History of the World: Part I
Tags: comedy, satire, alternate history

Plot synopsis:
The film is a parody of the historical spectacular film genre anthology, including the sword and sandal epic and the period costume drama subgenres. The four main segments consist of stories set during the Stone Age, the Roman Empire, the Spanish Inquisition, and the French Revolution. Other intermediate skits include reenactments of the giving of the Ten Commandments and the Last Supper.
=== The Stone Age ===
Cavemen (including Sid Caesar) depict the invention of fire, the first marriages, the first artist (which in turn gives rise to the first critic), and early attempts at comedy and music, by smashing each other's feet with rocks and thus creating an orchestra of screams (until performing a traditional song "Hallelujah" at the end).
=== The Old Testament ===
Moses (Mel Brooks) is shown coming down from Mount Sinai carrying three stone tablets after receiving the Law from God (the voice of an uncredited Carl Reiner). When announcing the giving of the reception of the law to the people, Moses proclaims, “The Lord Jehovah has given unto you these fifteen...” (whereupon he drops one of the tablets, which promptly shatters) “Oy... ten! TEN Commandments! For all to obey!”
=== The Roman Empire ===
Comicus (Brooks again), a stand-up philosopher, is notified by his agent Swiftus (Ron Carey) that he has landed a gig at Caesar's palace. En route to the palace Comicus meets and falls in love with a Vestal Virgin named Miriam (Mary-Margaret Humes) and befriends an Ethiopian slave named Josephus (Gregory Hines). Josephus' life is spared when he is conscripted into the service of the Empress Nympho (Madeline Kahn). In ancient Roman culture, Miriam could have freed Josephus just by touching him, because she was a vestal virgin. Comicus' arrival at Caesar's palace was filmed at the Caesars Palace hotel in Las Vegas.
At the Palace, Emperor Nero (Dom DeLuise) gorges on food, ogles pretty maidens and waits to be entertained. Comicus forgets his audience and begins to crack insulting one-liners about the emperor's abundant body contours and corrupt ways. Josephus absentmindedly pours a jug of wine into Nero's lap and is ordered to fight Comicus to the death in a gladiatorial manner. They fight their way out of the palace, assisted in their escape by Miriam, Empress Nympho and a horse named Miracle.
After Miriam helps Comicus, Josephus and Swiftus briefly find refuge in Empress Nympho's home, Josephus is "outed" among a row of eunuchs after "reacting" to a seductive dancer's performance, and the group is chased by Roman soldiers led by Marcus Vindictus (Shecky Greene). As the soldiers gain on the group's cart (pulled by Miracle), Josephus instructs them to pull over in a field and requests lots of papyrus. He takes "Roman Red" marijuana which is growing alongside the road and rolls it into the papyrus, forming a device he calls Mighty Joint, sets fire to it and mounts it to the back of their chariot, trailing smoke into the chasing army.
The resulting smoke confuses and incapacitates the trailing Roman army. The escaping group then sets sail from the port to Judea. While waiting tables at a restaurant, Comicus blunders into a private room where the Last Supper is taking place, as Jesus is telling the apostles "One of you has betrayed me tonight". The Apostles are asking "Who?". Comicus says "JUDAS." Judas, startled, almost jumps out of his seat as Comicus replies "Do you want a beverage?", and interrupting Jesus (John Hurt) repeatedly (using his name as an expression for dismay or concern, right in front of him). Eventually, Leonardo da Vinci (Art Metrano) arrives to paint the group’s portrait. Dissatisfied that he can only see the backs of half of their heads, he has them move to one side of the table and paints them with Comicus behind Jesus, holding a silver plate which doubles as a halo.
=== The Spanish Inquisition ===
The Spanish Inquisition segment is performed in the style of a grandiose Busby Berkeley production. The segment is one long song-and-dance number featuring Brooks as the infamous Torquemada. The segment opens with a herald introducing Torquemada and making a play on his name, noting that despite the pleas for mercy from the condemned, that you "can't Torquemada anything" (talk him outta anything). Several instances of "comical" torture are shown including a spinning iron maiden and "water torture" re-imagined as an Esther Williams-style aquatic ballet with nuns. Jackie Mason and Ronny Graham have cameos in this scene as Jewish torture victims.
=== The French Revolution ===
In the tavern of Madame Defarge (Cloris Leachman) she incites a mob to plot the French Revolution. Meanwhile, King Louis of France (Brooks again) is warned by his advisors, Count de Monet (played by Harvey Korman and mistakenly called "Count da Money" by the king and others) and his associate Béarnaise (Andreas Voutsinas), that the peasants do not think he likes them — a suspicion reinforced by the king's use of peasants as clay pigeons in a murderous (and humorous) game of skeet. A beautiful woman, Mademoiselle Rimbaud (Pamela Stephenson), asks King Louis to free her father, who has been imprisoned in the Bastille for 10 years because he said "the poor ain't so bad." He agrees to the pardon under the condition that she have sex with him that night, while threatening that should she refuse, her father will die. He then gives her 10 seconds to decide between "hump or death" and at the last second she agrees to "hump".
De Monet manages to convince the king that the revolution is building and he needs to go into hiding, so they will need a stand-in to pretend to be him. Thus Jacques (also Brooks), the garçon de pisse (a.k.a. "piss-boy"), is chosen to impersonate the real king. Later that night, Mlle Rimbaud, unaware of the subterfuge, arrives and offers herself to the piss-boy who is dressed as the king. As she invites him to take her virginity, he pardons her father without requiring the sexual favors. After Mlle Rimbaud and her senile father (Spike Milligan) return from the prison, the peasants burst into the room and capture the piss-boy “king” and Mlle Rimbaud. They are taken to the guillotine for the crimes committed by the crown. When asked if he would like a blindfold or any last words, Jacques declines. However, when they test the guillotine, Jacques make a final request for Novocain. The executioner declares "there is no such thing known to medical science", to which Jacques replies "I'll wait". Just as Jacques is about to be beheaded Mlle Rimbaud muses that "only a miracle can save him now", and Josephus arrives in a cart pulled by Miracle, the horse from the film's Roman Empire segment. They all escape Paris, riding away in the cart. The last shot is of the party approaching a mountain carved with the words “THE END.”
=== Previews of coming attractions ===
The end of the film presents a teaser trailer for History of the World, Part II, narrated by Brooks, which promises to include Hitler on Ice, a Viking funeral, and Jews in Space, a parody of Star Wars set to music (whose tune would later be recycled for the title song of Brooks' Robin Hood: Men in Tights — an actual, separate Brooks parody of sci-fi films would come along six years later, focusing primarily on Star Wars and including numerous Jewish jokes). Despite the preview, no sequel has been released, and the “Part I” of the film’s title is merely a historical joke (The History of the World was a book about the ancient history of Greece and Rome, written by Sir Walter Raleigh while prisoner in the Tower of London; he had only managed to complete the first volume before being beheaded).

Review: Divided in six segments ("The Stone Age"; "The Old Testament"; "The Roman Empire"; "The Spanish Inquisition"; "The French Revolution"; and "Previews of Coming Attractions"), "History of the World: Part I" is an uneven parody of historical moments, but still worthwhile watching.
Narrated by Orson Welles, the film has a great cast and cameo appearance of many famous people.Last but not the least, there is no sequel and Part I is another Mel Brook's joke, since Sir Walter Raleigh wrote The History of the World Volume 1 but was beheaded before writing the Volume 2.
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).
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.
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.
The third part about French Revolution with a lascivious Luis XVI(Brooks),a conspirator count of Monet(recently deceased Harvey Korman) and a gorgeous Mademoiselle Rimbaud(Pamela Stephenson).Mel Brook's direction keeps things moving with laughs, he directed this sometimes hilarious, but mostly crude and bad taste spoof of history with ridiculous episodes, as how to test eunuchs or the lasciviousness of Luis XVI's court.
The movie hasn't the thematic unity of 'The producers, Blazing saddles and Young Frankestein', the Mel Brooks's best .
Classical comedy satire..Mel Brook's best film.
Marred only by overlength, this is one hilarious bit of cinema as Mel Brooks satirizes the stone age, the 10 Commandments, Rome, the Last Supper, the Inquisition, and Louie the 16th (sorry I couldn't get the name right).
I love that stuff.Personally I thought the best bits were set in Rome, what with the gags about Vestal Virgins, innuendo between the queen and the late Gregory Hines, the "Stand Up Philosopher", Ethiopia, getting the Roman guards high, and of course, the Last Supper.
Of course, THE PRODUCERS, THE TWELVE CHAIRS, SILENT MOVIE, HIGH ANXIETY, TO BE OR NOT TO BE, and LIFE STINKS were all aimed at older audiences, his films like BLAZING SADDLES,YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN, HISTORY OF THE WORLD, SPACEBALLS, ROBIN HOOD: MEN IN TIGHTS and DRACULA: DEAD AND LOVING IT will always be popular with the younger audiences..
While Mel Brooks seems best  known for BLAZING SADDLES and YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN, HISTORY OF THE WORLD:PART 1 still is my favorite.
It is wildly uneven but, also, undeniably funny at times (even if most of the gags are, unsurprisingly, of the vulgar kind).Brooks managed to rope in Orson Welles to provide indifferent narration over his lampoon of various historical eras (the film's one-liners, too, read better than they play).
Still, "The Stone Age" (featuring Sid Caesar) offers a nice parody of the "Dawn Of Man" sequence from Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (1968)  while the brief but hilarious "The Old Testament" sees Brooks himself as Moses accidentally lose a third of God's original 15 Commandments!
"The Roman Empire"  the longest segment  features Brooks veterans Dom De Luise and Madeleine Kahn, the film's single best joke (the Senators' spontaneous reply, in unison, to a fellow members' concern over the plight of the city's poor), plus wonderful conclusion involving John Hurt as Jesus Christ.
Easily the funniest bit from this segment is the King's outrageous shooting practice.Still, at the end of the day, Brooks can't avoid repeating himself: the "Walk This Way" gag from YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN (1974) turns up here as well; Brooks' lecherous French king is virtually a copy of his Governor characterization in the Western spoof BLAZING SADDLES (1974); and the surreal nick-of-time escape at the very end, which also derives from the latter film..
Though it's not considered a classic like BLAZING SADDLES or YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN, there are a lot of laughs to be found in Mel Brooks' HISTORY OF THE WORLD PART I, a zany,if inconsistent look at Biblical times, the Stone Age, Ancient Rome, the Spanish Inquisition, and the French Revolution as seen through Brooks' demented brain.
Mel gathers his usual nutty repertory company together and laughs are provided by Sid Ceasar (very funny as a caveman), Madeline Kahn and Dom DeLuise (hysterical as Cleopatra and Ceasar), Gregory Hines, Cloris Leachman, and Harvey Korman as Count De Money ("That's De Monay!!!).
At a lot of times, this feels dated like a vaudeville act from an age long gone.The biggest and best laughs have to be Madeline Kahn as Empress Nympho during Roman times.
Compare the filmography of the first half of Brooks' career (The Producers, The Twelve Chairs, Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, Silent Movie and High Anxiety) with the second half (HOTWPO, Spaceballs, Life Stinks, Robinhood (Men In Tights) and Dracula -- Dead And Loving It).
When "History Of The World Part 1" came out in 1981, it had been four years since Mel Brooks' last screen comedy, and given his track record at the time and the long wait, "History" could not fail but disappoint.
It's still weak.An overview of history from caveman days to the French Revolution, "History Of The World Part 1" introduces us to such characters as Moses, Comicus the Roman stand-up philosopher, and King Louis XVI, all played by Brooks' favorite actor - Mel himself.
In various bits, we see man emerge from erotically fixated primitives to erotically fixated primitives with silly wigs."History Of The World" is really two mini-movies, one about Comicus the Roman and the other a "Tale Of Two Cities" parody of the French Revolution in which King Louis is replaced by a lowly lookalike, played of course by Mel. A few other bits are thrown around in the way of padded one-liners, but it's really more like Brooks couldn't be bothered with shooting a full-length movie this time.
Why, in a film co-starring one of the great song-and-dance men of his generation, Gregory Hines, do you have the one big song-and-dance number star Mel Brooks?At least the French segment works somewhat in the classic Brooks vein, with some familiar faces from his other movies getting some quality time like Harvey Korman, Andreas Voutsinas, and Cloris Leachman, in the last of her Brooks crone roles as bitter Madame Defarge: "We are so poor, we don't even have a language, just a stupid accent!"It's also the segment that delivers the best lines.
Korman's "Wait for the shake" is also a favorite of mine, right up there with "Walk this way" and "Where the white women at?" from past Brooks' classics.But why Mel thought a chess gangbang would be so funny is lost on me, as is the comedy potential of a burping Dom DeLuise, or Jews being tortured by nuns in bathing suits.
Mel Brooks was never known for subtlety, but in "Young Frankenstein", "Blazing Saddles" and especially "The Producers", there are many bits of brilliant adult satire to balance out the groaners.
I went to see this movie when it first came out hoping to find another great Brooks film such as my favorite- "Blazing Saddles." I remember sitting stone faced throughout waiting for it to get good and even being offended just a little bit.
erm 10 Commandments (the best joke of the movie) and some scenes from the Roman era as well as the Spanish Inquisition.Not enough (good) jokes, way too long, this is not the standard one would expect from Brooks.
Definitely a good word to describe this awful Mel Brooks comedy about the "History of the World".
The plot, which masquerades very unsuccessfully as a parody, follows the history of mankind from ancient times to the middle ages.Brooks' film, in which he stars throughout, is very poor and hardly ever raises a laugh.
I write this as someone who ranks Brooks' "Blazing Saddles" in the top 5 all-time comedies, "The Producers" in the top 25, and "Young Frankenstein" in the top 50.
This is, without a doubt, one of my favorite comedies of all time, coming as it does from Mel Brooks as it successfully skewers such movie staples as the big-budget epic, musicals and, of course, sequel-itis.Mel (in my humble yet informed opinion) has never been in better form during the '80s as he was here: lashing out in full force as writer, director and actor against the stoic straightness of history with a sardonic smile and twisted wit.
Maybe it's not as good as some Brooks' really classic films, and some moments are a little bit boring and corny (The Roman Empire segment), but hey, who are we kidding, you can leave only the whole Inquisition episode just to see how genial, awesome, funny Mel Brooks is!
With the exception of "Young Frankenstein", the opening 20 minutes of "The Producers" (especially the original, 1968 version) and, grudgingly, "Blazing Saddles", HOTW is like every other Mel Brooks movie: same stereotypical references, same uneven pacing--as though the actors are pausing for the laugh from a live audience--and not much that's truly fresh and original.
The master of parody strikes again and this time he takes on the entire history of the world, no less...While I found the concept of several segments from short skit to half-feature length mini-movie just to be the right one for this kind of film, the segments do differ in quality very much (and, sadly, quality gets poorer towards the end).Although the film does have its weak points (the French Revolution segment drags, despite some good gags every now and then, the Stone Age sequence)some material is hilariously funny with the Spanish Inquisition musical number being the showstopper.
Not anywhere near the classic that "Blazing Saddles" and "Young Frankenstein" are, "History of the World Part I" still offer plenty of good, strong laughs.
This movie does not tell a story with gags in it, it tells gags with a couple of stories around it.Mel Brooks seems to have chosen a couple of events in our history, at random, as long as his jokes would fit there.
Most of the time.We continue with longer segments including one in the Roman Empire which starts great but after a while it overstays its welcome, a musical number dealing with the Spanish Inquisition that has the same problem, and one during the French Revolution that is not that funny at all.
are frankly embarrassing when Mel Brooks tries to be as witty only a year later.The french revolution is perhaps the best segment but it comes at the end of a dreadful trip.Bland performances throughout but then again maybe even Belushi as a decadent Cesear would not have done much with such a bad script..
After 30 years, I finally got to see the entirety of Mel Brooks' History of the World, Part I and I gotta say, I found most of it funny though I can understand why many critics were offended by much of it.
History of the World Part I is yet another comedy that was produced, directed and solely written by the legendary Mel Brooks.
The film may poke fun at some very important moments in history, but all in all it is just a movie, so laugh at it.
History of the World: Part I (1981) ** (out of 4)Mel Brooks wrote, directed and plays five different roles in his spoof of various historical events and places.
We learn about the Roman Emperor, what was really going on at The Last Supper, the build up to the French revolution and we even get to see the earliest days when apes became men.HISTORY OF THE WORLD: PART 1 turned out to be another hit for Brooks and it's certainly held a good following over the years but to me it was the director's weakest film up to this point.
This movie is structured around certain famous periods in history starting with caveman days moving on to biblical times, then ancient rome and so on until ending in the 17th century with the rule of King Louis of France.Don't take it seriously and you will be sure to enjoy it..
After poking fun at all manner of film genres, Mel Brooks turns his attention to the past with HISTORY OF THE WORLD PART I.
I've always considered this one of Brooks' second tier movies, never getting as much love as classics such as SPACEBALLS or BLAZING SADDLES.
HISTORY OF THE WORLD PART I is a collection of vignettes where Brooks satirizes different eras in human history including the Roman Empire, the Spanish Inquisition, the French Revolution, and more.
Don't watch this for education purposes.I feel like HISTORY OF THE WORLD PART I is sort of the black sheep of Mel Brooks' filmography.
It droops a little again in the final stretch when we're covering the French Revolution because it doesn't appear Brooks could find a whole lot more to skewer than Louis' libido, but even that has memorable moments.The highlights of HISTORY OF THE WORLD PART I are definitely the Roman Empire and the Spanish Inquisition.
His supporting cast includes Gregory Hines, Madeline Kahn, Sid Caesar, Dom DeLuise, Jackie Mason, Cloris Leachman, Ron Carey,John Hurt (as Jesus, in a hilarious last-supper sequence) as well as Harvey Korman as Count de Monet, and many other guest stars and Brooks regulars.The entire film is well-made, especially all the sets depicting the Stone Age, Roman Empire, Spanish Inquisition, and The French Revolution.
This is not a movie that you will watch just once, oh know, this is one of Mel Brooks best, along the lines of Robin Hood : Men in Tights.
Another Mel Brooks where without the funny black guy who's not afraid to say any thing because it might offend people really put the movie together.
Music, jokes,scenarios.The years may pass and I'm sure some day people will realize that this movie should be considered a Classic, the phrases are so memorable, Mel Brooks should consider doing the second part after all.
From the 'Stone Age' to the French revolution.Critique: Though many critics (and fans) regard Mel Brooks' first film, 'The Producers' (1968), as his masterpiece, I consider this to be his funniest and most innovative work.
However, after you see the movie you will recall many many lines and have hours of classic Mel Brooks comedy over the years.
But he was in this Mel Brooks classic.If you like Young Frankenstein or the The Producers, then you will absolutely love this movie.
It includes the usual cast of characters in addition to Hef: Harvey Korman, Rudy De Luca, Madeline Kahn, and Dom DeLuise, and, of course, Brooks.It is a spoof of the French Revolution, the Inquisition, the Last Supper, the Roman Empire and more..
'History of the World Part I' might not be Mel Brook's best cinematic achievement (Young Frankenstein probably is), but it definitely one of the funniest.
Mel Brooks plays the majority of the characters including Comicus - a stand-up philosopher in the Roman times, Abraham from the Old Testament, the voice of God, Torquemada - a ruthless conquistador in the Spanish inquisition with a knack for song and dance, King Louis XVI, and a servant boy who collects other people's urine.
If you are looking for a hilarious comedy that will both entertain you and excite you, make sure to pick up Mel Brooks' comedic gem 'History of the World Part I'.
(even more then Blazing Saddles)  You actually also can learn something about history by watching it but once you see classic funny scenes such as the "mighty joint" or King Louie's "jump the queen!!!" you'll forget all about the educational part of the movie.
It's just a very, very funny movie as only Mel Brooks could make it.
I laughed all the way through this Mel Brooks film.
I personally don't think this film is as good as some of the other Mel Brooks films, such as Young Frankenstein and Spaceballs, but it still provides laughs.
I'm not a big fan of Mel Brooks' films, but History of the World is a great comedy, especially the parts of Orson Welles voice over.
That's what Mel Brooks must be saying all the time, especially after this film.
Great fun, as we look at The Stone Age, The Ten Commandments (thats probably the funniest part), The Roman Empire, The Spanish Inquisition (that song is hilarious) and the French Revolution (not to mention the look at History of the World part 2 featuring Hitler on Ice, A Viking Funeral and Jews in Space).
Another great film from the humorous world views of Mel Brooks.
This Mel Brooks comedy takes us into different time periods.First we see the Dawn of Man, then we see the history of the Old Testament and some stand-up philosophy of the Roman Empire, singing and dancing of the Spanish Inquisition and finally the French Revolution with the nutty king.History of the World: Part I is from 1981.Where is part II, Mr. Brooks?!
It wasn't bad, and there is definitely some funny material in the film, but overall, it just doesn't quite live up to Brook's other material (Young Frankenstein or Blazing Saddles).
The main joke in this film is that Mel Brooks is Jewish.
History of the World Part 1 (1981) does not represent Mel Brooks at his best.