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History of the World: Part I (1981)
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Overview
User Rating:
Release Date:
12 June 1981 (USA) moreTagline:
IN MEL WE TRVST morePlot:
From the dawn of man to the distant future, mankind's evolution (or lack thereof) is traced. Often ridiculous but never serious... more | add synopsisPlot Keywords:
moreNewsDesk:
(3 articles)
Harvey Korman: 1927-2008 (From IMDb News. 29 May 2008, 5:50 PM, PDT)
Actor and Dancer Gregory Hines Dies at 57
(From IMDb News. 10 August 2003)
User Comments:
I'm Still Awaiting Part II and "Hitler on Ice" moreUS TV Schedule:
| Wed. July 15 | 6:00 PM | AMC |
Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only)| Mel Brooks | ... | Moses / Comicus / Torquemada / Jacques / King Louis XVI | |
| Dom DeLuise | ... | Emperor Nero | |
| Madeline Kahn | ... | Empress Nympho | |
| Harvey Korman | ... | Count de Monet | |
| Cloris Leachman | ... | Madame Defarge | |
| Ron Carey | ... | Swiftus | |
| Gregory Hines | ... | Josephus | |
| Pamela Stephenson | ... | Mademoiselle Rimbaud | |
| Shecky Greene | ... | Marcus Vindictus | |
| Sid Caesar | ... | Chief Caveman | |
| Mary-Margaret Humes | ... | Miriam | |
| Orson Welles | ... | Narrator (voice) | |
| Rudy De Luca | ... | Prehistoric Man / Captain Mucus - The Roman Empire (as Rudy DeLuca) | |
| Leigh French | ... | Prehistoric Man | |
| Richard Karron | ... | Prehistoric Man |
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
View content advisory for parentsRuntime:
92 min | Argentina:97 minCountry:
USALanguage:
EnglishColor:
ColorAspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 moreSound Mix:
StereoCertification:
Germany:16 | Iceland:L | Netherlands:MG6 | Portugal:M/12 | USA:R (Approved No. 26348) | Australia:M | Finland:K-12 | Norway:16 | Sweden:11 | UK:15 | Argentina:16 | France:UFilming Locations:
Backlot, Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA moreFun Stuff
Trivia:
Just like in Blazing Saddles (1974), Richard Pryor was originally cast but had to pull out of the picture. His part eventually was taken by Gregory Hines (in his screen debut). Just before filming was to begin, Pryor had his infamous drug-related accident, catching fire and getting severely burnt. moreGoofs:
Factual errors: In the Roman Era, the sign for the orgy states that it is held in the Temple of Eros. Eros is the Greek God of Love not the Roman. It should be the Temple of Cupid. moreQuotes:
Josephus: [pouring the Empress some wine] Say when.Empress Nympho: [she looks him up and down] 8:30.
more
Soundtrack:
Funkytown moreFAQ
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Mel Brooks did not invent the comedy spoof movie, but his best work ("Blazing Saddles", "Young Frankenstein", "Dracula, Dead And Loving It", and "High Anxiety") certainly make the most of it - even if some of it gets rather too dirty (literally dirty - "caca" dirty). "History Of The World" is a funny film, but it is not one of his best films. It looks like it was based on bits and pieces of ideas that could have been built up into separate movies: a film about the stone age, a film about the Roman Empire, a film about the French Revolution. I am sure that Brooks was inventive enough to have created three film spoofs, but for some reason he decided to just concentrate on pasting these mini-spoofs together.
It has wonderful moments in it - some are thrown away. The four desperate refugees from the Roman Empire, followed by centurions, pray for a miracle. Suddenly they see an old man - Brooks dressed like Moses (from an earlier sequence in the film). A river is parted like the Red Sea with "Moses" arms in the air. The refugees flee thanking God and Moses. In a moment we see there is a robber in back of "Moses" holding him up (hence his arms in the air), and when the robber leaves the old man starts cursing him.
Similar stuff is throughout the film (typical of Brooks' inventiveness). After fleeing Rome, Brooks has reached Palestine and is the waiter serving the "Last Supper". Besides having a problem when he keeps saying "JEEZUS" causing John Hurt (who is Christ) to ask, "Yes?", there is the problem of the painting being done by Da Vinci (Art Metrano), and how Brooks manages to get into the background of the masterpiece - holding his tray like a halo behind Hurt).
Brooks uses a number of his regulars in the film: Madeline Kahn as the Empress Nympho, Dom DeLuis as the Emperor (one could call him "piggy" after one particular comment about his eating habits), Harvey Korman as the foppish Count du Monet, Sid Caesar as a caveman who is full of awe. He was also lucky to have Gregory Hines, usually a dancer but here a strikingly breezy comic, and Orson Welles doing the narration properly (note his voice's confusion at the start when describing the first heterosexual marriage, followed by the first homosexual one).
The disjointed style is a minor problem in enjoying the film. Judging from the final scenes from the sequel, Brooks could have done a Viking movie, a skating film about Nazism, and a space musical about the Jews. Alas, only those scenes were ever shot. A second part might not have been a great film either, but it would have been quite as amusing.