MEL BROOKS

Bil’s rating (out of 5):  B.  USA, 1981.  Brooksfilms.  Screenplay by Mel Brooks.  Cinematography by Woody Omens.  Produced by Mel Brooks.  Music by John Morris.  Production Design by Harold Michelson.  Costume Design by Patricia Norris.  Film Editing by John C. Howard.  

Madeline Kahn and Shecky Greene in History of the World Part I.

Mel Brooks hits rock bottom with this terrible spoof of ancient epic movies. It incorporates parodies of films like The Robe, Spartacus and The Ten Commandments while also spicing it up with musical numbers like a song about The Spanish Inquisition (which is actually hilarious). For the most part, the jokes aren’t even tasteless, they’re just not really at all funny. It gets boring long before it’s over, and much of the direction is painfully awkward. The only few enjoyable bits (aside from the Inquisition song) are Madeline Kahn‘s hilarious role as Empress Nympho on her uncomfortable dais. Otherwise, you’d be better off with Young Frankenstein, Blazing Saddles or even Spaceballs, and it’s a shame because scenes like the Last Supper and the dawn of man (a la 2001: A Space Odyssey) have some genuine potential.