Stanley Kramer chose to photograph It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World in Ultra Panavision 70 with the intention of running the epic comedy in 70mm roadshow venues. When the film was about three quarters finished Kramer was approached by Cinerama which offered him the opportunity of having Mad World become the first single lens Cinerama feature. Kramer accepted the offer and long time Cinerama fans were destined to suffer severe disappointment at the new Cinerama technique.

William Luca was kind enough to provide us with the official presentation instructions from Stanley Kramer. What you see here is for the very first version of the film which would undergo some cutting a few months into the run. The instructions are a bit more complex than traditional roadshow operations. After the film was cut the police calls that play through the intermission and are piped throughout the theater were completely eliminated along with many other small cuts made thoughout the film.