Three homages to It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World

Watching Midnight Madness I noticed a few bits that were directly inspired by (or ripped off from, depending on your point of view) It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World:

1. "Huge M" - Big W upside down?

2. "E...Eagle...Egypt...Easter Bunny..." - that goes back to Lenny and Ding and Benjy trying to figure out the Big W: "Waterfall... Watchtower... Walnuts..."

3. This is a visual bit: At Johnie's Fat Boy, there's a shot of the waitress's cleavage and her necklace in sharp focus. It goes into soft focus as two characters' heads appear, one on each side of the shot, and discuss where the clue might be. This reflects the scene where there's a shot of the Big W that goes into soft focus as various characters appear from either side of the shot trying to figure out where the Big W is - or in the case of the cab drivers, why everybody else is there.

I did like this movie - same way I liked Mad World, Scavenger Hunt, Million Dollar Mystery, and Rat Race.