History of the World, Part I (1981)
- Original title
- History of the World: Part I
- Directed by
- Mel Brooks
- Genre
- comedy film, musical film
- Country
- United States
- Runtime
- 1h 32m
- Rated
- R
- Rating
- 6.8 of 10 from 922 voters
- Elsewhere
- IMDb
The catalogue in 3D
The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.
How it feels
Mel Brooks plays multiple historical figures in a series of comedy sketches. The movie jumps through different time periods with a narrator introducing each segment.
sillyfast-pacedparodicsketch-likecampyirreverentcartoonishvaudevillian
What happens
History of the World, Part I is a 1981 American anthology comedy film written, produced, and directed by Mel Brooks. Brooks also stars in the film, playing five roles: Moses, Comicus the stand-up philosopher, Tomás de Torquemada, King Louis XVI, and Jacques, le garçon de pisse. The large ensemble cast also features Sid Caesar, Shecky Greene, Gregory Hines (in his film debut), Charlie Callas, and Brooks regulars Ron Carey, Dom DeLuise, Madeline Kahn, Harvey Korman, Cloris Leachman, Andreas Voutsinas, and Spike Milligan. The film also has cameo appearances by Royce D. Applegate, Bea Arthur, Nigel Hawthorne, Hugh Hefner, John Hurt, Phil Leeds, Barry Levinson, Jackie Mason, Paul Mazursky, Andrew Sachs and Henny Youngman, among others. Orson Welles narrates each story. Despite carrying the numeration Part I, there were originally no plans for a sequel. The title is a play on The History of the World by Sir Walter Raleigh, which was intended to be published in several volumes but only the first was completed because Raleigh was arrested and executed in 1618. However, four decades later, Hulu announced the miniseries History of the World, Part II, which premiered on March 6, 2023. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)
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Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983)- More like this film, on a shelf you can walk up to.It's the lit case on the top shelf.