Isn't that Phil Silvers?

 

It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World, I think.

 

Yep, you got it. As far as the movie is concerned, he got what he deserved!

Paul

 

That's been one of my favorite movies since I saw it as a boy.
tons of stars, tons of cars...

 

 

I want the truck and please on eof the shoeboxes.. they are hard to find in germany..

 

Mine too. I got to see it on the big Cinerama screen too, at the then-almost-new Century 21 theater here in San Jose.
It was a very memorable film in it's day, and probably holds up (quality-wise, if not quite goofy-wise) today still.

Somewhere there is a website that has all the tracking data to show where each scene was filmed and follows along in chronological order through the movie. Pretty fun stuff.
I still can't get the service station scene, or the "Big-W" phrase out of my head even almost 60 years later. Not far from my home there are two palm trees that look like half of the Big-W from the movie. Cracks me up every time I drive by.

Paul

 

 

I've spent some quality time at and near Plaster City...... And driven that road a few times.

 

 

I found it interesting this car had 2 different gas ration stickers on the windshield. Not quite sure how or why it received 2, if one superceded the other or they got an additional allotment? I looked up the meaning of them as I didn't remember all the codes, except for A which was the most common, and most restrictive. I ran into this short but interesting story. Imagine the backlash today if the government were to implement the same thing today.

https://www.laurenfix.com/gas-ration...tion-stickers/

 

Interesting, Wayne. Thanks. Perhaps this guy was a doctor. And I didn't know the real purpose of gas rationing was to save tires and therefore save rubber.

What year did we develop artificial rubber?

 

I just remembered that my comment about the theater being "then almost new" was off slightly. In fact It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World was actually the first film ever shown there!
So I got to partake in two debuts that time.

Regarding the rubber thing during wartime, a local tech gazillonaire type guy here has a private auto museum to die for, with only interested car groups allowed to reserve times to visit and tour it. Otherwise not open to the public.
In it are many vintage race cars (especially Indy cars), interesting prototypes and the usual collectibles (one of my favorites is the Harley Earl built Cadillac one-off for the president of Cadillac), and military trucks from WW 1, and likely before.
In this collection he's got an extremely cool old WW 1 truck that was owned by the family of one of the big wigs of the day. Sorry I no longer remember the details, but it was a high-roller type such as either the owner of Ford, or Firestone, or one of the big banks or oil companies (how's that for a range of possibilities?). At a time when rubber tires were made of unobtanium for mere mortals, this guy was able to purchase a brand new set of tires for a WW1 vintage truck from BF Goodrich. Those tires are still on the truck today with very little tread wear. Probably needed new tires to drive the kids around their estate.
Anyway, when the docents tell it instead of me butchering it (I'm bad with jokes too), it's a very interesting story.

Paul