Themes: Crowned Heads, Religious Zealotry, Political Unrest
Main Cast: Mel Brooks, Mel Brooks, Mel Brooks, Mel Brooks, Mel Brooks, Dom DeLuise, Madeline Kahn, Harvey Korman, Cloris Leachman
Release Year: 1981
Country: US
Run Time: 92 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
Mel Brooks produced, directed, wrote, and starred in this episodic comedy in the spirit of Monty Python and the 1957 studio travesty The Story of Mankind. The film is divided into five sequences that play like blue-toned Eddie Cantor vaudeville sketches -- "The Dawn of Man," "The Stone Age," The Spanish Inquisition," "The Bible," and "The Future." Also included is a Brooksian depiction of The Last Supper and a long-winded sequence about the French Revolution. The film starts with a 2001: A Space Odyssey parody, narrated by Orson Welles, in which a collection of ape-men learn to stand erect (in more ways than one). The Stone Age reveals the origins of both the first homo sapien and homosexual marriages. Brooks then appears in an Old Testament sequence as Moses, descending from Mount Sinai with three heavy stone tablets bearing the 15 Commandments; after he drops one of these tablets, the laws of God become 10 Commandments. The Roman period picks up with Brooks as Comicus, attempting to get a gig as a "stand-up philosopher" at Caesar's Palace. The Spanish Inquisition is a musical production number with monks torturing Jews to lively Broadway musical strains. The final French revolution section is a broad parody of The Man in the Iron Mask story. The film closes with coming attractions of "History of the World, Part II" that features a rousing Star Wars parody (anticipating Space Balls) called "Jews in Space" that includes a jaunty theme song. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
Review
History of the World Part I is the kind of uneven comedy whose bad parts are so unworthy of its good parts that it creates a state of total schizophrenia. As those who shook their heads at the sputtering ending of Blazing Saddles will attest, Mel Brooks can be brilliant in stretches, but he often fills the gaps with eye-rolling idiocy, or simply ceases to try. Give him credit for making an ambitious parody with dozens of familiar faces hamming it up, but then take some away for the indifferent execution that falls away progressively as the movie moves forward. As usual with Brooks, the silly puns and other obvious jokes are sometimes quite winning; in a prime example, the director wrings genuine laughs from a scene in which a confused Jesus Christ keeps responding to the modern usage of his last name as an expletive. But he milks the winners for way too long. As the king in the French Revolution piece, Brooks winks at the audience and pronounces, "It's good to be the king" after engaging in one act of kingly lasciviousness after another. At first it's funny, but as the segment drags out interminably, it quickly becomes desperate, and groans soon follow. The film is worth a look for what it does right, including a priceless sequence in which the inimitable Madeline Kahn, as the Brooksian-named Empress Nympho, does a sing-songy selection between studs on the basis of their endowment. Still, it's definitely best that Brooks never tried a Part II. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide
Ron Carey - Swiftus; Gregory Hines - Josephus; Andréas Voutsinas - Bearnaise; Shecky Green - Marcus Vindictus; Sid Caesar - Chief Caveman; Howard Morris - Court Spokesman; Rudy de Luca - Capt. Mucus; Orson Welles - Narrator; Charlie Callas - Soothsayer; Paul Mazursky - Roman Officer; Art Metrano - Leonardo Da Vinci; Diane Day - Caladonia; Henny Youngman - Chemist; Fritz Feld - Maitre d'; Hugh Hefner - Entrepreneur; Pat McCormick - Plumbing Salesman; John Hurt - Jesus Christ; Jackie Mason - Jew; Phil Leeds - Chief Monk; Jack Carter - Rat Vendor; Jan Murray - Nothing Vendor; Spike Milligan - Monsieur Rimbaud; John Hillerman - Rich Man; Sidney Lassick - Applecore Vendor; Jonathan Cecil - Poppinjay; Andrew Sachs - Gerard; John Gavin - Marche; Royce D. Applegate - Coming Attraction; Bea Arthur - Clerk; J.J. Barry - Prehistoric Man; Michael Champion - Prehistoric Man; Lee Delano - Wagon Driver; Dena Dietrich - Competence; Earl Finn - Disciple; Leigh French - Prehistoric Man; Nigel Hawthorne - Official; Sandy Helberg - Disciple; Henry Kaiser - Disciple; Suzanne Kent - Prehistoric Man; Zale Kessler - Disciple; Howard Mann - Disciple; Anthony Messina - Disciple; Fiona Richmond - Queen; Jack Riley - Stoned Soldier; Alan U. Schwartz - Senator #2; Sammy Shore - Prehistoric Man; Johnny Silver - Small Liar; Heidi Sorenson - Vestal Virgin; Pamela Stephenson - Mademoiselle Rimbaud; Lori Sutton; Jeana Tomasina - Vestal Virgin; Ron Clark - Stoned Soldier; Spencer Henderson; Barry Levinson - Column Salesman; Richard Lewis; Ira Miller - Roman Citizen; John Myhers - Senate Leader; Dennon Rawles; Sid Gould - Barber; Mitchell Bock - Disciple; Geoffrey Larder - Footman; Stan Mazin; Charles Thomas Murphy - Auctioneer; Molly Basler; Mike Cottrell; Richard Karron; Royce Mills; Cleo Rocos; Eileen Saki - Slave; Jim Steck - Gladiator; Lisa Welch - Vestal Virgin; Ronny Graham - Oedipus; Hunter Von Leer - Lt. Bob; Michael Miller - Coming Attraction; Mary-Margaret Humes - Miriam; Sean Barry-Weske - Insolent Flunkey; John King
Credit
Alan Johnson - Associate Producer, Stuart Cornfeld - Associate Producer, Marci Liroff - Casting, Pat Norris - Costume Designer, Jerry Ziesmer - First Assistant Director, Mel Brooks - Director, John C. Howard - Editor, John Morris - Composer (Music Score), Stuart Craig - Production Designer, Harold Michelson - Production Designer, Norman Newberry - Production Designer, Woody Omens - Cinematographer, Paul Wilson - Cinematographer, Mel Brooks - Producer, Daniel Gluck - Set Designer, Daniel Maltese - Set Designer, Anthony Mondello - Set Designer, Gregory Pickrell - Set Designer, Robert W. Welch III - Set Designer, Robert C. Goldstein - Set Designer, Albert J. Whitlock - Special Effects, Gene S. Cantamessa - Sound/Sound Designer, Steve Cantamessa - Sound/Sound Designer, Mel Brooks - Screenwriter, Ronny Graham - Screenwriter
