on the tailgate and side of the hood. Also, the distinct 4WD front axle can be seen in many shots.

Revealing mistake: Whenever a back projected shot is used the cars are supposedly driving at top speeds yet no-ones hair, hat, scarf etc ruffles in the wind. In fact there's no evidence of movement whatsoever. This is particularly noticeable in the scene where they are all crammed in the truck and one guy is leaning over the side shouting at drivers.

Continuity mistake: Watch very carefully when Mickey Rooney and Buddy Hacket are on the out-of control plane - there's a scene when we can see Mick wearing headphones (camera shot from behind), and a few seconds later we see them in a front camera shot with no headphones.

Character mistake: When Spencer Tracy is talking to his wife and daughter on two separate telephones, he places the phones up against each other so mom and daughter can talk to each other. One phone should be upside down so it would be speaker to transmitter rather than speaker to speaker.

William Bergquist

Revealing mistake: At the end when Culpepper slides down the cable on the palm tree branch, you can see the actual rigging inside the palm tree branch that is used to slide down the cable.

William Bergquist

Revealing mistake: Watch the firetruck ladder as it sways. During the long shots showing the entire ladder, it is swaying from ground level. During close-ups, the apparent pivot point is just off the bottom of the screen, indicating a much shorter ladder was in use.

Continuity mistake: In the scene where the Imperial gets hit from behind, Ethel Merman fails to get her legs straight up in the air on the initial impact and as a result sticks them up after she's already knocked over.

Continuity mistake: The two taxis collide and get dented when turning around at the Captain's house. During the subsequent chase, the damage has disappeared.

Continuity mistake: All the inside shots of both cabbies driving show the interior color is tan and brown, but in the scene where Pike is hanging out of the cab as it's driving away one cab's interior is two tone green. When they open the doors at the crash scene with the chief's car at the end you can see the other car has a silver and black interior.

demodon

Lennie Pike: Everybody has to pay taxes! - Even businessmen, that rob and steal and cheat from people everyday, even they have to pay taxes.

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