Vitals

Dick Shawn as Sylvester Marcus, impulsive lifeguard

Southern California, Summer 1962

Film: It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
Release Date: November 7, 1963
Director: Stanley Kramer
Costume Designer: Bill Thomas

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

I like to spend a week every summer exploring the intersection of costumes and cars as they define characters on screen. For this year’s first Car Week post, I’m revisiting a sentimental favorite: the 1963 slapstick comedy It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World with its sprawling cast of the era’s most recognizable comic actors from Milton Berle, Sid Caesar, and Buddy Hackett to Ethel Merman, Mickey Rooney, and Dick Shawn.

The latter is introduced later in the daylong pursuit of $350,000 stashed under a “big W” by the late Smiler Grogan (Jimmy Durante), portraying beach lifeguard Sylvester Marcus, described by his brother-in-law J. Russell Finch (Berle) as “an irresponsible, unreliable, big loudmouth, no-good bum who, if he isn’t a crook, it’s only because he hasn’t got the brains or ambition to even become a crook.”

Finch and his wife Emeline (Dorothy Provine) are traveling with her overbearing mother, Mrs. Marcus (Ethel Merman), whose relentless nagging during their search for the buried loot finally pushes Finch over the edge. The resulting blow-up leaves Emeline and her mother to fend for themselves, but—knowing she can count on her hopelessly devoted son—Mrs. Marcus calls Sylvester to send him ahead of them to Santa Rosita to find the loot.

Unfortunately for her quick payday, Sylvester’s sole brain cell is distracted somewhere between a beer and a bikini-clad brunette. Distracted by his mother’s description of Finch’s “assault”, Sylvester leaps into action and into the brunette’s shining red Dodge Dart convertible, tearfully determined to rescue his mother and sister without actually having listened to why they called him in the first place.

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What’d He Wear?

We meet Sylvester while he and his unnamed paramour (Barrie Chase) are dancing in his beach hut, seemingly oblivious to the constantly ringing phone. He’s clearly dressed for his job as a lifeguard on Silver Strand Beach, clad in the usual bright red swim trunks.

Likely made from a water-resistant blend of cotton and polyester, these shorts have an extremely short inseam—to the degree that Dick Shawn may flash the camera a little more than he expected while gyrating with Ms. Chase. Rigged with a short reverse-facing pleat on each side, the trunks are elasticized around the back of the waistband, while the front just has a short, pointed tab that fastens through a small white button. The only outer pocket is set-in just below the right waistband, covered with a small flap that closes through a matching small white button.

Like any good lifeguard, Sylvester instantly springs into action when he’s called, grabbing no more than a jacket on his way out the door to rescue his mother. This off-white nylon blouson has a straight-zip front that he wears zipped up to mid-chest, as well as black ribbed-knit collar, cuffs, and rear hem, a box pleat running down the center of the back, and two slightly slanted set-in welted hand pockets.

Sylvester wears the simple CVO-style deck sneakers favored by sailors for much of the 20th century for their siped soles that Paul A. Sperry pioneered for maintaining traction on wet decks. I’ve seen “CVO” defined as both “Circular Vamp Oxford” in reference to their shape or “Canvas Vulcanized Oxford” in reference to the textile uppers and rubber soles. Sylvester’s shoes have white cotton canvas uppers, tied through white woven laces pulled through five sets of eyelets. He also wears plain white ribbed cotton-blend tube socks

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What to Imbibe

“Baby, how ’bout a can of beer or something’?” Sylvester asks the brunette, who brings him a Budweiser. This American pale lager probably isn’t the first substance he’s partaken in this day… which could explain his driving.

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The Car

Sylvester may be one of the craziest characters in a movie full of oddballs, but he may drive my favorite car of the many that crash their way through California en route that $350,000 payday. While it may be hard to believe so much was cut from this already famously epic-length comedy, a deleted scene actually depicts Sylvester stealing that 1962 Dodge Dart 440 convertible from his girlfriend’s husband—though I’d simply assumed it was his as the bright vermillion red exterior paint matches his trunks.

Dodge introduced the Dart as a full-size model for the 1960 model year alongside its Plymouth twin, the Valiant. Within two years, it was redesigned and downscaled for ’62, with the wheelbase slightly shortened from 118 to 116 inches. The 1962 Darts consolidated the Seneca, Pioneer, and Phoenix trim lines into a base model and the upscaled Dart 330, Dart 440, and Dart Polara 500; the “440” is actually part of the model name, as Chrysler wouldn’t develop their big-block 440 cubic-inch V8 engine until 1965.

Distinguished from the Dart 330 by its backup lights and exterior moldings, the 1962 Dart 440 was powered by a range of V8 engines with 318, 361, 383, and 413 cubic-inch displacements. The typical transmission options included the three-speed manual and a three-speed TorqueFlite automatic, and the brief look we get inside Sylvester’s commandeered Dart suggests his features the latter. Unfortunately, the specific engine under the hood is likely lost to history, so let’s give Sly the benefit of the doubt and imagine his Dart is equipped with the 413 Max Wedge V8 introduced in mid-year and aimed toward drag racers.

1962 Dodge Dart 440

Body Style: 2-door convertible

Layout: rear-wheel-drive (RWD)

Engine: 413 cu. in. (6.8 L) Chrysler RB “Golden Lion” Max Wedge V8 with single Carter 4-barrel carburetor

Power: 420 hp (313 kW; 426 PS) @ 5400 RPM

Torque: 470 lb·ft (637 N·m) @ 4400 RPM

Transmission: 3-speed TorqueFlite automatic

Wheelbase: 116 inches (2946 mm)

Length: 202 inches (5131 mm)

Width: 76.5 inches (1943 mm)

Height: 53.7 inches (1364 mm)

The 1962 Dart design lasted only for a single model year, as it would be redesigned again for ’63. The final iteration of the original Dart was introduced in 1967 and produced for nearly a decade in two- and four-door body styles until 1976. Dodge revived the Dart nameplate as a front-wheel-drive, compact four-door sedan produced from 2013 to 2016, alongside its fellow ’60s and ’70s retro revivals like the Challenger and Charger.

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How to Get the Look

A man-child in crisis, Sylvester is still dressed for the beach in his short swim swim trunks and white CVO sneakers when he gets the call from his mama that has him sprinting out the door—grabbing no more than his white zip-up jacket and the keys to his girlfriend’s husband’s red Dart.

• Off-white nylon zip-up blouson jacket with slanted welted hand pockets, rear box pleat, and black ribbed-knit collar, cuffs, and hem
• Bright-red poly-blend short-inseam swim trunks with short reverse pleats and flapped right-side pocket (with white button)
• White cotton canvas CVO-style deck sneakers with 5 white-finished eyelets and white rubber outsoles
• White ribbed cotton-blend tube socks

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Do Yourself A Favor And…

Check out the movie.

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The Quote

You hear bells, baby?