Common Sense Media Review
By Charles Cassady Jr.
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Dirty jokes, some sparkle in uneven Mel Brooks classic.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 14+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
What's the Story?
Around the high point of his Hollywood box-office marketability, comedy specialist Mel Brooks wrote, directed, and played multiple roles in this hit-or-miss grab-bag of sketches spanning human history, starring actors who worked for him regularly (including himself). Sid Caesar is a hapless caveman who bumblingly tries art, music, and invention. During the Roman Empire, Brooks himself is a "stand-up philosopher" named Comicus, who ends up playing a significant role in the Last Supper. During the French Revolution Brooks reappears in dual roles, as the spoiled, lust-driven King Louis XVI, who escapes the guillotine by switching places with a mild-mannered, lookalike urine-bucket servant. Gag coming attractions of the (never-made) History of the World, Part 2 include a skating "Hitler on Ice" and "Jews in Space." Surprise celebrity appearances throughout include John Hurt (as Jesus Christ), Jackie Mason, Bea Arthur, and Hugh Hefner.
Is It Any Good?
The critics who (like a Roman emperor) gave HISTORY OF THE WORLD, PART 1 a thumbs-down probably got spoiled by Brooks' preceding masterpieces. He'd become popular for his knowing, affectionate Hollywood-genre spoofs like Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein. This doesn't even try subverting old gladiator flicks or epic movies (neither did Epic Movie). It's just Mel having fun with puns, big sets, period costumes, and fave actors for 90 minutes, offering up some hoary clunkers, ("walk this way..."), comedic brilliance (a laugh-out-loud cameo by Moses), and a few ebullient song-and-dance routines -- like a keeper production number on the horrors of the Spanish Inquisition.
Clean jokes and tasteless gags bump around in equal measure (if the PG-13 had existed in 1981, this could have dodged the R), sometimes funny, sometimes not. The French Revolution segment, pretty much the third act, is the weakest. Every funnyman knows you need a big finish.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about what parts kids thought were funny or not, and why. What makes a good spoof? Which are your favorites?
Explain the "Borscht Belt" brand of Jewish-American humor and the classic TV comedy revue Your Show of Shows, that was the cradle of so much Mel Brooks jocularity.
The French Revolution segment is the first many American kids may see of madcap Irish comic-author-poet-playwright Spike Milligan (as the old prisoner). A cohort of Peter Sellers and a UK favorite, Milligan's bizarre freeform surrealism inspired a whole style of humor (and influenced Monty Python).
Movie Details
- In theaters : June 12, 1981
- On DVD or streaming : April 4, 2006
- Cast : Dom DeLuise , Harvey Korman , Mel Brooks
- Director : Mel Brooks
- Studio : Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment
- Genre : Comedy
- Topics : Adventures , Arts ( Music and Sing-Along ) , Faith ( Christianity , Judaism ) , History , Royalty ( Kings , Queens ) , Travel
- Run time : 92 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- Last updated : September 9, 2025
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