History of the World: Part I (1981)

You won't be disappointed!

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

History of the World Part 1 (1981) does not represent Mel Brooks at his best. Playing like a spoof of the bloated historical epics of the 50s and 60s, this film is an episodic romp, the highlights being the Roman Empire and the Busby Berkley inspired Spanish Inquisition musical number. The other segments are also good, just not as inspired.The whole film is packed with raunchy humor, sight gags, and surreal touches (this film probably has more fourth-wall breaking than Blazing Saddles (1974)). Some of the jokes fall flat and fall hard, but when they work they'll have you on the floor.It's no Young Frankenstein (1974) or Blazing Saddles, but this is still a funny movie. You can't ever go wrong with Mel Brooks!

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. There are quite a few scatological jokes from Dom DeLuise burping and farting in the Roman sequence to Harvey Korman's peeing in the French Revolution segment. And then there's Mel Brooks, who not only produced and directed this, but also single-handedly wrote it and stars in most of the sketches. Seeing him doing the Spanish Inquisition as a Busby Berkeley-Esther Williams number was perhaps the most irreverent thing he ever did especially when the nuns doff their uniforms to reveal their one-piece swimsuits and bathing caps! Gregory Hines made his film debut here and is a hoot whether doing his dance steps in order to keep him from trouble or making a giant joint to distract the Roman guards! Madeline Kahn and Cloris Leachman also contribute their funny selves to good effect and then there's longtime Brooks associate Sid Ceasar playing a cave man in the Stone Age segment also being his usual funny self. Really, all I'll say now is if you are a die-hard Brooks fan, I highly recommend History of the World, Part I.

This movie did middling box-office (as did all Mel Brooks movies from this point on), but for my money, it's one of Brooks's funniest. Having made his reputation with the 2000-Year-Old Man, it seems inevitable that Brooks would eventually take on the spectrum (or sphincter, as he might put it) of world history. And in the age of the Farrelly Brothers, Brooks' ideas about bad taste seem almost quaint.It begins with a lot of black-out gags (the first such gag amounting to, Ape Man = Onan) and takes off from there. The first sustained sequence, The Roman Empire, probably goes on a bit too long, and it "introduced" a buxom actress named Mary-Margaret Humes who, justifiably, went right back to obscurity shortly after the film's release. But there are also many enjoyable moments: Gregory Hines's mellow film debut, Madeline Kahn's ecstatic song tribute to her well-endowed male slaves, and most of all, the Last Supper sequence at the end--completely messed up time-wise (it puts Jesus and Leonardo da Vinci in the same shot), but all the more hilarious because of it. (John Hurt plays Jesus, and as in Brooks' "Spaceballs," his straight-faced seriousness just makes the insanity around him that much funnier.) The next sequence is one of Brooks' best: The Spanish Inquisition as a Marx Brothers-style musical number, with Mel Brooks as a socko Torquemada, beating out a rhythm on his victim's shackled knees. This sequence alone justifies Brooks's existence as a comedy director.The sequence depicting The French Revolution, has two main objectives in mind: show off as much of (1) British comedienne Pamela Stephenson's bust and (2) Brooks's wee-wee humor as humanly possible. Nevertheless, it has its moments, with Cloris Leachman as Madame Defarge, and Brooks as a randy king.The final short sequence, a trailer for Brooks's non-existent "History Part II," is worth the bother just for one of those moments that makes me laugh for no discernible reason: a scene from "Hitler on Ice," showing Brooks' favorite nasty German as an Ice Capader. This ersatz trailer is enough to make me wish Brooks had really made a sequel. I doubt it would have turned out any worse than "Spaceballs."

Mel succeeds admirably in his outrageousness almost throughout the film despite occasional signs of the feebleness of the "Jesus-yes?" dialog in the Last Supper and the overextended French Revolution scene.But in most of the film, real outrage rears its head over man's inhumanity to man especially in the Inquisition scene and, though perhaps less so, in the Roman scene. Even his trademark Hitler spoofs, such as the "Hitler on Ice-coming attraction" here show his own obsessive and strong reaction to that horrible period in history. Some of the jokes have cobwebs such as the "Alms for Oedipus" beggar and Gregory Hines response "Hey there, m.f! But it works because it's carried off with energy.In the long run, the film is probably more serious than it seems on first glance and has more bite than the really feeble attempts to follow such as "Spaceballs", "Robin Hood" or "Dracula".