Well, he only tried to run off with the money, not with a convict. You’re right about the cast — just about every big-name comedian alive at the time, including Buster Keaton, Rochester, and the Three Stooges.
He had just been released from the loony bin. He told the director he wasn't sure if he was ready to work again. The director said “If you don't work now - you never will.”
Winters said that scene where he destroys the gas station was very cathartic for him!
Ethel Merman plays the ultimate mother-in-law from hell.