Movie Review – History of the World, Part 1 (1981)
Remember all of those boring history lessons from your social studies and geography classes back in school?
Wouldn’t it be fun to sit back and poke some fun at those past events, shedding some light on some darker events just for a few laughs?
That’s exactly the premise in comedic legend Mel Brooks’s classic film, History of the World, Part 1. This film takes a look at a few time periods from the Dawn of Man to the Roman empire and the French Revolution, and shows us that history can be rather hilarious even in some of our darker times as a society.
History of the World, Part 1 is a 1981 film written, directed and produced by Mel Brooks, one of the greatest when it comes to poking fun at other films and events. Not only behind the camera, but Mel Brooks also stars as five different characters throughout the film, even playing a dual role during the French Revolution. History of the World, Part 1 also stars Dom DeLuise as Emperor Nero, Madeline Kahn as Empress Nympho, Harvey Korman as Count de Monet, and Cloris Leachman as Madame Defarge. The film is narrated by Orson Wells. Along the way you may see other famous faces such as Mary-Margaret Humes, Ron Carey, Gregory Hines, Sid Caesar, Bea Arthur, Hugh Hefner and John Hurt.
History of the World, Part 1 (1981) – (c) 20th Century Fox
History of the World, Part 1 begins with the Dawn of Man. In a parody of the opening of 2001: A Space Odyssey, we see apes stand upright and begin to move around like Homo sapiens. Of course, this is a Mel Brooks film, so the apes don’t just move around like regular people. They all furiously masturbate and then collapse to the ground once they’re finished.
History of the World, Part 1 (1981) – (c) 20th Century Fox
The Stone Age is next and we learn about what life was like with the cavemen. The lead caveman (Sid Caesar) shows us a variety of “firsts” including the creation of fire; the first artist and his cave painting (which also leads to the first art critic); the first Homo sapien marriage with a caveman clubbing a female and dragging her into his cave (followed by the first homo sexual marriage with a man clubbing another man); the invention of the spear, the first hunting tool; the first funeral service; and of course, the first forms of entertainment.
For entertainment, first we see a caveman trying to entertain his fellow people. They don’t care for his tumbling and acrobat skills, but when a dinosaur bites and carries him away, they think it’s hilarious. After that we see the lead caveman accidentally drop a stone on another caveman’s foot, causing him to cry out in pain. The lead caveman liked the sound so he continued hitting his companion and making him cry out loud. This leads to the first orchestra with the cavemen singing “Hallelujah” while others smash them with rocks.
History of the World, Part 1 (1981) – (c) 20th Century Fox
The Old Testament has a short segment with Moses (Mel Brooks) on Mount Sinai. God gives Moses His Commandments and we see Moses bring out three stone tablets. Moses proclaims, “The Lord Jehovah has given unto you these fifteen . . .” One of the tablets falls to the ground and breaks, leaving him with two. “Oy . . . ten! TEN Commandments! For all to obey!”
History of the World, Part 1 (1981) – (c) 20th Century Fox
The Roman Empire accounts for the majority of History of the World, Part 1. After taking a quick look at Rome (includes vendors such as a “V and X Cent Store” along with column and pipe sellers, a fortune teller (Charlie Callas), and Hugh Hefner with women by the Temple of Eros) we see a bunch of people standing in line for “Vnemployment Insvrance.” Just as Comicus (Mel Brooks), a stand-up philosopher (a.k.a. “bullshit artist”), is about to collect his unemployment payment from the clerk (Bea Arthur), his agent Swiftus (Ron Carey) tells him of a new stand-up job he got for him at the palace. Hearing that he now has work, the teller quickly closes her window and refuses to give Comicus his payment. Comicus is furious for Swiftus telling him that news right before he was to receive some money, but he’s pleasantly surprised that his audience will be none other than Emperor Nero himself.
History of the World, Part 1 (1981) – (c) 20th Century Fox
Nearby there’s a slave auction. The auction ends and Josephus (Gregory Hines), an unsold slave from Ethipoia who’s about to be lion food, pleads for his life and does a dance on stage to entertain the crowd. Next to the stage there’s a confrontation when a wagon driver wants to beat his horse who seems to be lame. A Vestal Virgin named Miriam (Mary-Margaret Humes) tries to stop the man but fails, so Comicus steps up and punches him, knocking him out. Comicus then shows that the horse, a famous racehorse named Miracle, wasn’t lame but had a rock stuck in his hoof. Miriam is impressed with Comicus and he’s pleased to learn that she also works at the palace.
The wagon driver comes to and tries to attack Comicus, but Josephus prevents the attack. But he’s a slave, so there’s a severe punishment for him to attack a citizen of Rome. Josephus’ life is spared when Empress Nympho (Madeline Kahn) is passing through the area and Miriam convinces her to make Josephus a wine steward in the palace.
History of the World, Part 1 (1981) – (c) 20th Century Fox
Comicus and Swiftus arrive at the Palace (as in Caesars Palace) and we meet Emperor Nero (Dom DeLuise), a fat emperor who loves food as much as treasure. Comicus begins his performance and things go well until he forgets about his audience and begins joking about fat people and corrupt politicians. This infuriates Nero and his anger is compounded when Josephus accidentally spills wine on him. Emperor Nero sentences them both to fight to the death right there in the palace.
History of the World, Part 1 (1981) – (c) 20th Century Fox
Comicus and Josephus both don gladiator gear and begin fighting each other in front of the emperor and his staff. Comicus wins the fight but Nero still orders him to kill Josephus. Comicus can’t do it, so he and Josephus fight the guards and escape from Nero’s palace.
History of the World, Part 1 (1981) – (c) 20th Century Fox
Miriam helps Comicus, Swiftus and Josephus hide out in Empress Nympho’s home. Josephus poses as an eunuch servant, but Roman soldiers arrive and question his eunuch status. They test the servants by having a beautiful woman perform an erotic dance. Josephus fails the test and jumps out a window to escape the soldiers.
Comicus, Swiftus and Miriam find Josephus in the streets, and the four of them dress as Roman soldiers. Their disguises don’t work that well and soon there’s a chase through the streets of Rome. The four of them steal the chariot that Miracle the horse is pulling, and they flee to the countryside.
History of the World, Part 1 (1981) – (c) 20th Century Fox
Outside of town Josephus makes them stop the chariot. He finds a field of marijuana plants (a.k.a. “Roman Red”) and uses them to make a giant marijuana joint. The joint is lit and they run to the coast, using the marijuana’s smoke to intoxicate the pursuing soldiers. The trick works and the soldiers are stoned.
The four of them seem to be free until they encounter a lake blocking their escape route. Moses appears and the middle of the lake drops, revealing a safe passage to the opposite side. They cross the lake and it’s revealed that Moses had his hands raised because he was being robbed by a thief.
History of the World, Part 1 (1981) – (c) 20th Century Fox
The gang travels by ship and arrives in the town of Judea. They find work at a restaurant where Comicus becomes a waiter, Miriam the cashier, and Josephus settles for the dishwasher. Comicus tends to a large supper party that turns out to be Jesus Christ (John Hurt) and his Apostles. Leonardo da Vinci (Art Metrano) arrives and paints the group’s portrait, their Last Supper, with Comicus standing in the background.
History of the World, Part 1 (1981) – (c) 20th Century Fox
Next in History of the World, Part 1 is The Spanish Inquisition. This segment features Torquemada (Mel Brooks) as he does a big song and dance number while torturing Jews and trying to convert them to Christianity. The gags here include the comical torture of Jews, a human slot machine with Jews on the rollers, and Nuns who strip off their clothes and swim around like in a Busby Berkeley musical from the 1930s.
History of the World, Part 1 (1981) – (c) 20th Century Fox
The French Revolution is next and we see just how dreary things were in France back in the 1790s. In a dreary tavern, Madame Defarge (Cloris Leachman) conspires her fellow Frenchmen to help her overthrow the corrupt government.
History of the World, Part 1 (1981) – (c) 20th Century Fox
Meanwhile, Count de Monet (Harvey Korman) arrives at the Palace of Versailles while King Louis XVI (Mel Brooks) is busy playing a game of chess with real people as the game pieces. The game ends when he commands everybody to jump onto the queen and initiate a massive gang bang. Count de Monet tries to warn King Louis that the peasants think he doesn’t like them, but King Louis shrugs off his concerns and shoots skeet with peasants being thrown through the air for target practice.
History of the World, Part 1 (1981) – (c) 20th Century Fox
Later, a young woman named Mademoiselle Rimbaud (Pamela Stephensen) begs King Louis to spare her father’s life, an old man currently sitting in prison. King Louis uses his power over the woman’s beauty and wants to trade a night in bed with her for her father’s freedom. Between “hump or death,” Mademoiselle Rimbaud reluctantly chooses to “hump.”
Count de Monet spies a lowly “piss-boy” worker named Jacques (Mel Brooks), and he notices a startling resemblance that the worker has with King Louis. He convinces King Louis to go into hiding and having Jacques stand in his place as king. That way when the angry crowd comes to kill the king, they’ll really be killing Jacques instead. King Louis agrees to the plan and his staff use some make-up to transform Jacques into the fake king of France.
That night Mademoiselle Rimbaud arrives in the Palace to service the king for her father’s freedom, but Jacques gives her a pardon without the sexual favor, though he clearly agrees that her body looks fantastic. Mademoiselle Rimbaud later returns to the palace with her senile father (Spike Milligan) to thank King Louis again when the angry mob led by Madame Defarge bursts into the room and arrests the king.
History of the World, Part 1 (1981) – (c) 20th Century Fox
King Louis XVI is taken to a guillotine and an angry mob is ready to see him executed for crimes against the nation of France. King Louis stands defiant until he sees the guillotine get tested, slicing open a melon resembling his head. He then makes a last request for Novocaine, and when the medical examiner claims that it doesn’t exist, King Louis insists on waiting for it to be invented. The executioner doesn’t fall for it and King Louis is placed on the guillotine.
Mademoiselle Rimbaud says that only a miracle can save King Louis, and just then Miracle arrives pulls Josephus on a chariot from the Roman Empire. King Louis, Mademoiselle Rimbaud and her father jump on the chariot and they flee from the angry mob. They round a corner and see a mountain with the words “THE END.”
History of the World, Part 1 (1981) – (c) 20th Century Fox
History of the World, Part 1 ends with a small preview for History of the World, Part II. Mel Brooks narrates and we see teasers for segments such as Hitler On Ice (an ice skating Adolf Hitler), A Viking Funeral (Vikings remove their horned helmets to reveal that the horns are really growing out of their heads), and then Jews In Space (a parody of the 1978 TV series Battlestar Galactica with Jews flying spaceships shaped like the Star of David).
Unfortunately, there is not a sequel. History of the World, Part 1 is just a standalone film despite the “Part 1″ in its name and a “preview” for a second film just before the end credits.
So is History of the World, Part 1 a good film?
As a whole, this is a decent Mel Brooks’s film full of the usual puns and gags that one would expect with his work. While History of the World, Part 1 is not as good as other films such as Young Frankenstein, High Anxiety, or Blazing Saddles, this is still a worthy part of his comedy collection.
Don’t expect to find anything of significant value in this film, especially with the historical references. This is nothing more than a satirical film that’s filled with jokes and gags (a few are good but most are mediocre), and it pokes fun at a few moments in the history of civilization. Is it bad? Certainly not. History of the World, Part 1 is a decent comedy.
The film’s cast has many regulars from other Mel Brooks’ films including Dom DeLuise, Harvey Korman, Madeline Kahn, Ron Carey and Cloris Leachmann. Brooks himself sets a personal record by playing five different roles throughout the movie.
History of the World, Part 1 (1981) – movie trailer
Remember, “It’s good to be the king.”
Dole Office Clerk – “Occupation?”
Gladiator – The Roman Empire – “Gladiator.”
Dole Office Clerk – “Did you kill last week?”
Gladiator – The Roman Empire – “No.”
Dole Office Clerk – “Did you try to kill last week?”
Gladiator – The Roman Empire – “Yeah.”
Dole Office Clerk – “Now, listen, this is your last week of unemployment insurance. Either you kill somebody next week or we’re going to have to change your status, got it?”
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Roman Officer – “Do you know the penalty for a slave who strikes a Roman citizen?”
[people in the crowd raise hands enthusiastically]
Roman Officer – “Ok, you… you had your hand up first.”
Man in crowd – “Death by torture!”
Roman Officer – “No… You?”
Man in crowd – “Crucifixion!”
Roman Officer – “Wrong! You?”
Man in crowd – “They shove a living snake up your ass!”
Roman Officer – “Ah, no… but that’s very creative!”
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Count de Monet – “Your Majesty, you look like the piss-boy!”
King Louis XVI – “And you look like a bucket of shit!”