History of the World, Part I (1981) or, Brooks the History Teacher

1/24/2024

History of the World, Part I (1981) or, Brooks the History Teacher

♥♥♥♥

A wealth of elements are teased on this chaotic poster for Mel Brooks' History of the World, Part I

The history of the world, from Neanderthal man to the ardor of the Roman Empire: from the time of Christ to the French Revolution, covering the Spanish Inquisition and more!

History of the World, Part I is written, produced, starring and directed by New-Yorker master filmmaker Mel Brooks (The Producers (1967)), whose 7th film it is.

Everything goes through Brooks' lewd, irreverent, often risible and continuously entertaining wringer in History of the World, Part I. The film is truly 'the Mel Brooks show', as it is wholly his making, while he also portrays Moses, King Louis XVI - and three other characters in it! Surrounding him are a gang of his 'usual suspects': Dom DeLuise (Always Greener (2001)) as Emperor Nero; Gregory Hines (Will & Grace (1999-00)) as the African slave in trouble; Madeline Kahn (Mixed Nuts (1994)) as Empress Nympho (the royal comedienne delivers a line as few others can) and many more.

With a considerable budget many of Brooks' outrageous ideas are possible here. History of the World, Part I is salutary, insanely silly - and very funny!

Top 10: Best comedies reviewed by Film Excess to date

Blazing Saddles (1974) or, The Black Sheriff of Rock Ridge

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 10-11 mil. $ (different reports)

Box office: 31.6 mil. $ (North America only); projected world gross 51.6 mil. $

= Big hit (projected return of 4.91 times its cost)

[History of the World, Part I was released 12 June (North America) and runs 92 minutes. The film was conceived as a reaction to a short studio backlot exchange between Brooks and a grip person. Orson Welles was paid 25k $ to record his narration for the film, which he did in a few hours instead of the 5 days that Brooks had thought it might take him. Richard Pryor was to play the slave part but had to bow out due to setting himself on fire while free-basing cocaine. Shooting took place from May 1980 - ? in France, England, California, including in Los Angeles, and in Las Vegas, Nevada. The film opened #4, behind Raiders of the Lost Ark, Clash of the Titans and Cheech and Chong's Nice Dreams, to a 4.7 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it grossed 31.6 mil. $. Its foreign numbers are regrettably not public, as per studio policy at the time, but the film must have made a good deal of money internationally as well: In France it was the year's 13th highest-grossing film with more than 2.2 mil. admissions, totaling around 6.6 mil. $, and in Denmark 218k paid admission, totaling around 1.75 mil. $. With a conservative projected world gross of 25 mil. $, the world gross would be 51.6 mil. $, making the film a big hit. Roger Ebert gave it a 2/4 star review, translating to two notches under this one. A sequel series was made for Hulu as VoD, History of the World, Part II (2023), with Brooks co-writing and co-producing. Brooks returned with Spaceballs (1987); and as an actor in To Be Or Not To Be (1983). History of the World, Part I is fresh at 63 % with a 5.70/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

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Donald Sutherland has passed away

Born in Canada, Sutherland battled polio as a child. His first credit was in Suspense (1963, TV-series) and his first film was The Castle of the Living Dead (1964). Later credits in his remarkable career include The Saint (1965-66), The Dirty Dozen (1967), M*A*S*H (1970), Kelly's Heroes (1970), Klute (1971), Don't Look Now (1973), 1900 (1976), Casanova (1976), The Eagle Has Landed (1976), Ordinary People (1980), A Dry White Season (1989), JFK (1991), Outbreak (1995), Fallen (1998), Virus (1999), Fierce People (2005), Pride & Prejudice (2005), Lord of War (2005), The Hunger Games (2012), The Undoing (2020, miniseries) and many more. He passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Roger Corman has passed away

Born in Detroit, Michigan, Corman had a sprawling, intellectually hungry life as a youth and young man before arriving with his first film in 1955, Five Guns West. He would follow that with titles such as Apache Woman, It Conquered the World, Attack of the Crab Monsters, Teenage Cave Man, A Bucket of Blood, House of Usher, The Little Shop of Horrors, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Intruder, The Raven, The Terror, The Masque of Red Death, The Tomb of Ligeia, The Wild Angels, The Trip, Bloody Mama and many more. As a producer he was behind almost 500 films. Arguably among the most important filmmakers of the 20th century, Corman passed away at age 98. R.I.P.

William Friedkin has died

Born in Chicago, Friedkin accrued TV credits prior to his advance to the big screen as the director of Good TImes (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) before his major breakthrough, The French Connection (1971), for which he won his only Oscar. He followed it up with the even bigger smash, The Exorcist (1973), arguably the best horror film of all time, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Later credits include Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Rampage (1987), Rules of Engagement (2000), Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017, documentary). Friedkin passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

Louise Fletcher has passed away

Born in Alabama to deaf parents, Fletcher got her first credits in late-1950s TV-series.She took a 10 year-long sabbatical to devote her time to motherhood after the release of A Gathering of Eagles, but then came back and soon saw her career's most important part, as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), for which she won her sole Oscar. Later credits include Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Lucky Star (1980), Brainstorm (1983), Two Moon Junction (1988), Cruel Intentions (1999), A Perfect Man (2013) and many more. Fletcher passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Jean-Luc Godard has passed away

Born in Paris, France, Godard lived much of his life in Switzerland. He wrote for French film criticism magazine Cahiers du Cinema and became foundational for the New French Wave that inspired new waves in scores of other countries across the world with his Breathless (1960). Later credits include A Woman Is A Woman (1961), Vivre Sa Vie (1962), Le Petit Soldat (1962), Contempt (1963), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le Fou (1965), 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967), Weekend (1967), Every Man for Himself (1980), King Lear (1987), Century of Cinema (1995, documentary), Goodbye to Language (2014) and many more. Godard died of assisted suicide at age 91. R.I.P.

Wolfgang Petersen has died

James Caan has died

Caan was born the son of Jewish immigrants from Germany in New York. He got his start on TV in the early 1960s. His credits include El Dorado (1966), The Rain People (1969), Brian's Song (1971, TV movie), The Godfather (1972), - for which he earned his only Oscar nomination, - Slither (1973), The Gambler (1974), Funny Lady (1975), Rollerball (1975), Silent Movie (1976), Hide in Plain Sight (1980), - the only film he also directed, - Thief (1981), Misery (1990), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Bottle Rocket (1996), Eraser (1996), Dogville (2003), Elf (2003), Las Vegas (2003-07), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and many more. Caan passed away at age 82. R.I.P.

Jean-Louis Trintignant has died

Born in Vaucluse, France, Trintignant's theatrical debut as an actor was in If All the Guys in the World... (1955). Later credits include ...And God Created Woman (1956), The Seven Deadly Sins (1961), Inferno (1964), A Man and A Woman (1966), My Love, My Love (1967), A Man to Kill (1967), The Great Silence (1968), Z (1969), The Assassination (1972), Three Colors: Red (1994), Amour (2012), Happy End (2017) and many more. He also wrote and directed two films in the 1970s. Trintignant passed away at age 91. R.I.P.

Ray Liotta has died

Adopted from an orphenage at a young age, Liotta got hooked on acting in high school. He had various TV credits in the late 1970s and early 80s, with his film debut in The Lonely Lady (1983). Later credits include Something Wild (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), Cop Land (1997), Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), Narc (2002), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), Observe and Report (2009), Youth in Revolt (2009), The Details (2011), Killing THem Softly (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Shades of Blue (2016-18), The Simpsons (2018, TV-series), Marriage Story (2019), The Many Saints of Newark (2021), Black Bird (2022, TV-series) and many more. Liotta passed away at age 67 in his sleep while on production in the Dominican Republic. R.I.P.

Philip Baker Hall has died

Born in Ohio, Hall didn't start acting until he was 30. His long list of credits include Zabriskie Point (1970), Miami Vice (1987, TV-series), Midnight Run (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Cheers (1993, TV-series), Hard Eight (1996), The Rock (1996), Air Force One (1997), Boogie Nights (1997), Seinfeld (1991-98), Rush Hour (1998), The Insider (1999), Magnolia (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Bruce Almighty (2003), Dogville (2003), The Zodiac (2005), Zodiac (2007), Curb Your Enthusiasm (2004-09), Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), Modern Family (2011-12) and many more. Hall passed away at age 90. R.I.P.

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1/24/2024

History of the World, Part I (1981) or, Brooks the History Teacher

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