The Story of Mankind (1957)

Director:

Irwin Allen

Writers:

Irwin Allen (writer)
Charles Bennett (writer)

Release Date:

8 November 1957 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Fantasy

Tagline:

The Story of Men and Their Women From the Beginning of Creation!

Plot:

The council of elders of outer space is deliberating on a very important subject: Must mankind be allowed to survive...

Plot Keywords:

Devil | Outer Space | Angel | Queen Elizabeth I | Monk

Cast

Ronald Colman	...	The Spirit of Man
Hedy Lamarr	...	Joan of Arc
Groucho Marx	...	Peter Minuit
Harpo Marx	...	Sir Isaac Newton
Chico Marx	...	Monk
Virginia Mayo	...	Cleopatra
Agnes Moorehead	...	Queen Elizabeth I
Vincent Price	...	Mr. Scratch / The Devil
Peter Lorre	...	Nero
Charles Coburn	...	Hippocrates
Cedric Hardwicke	...	High Judge
Cesar Romero	...	Spanish Envoy
John Carradine	...	Khufu
Dennis Hopper	...	Napoleon Bonaparte
Marie Wilson	...	Marie Antoinette

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

UK:U (original rating) | Finland:K-12

Company:

Cambridge Productions

Trivia:

The Marx Brothers are never seen together in this film.

Quotes:

Marquis de Varennes: They protest they have no bread, Your Majesty!
Marie Antoinette: No bread indeed. Let them eat cake!

Movie Connections:

Edited from Land of the Pharaohs (1955)

Ambitious but wrongheaded film philosophizing man's worth in the universe

The Story of Mankind is a noble attempt to argue the case of humanity, whether he is inherently good or evil, as he has just developed the "super H bomb." Vincent Price is at his best as the Devil arguing against humanity. It was a poor choice in general to reconstruct so many scenes of human history, especially since the screenwriter(s) changed the events so much as to make them unrecognizable. The casting is very odd and distracting in these sequences, too. The film is chock full of once-brilliant character actors like Agnes Moorhead, who embarrasses herself as Queen Elizabeth, and especially the Marx Brothers. I guess one of the biggest reasons you might want to see this is to see what Groucho, Harpo, and Chico looked like in technicolor (which, if you remember Groucho in The Big Store, was too expensive for their earlier vehicles). They among the numerous actors retain their vaudville characters in this film. Groucho plays Peter Minuit, the man who fleeced Indians out of Manhattan island. He makes suggestive comments towards the chief's daughter, but none of them are funny. Chico is on screen for 30 seconds as a priest arguing about the shape of the world with Columbus (he is the only one to retain his dignity in this movie; at least his character was Italian). Harpo plays Isaac Newton in a particularly pathetic sequence. He starts to play his harp, and apples drop onto his head. Then he mugs for the camera. No Brother fell further from grace than Harpo.

Basically, The Story of Mankind forgets its purpose, worrying too much about the elaborate recreations than the philosophical argument. This plot could have made a good film, I think. Its ending is one of ambiguity, which is where it should be. It tells us that the filmmakers did intend to make a serious film. I say that this is worth ignoring. For a better film with the same message, we all have and still love to watch The Day the Earth Stood Still. 5/10.