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The Big W is, well, was on the grounds of an estate, The Hickson House, on the Portugese Bend that we got to spend the night in once. It was reputed to be haunted, and after having one of the scariest nights in my life there, I will not dispute that reputation.
But in the light of day it was a delight to find the Big W. Alas, a few of the palms have fallen in recent years and the Big W is no more. Should have dug for treasure when I had the chance. But gruesome things were said to have been buried by Satanists at the Hickson House ... and being as we went back the next night and interrupted people in white robes conducting some sort of ritual on the grounds ... well, I'm glad we didn't have any shovels with us the day before.
One other interesting Mad Mad World story ... during the original run, there were a series of police call recordings that furthered the story for the audience during intermission. These audio tracks were played in the auditorium during the break, and also in the restrooms at the Cinerama Dome - where the film premiered. But these "voices" freaked patrons so much, the intermission audio was nixed after the first week.
A couple years back, there was a revival of the film at the Dome, and the intermission audio was played for the first time in 3 decades ... including in the restrooms. It was completely rad.
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