When a fleeing criminal named Smiler Grogan (Jimmy Durante) crashes his car on the side of a California highway, a group of fellow travelers come to his aide. Lying near death at the bottom of a hill, Smiler gives up a secret he’s kept for years. It involves a stash of stolen money that he buried in the small coastal town of Santa Rosita. The good samaritans decide to split the money and then create a convoy to follow each other down to the location and dig up the treasure. Once they hit the road, their greed quickly oveertakes them and it becomes an all out race to find the glorious loot. The hijinks and zaniness ensue as they come across a myriad of colorful characters and face a variety of obstacles on the way.
The movie features an all star cast of comedy legends/actors including Spencer Tracy, Milton Berle, Sid Caesar, Jonathan Winters, Ethel Merman, Phil Silvers, Terry Thomas, Dick Shawn, Buddy Hackett, Mickey Rooney, Peter Falk, Jim Backus and even has hilarious cameos from Jerry Lewis and The Three Stooges.
Stanley Kramer’s 1963 epic screwball road comedy is a highly entertaining, hysterically funny cinema classic that we love. Here’s a nice behind the scenes image of the cast who are clearly having a great time together.
