History of the World: Part I (1981)

Country of Origin: USA
Year of Production: 1981
Running Times: 92 mins
Format: colour     35mm     Panavision (anamorphic)
Ratio: 2.35:1
Sound: mono     Dolby (video only)

PRODUCTION
Production Company: Brooksfilms
Producer: Mel Brooks
Co-Producer: Joel Chernoff (uncredited)
Associate Producer: Stuart Cornfeld, Alan Johnson
Production Manager: Ralph Singleton
Production Manager (episode 6): Alexander De Grunwald
Production Coordinator: Judi Rosner
Production Coordinator (episode 6): Loretta Ordewer

SCRIPT
Script: Mel Brooks

DIRECTION
Director: Mel Brooks
Assistant Director: Jerry Ziesmer
Assistant Directors (episode 6): Brian Cooke, Michael Stevenson
2nd Assistant Director: Mitchell Bock

PHOTOGRAPHY
Directors of Photography: Woody Omens; Paul Wilson (episode 6)
Camera Operator: Chuy Elizondo
Camera Operators (episode 6): John Morgan, Ginger Gemmell
Focus Puller: Alan Jones (uncredited)
Gaffer: Gibby Germaine
Gaffer (episode 6): Maurice Gillett
Best Boy: Alan Barry
Key Grip: Gerald King
Stills: Elliot Marks
Grip and Lighting Equipment: Lee Lighting Ltd
Colour: DeLuxe

EDITING AND POST-PRODUCTION
Editors: John C. Howard, Danford B. Greene
Assistant Editor: Carol Ann DiGiuseppe, George A. Martin, Stephen Lovejoy

MUSIC
Music: John Morris
Songs: Mel Brooks, Ronny Graham, Steve Greenberg
Songs Performed By: Lipps Inc
Music Editor: John R. Harris
Orchestration: Jack Hayes
Spanish Inquisition Sequence Orchestration: Ralph Burns

SOUND
Sound Designer: Sandy Berman
Production Sound Mixer: Gene S. Cantamessa
Sound Mixer (episode 6): Mike Sale
Boom Operator: Raul A. Bruce
Re-Recording Mixer: Arthur Piantados, Les Fresholtz, Tex Rudloff
Supervising Sound Editor: Robert R. Rutledge
Sound Editor: Scott A. Hecker

MAKE UP AND COSTUMES
Make Up: Robert Norin
Chief Make Up (episode 6): Jill Carpenter
Make Up (episode 6): Eric Allwright
Hair: Vivian McAteer
Chief Hair (episode 6): Paula Gillespie
Costume Designer: Patricia Norris
Womens' Wardrobe: Nancy Martinelli
Mens' Wardrobe: Jered Edo Green
Wardrobe Supervisor (episode 6): David Murphy

SPECIAL EFFECTS
Special Effects: Phil Cory
Special Effects (episode 7): Magic Lantern Inc, Bob Greenberg, Bill Hedge

VISUAL EFFECTS
Special Visual Effects: Albert J. Whitlock
Special Photographic Effects: The Magic Lantern
Matte Photography: Bill Taylor
Matte Camera Loader: Mark Whitlock (uncredited)
Matte Artist: Syd Dutton
Matte Camera: Dennis Glouner (uncredited), Mike Moramarco (uncredited)
Titles / Graphics: Intralink Film Graphic Design
Opticals: Pacific Title

DESIGN AND SET CONSTRUCTION
Production Designer: Harold Michelson; Stuart Craig (episode 6)
Art Director: Norman Newberry
Art Director (episode 6): Bob Cartwright
Set Decorator: Antony Mondello
Set Decorator (episode 6): Harry Cordwell
Prop Master: Jack Marino
Prop Master (episode 6): Bert Hearn
Set Construction: Christina Productions
Construction Manager (episode 6): Reg Richards

MISCELLANEOUS
Script Supervisor: Betsy Norton
Continuity (episode 6): Penny Daniels
Accountants: Jim Turner, Lenna Katich
Production Auditor (episode 6): John Trehy
Choreography: Alan Johnson
Assistant Choreography: Charlene Painter
Publicity: Irene Walzer
Assistants to Producer: Leah Zappy, Randy Auerbach
Researcher: Lillian Nichelson (Michelson?)
Transportation: Transcord

LOCATIONS
Locations: Bleinham Palace, Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, UK
Studio: Shepperton Studio Centre, England, UK
Location Manager: Bill Borden
Location Manager (episode 6): Terry Needham

STUNTS
Stunt Coordinator: Gary Combs
Stunt Coordinator (episode 6): Bill Hobbs

CASTING
Casting: Mike Fenton, Jane Feinberg
Casting (episode 6): Maggie Cartier

CAST
Mel Brooks (Moses / Comicus / Torquemada / Jacques / 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)
Rudy De Luca (Captain Mucus)
Leigh French, Richard Carron, Susette Carroll, Sammy Shore, J.J. Barry, Suzanne Kent, Michael Champion (prehistoric men)
Howard Morris (court spokesman)
Charlie Callas (soothsayer)
Dena Dietrich (Competance)
Paul Mazursky (Roman officer)
Ron Clark, Jack Riley (stoned soldiers)
Art Metrano (Leonardo DaVinci)
Diane Day (Caladonia)
Henny Youngman (chemist)
Hunter von Leer (Lt Bob)
Fritz Feld (maitre d')
Hugh M. Hefner (entrepreneur)
Pat McCormick (plumbing salesman)
Barry Levinson (column salesman)
Sid Gould (barber / bloodletter)
Ronny Graham (Jew 2)
Jim Steck (gladiator)
John Myhers (Leader of Senate)
Lee Delano (wagon driver)
Robert Goldberg (senator 1)
Alan U. Schwartz (senator 2)
Jay Burton (senator 3)
Robert Zappy, Ira Miller, Milt Freedman (Roman citizens)
Johnny Silver (small liar)
Charles Thomas Murphy (auctioneer)
Rod Haase (Roman officer)
Cleo Rocos, Eileen Saki (slaves)
John Hurt (Jesus)
Earl Finn, Henry Kaiser, Zale Kessler, Anthony Messina, Howard Mann, Sandy Helberg, Mitchell Bock, Gilbert Lee (disciples)
Molly Basler, Deborah Dawes, Christine Dickinson (game show girls)
Lisa Sohm, Michele Drake, Jeana Tomasina, Lisa Welch, Janis Schmitt, Heidi Sorenson, Karen Morton, Kathy Collins, Lori Sutton, Lou Mulford (vestal virgins)
Jackie Mason (Jew 1)
Phil Leeds (chief monk)
Jack Carter (rat vendor)
Jan Murray (nothing vendor)
Andréas Voutsinas (Bearnaise)
Spike Milligan (Monsieur Rimbaud)
John Hillerman (rich man)
Sydney Lassick (applecore vendor)
Jonathan Cecil (Poppinjay)
Andrew Sachs (Gerard)
Fiona Richmond (Queen)
Nigel Hawthorne (citizen official)
Bella Emberg (Baguette)
Geoffrey Larder (footman)
George Lane Cooper (executioner)
Stephanie Marrion (Lady Marie)
Royce Mills (Duke D'Honnefieur)
Mike Cottrell (Tartuffe)
Gerald Staddon (Le Fevre)
John Ghavan (Marche)
Rusty Goff (Le Muff)
Scott Henderson, Michael Miller, Royce D. Applegate (coming attractions)
Beatrice Arthur (dole office clerk)
Sean Barry-Weske (insolent flunkey - uncredited)
Rod Haask
Richard Karron
Albert Whitlock (used chariot salesman - uncredited)

PLOT SUMMARY

The history of the human race from prehistoric caveman times through to the French Revolution reveals the idiocies and foibles of Man. At the end, we're promised a second installment that will continue the history of the world into the future, including the fate of Jews in space... Consists of seven segments, as follows: 1. Our Forefathers; 2. The Stone Age; 3. The Old Testament; 4. The Roman Empire; 5. The Spanish Inquisition; 6. The French Revolution; 7. Preview for Part II

History of the World isn't an entirely successful film - there are far too many jokes that fail for that - but it's still head and shoulders above Brooks' later work. The episodic format suits Brooks well and it's a surprise that he hasn't used it again and when he gets it right, History of the World contains much that's among his best work - the Spanish Inquisition sequence, for example, and the wonderful Jews in Space skit. The writing was already on the wall for Brook's style of screen comedy, but History of the World was one last hurrah for a once great screen comic.

UK
Laserdisc Distributor: Twentieth Century Fox (1114-70)

USA
Theatrical Distributor: Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
Video Distributor: Key Video
Laserdisc Distributor: Fox Video (1114-85); CBS Fox (1114-80)
DVD Distributor: Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (4112890)

Finland
Rating: K-12

Sweden
Rating: 11

UK
Rating: 15

USA
Rating: R

1981
June
12: USA - theatrical release

October
2: Sweden - theatrical release

November
13: Finland - theatrical release

1982
February
11: West Germany - theatrical release

1999
October
5: USA - DVD release (Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (4112890))

2002
March
31: USA - television broadcast (on HBOC)

a little something to offend everyone...

Mel Brooks - Die verrückte Geschichte der Welt - German title
La loca historia del mundo - Spanish title
Mieletön maailmanhistoria - Finnish title
La folle histoire du monde - French title
La pazza storia del mondo - Italian title
Historia swiata, czesc I - Polish title
Det varas för världshistorien - Swedish title

SEE ALSO
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Caligula (1979)
The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964)
King of Kings (1961)
Oedipus Rex (1957)
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (1977)
The Ten Commandments (1956)

FOOTAGE INCLUDED IN
AFI's 100 Years, 100 Laughs: America's Funniest Movies (2000)

KEYWORDS

apemen; pre-history; dinosaurs; the bible; god; deities; oceans; romans; jesus christ; the last supper; torture; adolf hitler; ice skating; space travel; spacecraft; jews; space wars

Last Updated: 30 June, 2009