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Director Trademark (1)
Just like in Blazing Saddles, Richard Pryor was originally cast but had to pull out of the picture. His part eventually was taken by Gregory Hines (in his screen debut). Just before filming was to begin, Pryor had his infamous drug-related accident, catching fire and getting severely burnt.
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This is the second Mel Brooks film in which Harvey Korman's character has to correct someone on the pronunciation of his name. The first one was Blazing Saddles.
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The scene where the showgirls rise out of the water (the Inquisition routine) is actually being played in reverse. The shot was of the girls being lowered.
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Mel Brooks came up with the name for this film because he was tired of people asking him what his next movie would be.
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The film makes quite extensive use of matte paintings for backgrounds. Every segment (except "The Stone Age" and "The Old Testament") features backgrounds that are nothing more than paintings, especially in the segments' establishing shots and in numerous wide shots. Such paintings were used for the harbor and for many of the city shots in "The Roman Empire", the castle in "The Spanish Inquisition" and both the city and the countryside in "The French Revolution."
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The person responsible for the matte paintings, Albert Whitlock, was drafted to appear in front of the camera. He is the gentleman with the prominent English accent selling used chariots.
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The background music in the Viking funeral sequence is recycled from John Morris' score for Brooks' The Twelve Chairs.
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John Hurt did this movie because he had just gotten through doing two seriously dramatic films, and said that he wanted to have some fun and do a comedy. Hurt previously started in the title role in the Mel Brooks produced The Elephant Man. That movie later became the subject of a comedy itself with "The Elephant Man" musical segments in The Tall Guy.
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The tune used in the 'Jews in Space' segment was later recycled into the 'Men in Tights' number from Robin Hood: Men in Tights.
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When the Court Spokesman is whispering "Remember thou art mortal", that actually happened. When a Roman general entered Rome after a successful campaign, he had a servant riding in his carriage with him, whispering that in his ear.
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The vestal virgins (who took the oath of chastity) in Caeser's palace are all Playboy playmates. Hugh M. Hefner (Playboy's patron) appears as the pipe-smoking entrepreneur talking about his invention, the centerfold.
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At the beginning of the French Revolution segment, the street sign reads "Rue De Merde", which is French for "Shit Street".
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At the beginning of the French Revolution segment, the sign we see outside of Mademoiselle De Farge's hotel reads "Serving the Scum of Paris for 300 years". The French Revolution takes place in 1789 (according to the Piss Boy posing as King Louis, played by Mel Brooks). The previous segment depicting the Spanish Inquisition takes place in 1489 (according to Orson Welles' introduction), which is exactly 300 years earlier.
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This movie's first two segments are The Dawn of Man and The Stone Age. This picture was released around the same time as the serious prehistoric drama Quest for Fire (Quest for Fire (1981)) as well as the prehistoric comedy Caveman. These three movies were all first-released in 1981.
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Mel Brooks plays five roles in this movie. Brooks plays Moses, Comicus, Torquemada, Jacques and King Louis XVI. This is the most parts Brooks has ever done in a theatrical movie.
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Parts of history that are spoofed and parodied in this movie include The Dawn of Man; The Stone Age; Moses and the Ten Commandments; The Roman Empire; The Vikings; The Spanish Inquisition; World War II and The French Revolution. The only segment in this film which is not history-related is the Jews in Space sketch.
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Of all the episodes in this movie, the Roman Empire segment is the longest, running at forty-nine minutes.
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Mel Brooks performed a number of duties on this picture. Brooks acted in five roles, was writer, producer and director, as well as composer and lyrics writer for the songs "Jews In Space" and "The Inquisition", being also the performer of the latter.
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Mel Brooks cast Mary-Margaret Humes as the Vestal Virgin Miriam for the Roman Empire segment after first seeing her picture on a Sunset Boulevard billboard.
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Appearing in this movie was Brooks regular Dom DeLuise who had previously appeared in Brooks' The Twelve Chairs; Blazing Saddles and Silent Movie.
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Appearing in this movie was Brooks regular Madeline Kahn who had previously appeared in Brooks' Blazing Saddles; Young Frankenstein and High Anxiety.
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Appearing in this movie was Harvey Korman who had previously appeared in Brooks' Blazing Saddles and High Anxiety.
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Appearing in this movie was Cloris Leachman who had previously appeared in Brooks' and Young Frankenstein and High Anxiety.
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Director Trademark
Mel Brooks:
[sequel]
At the end of the film, a trailer is shown for "History of the World: Part II". There never has been a movie called this. The Part 1 in this movie's title is a joke.
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