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1981 film directed by Mel Brooks. Brooks stars in the film, playing five roles - Moses, Comicus the stand-up philosopher, Torquemada, King Louis, and Jacques le garcon de pisse. The large ensemble cast also features Sid Caesar, Dom DeLuise, Madeline Kahn, Gregory Hines, Shecky Greene, Cloris Leachman and Harvey Korman among many others, including cameos by Hugh Hefner, Bea Arthur and Henny Youngman.
The film's story, such as it is, is a parody of "historical spectacular" film genres, including the "sword and sandal epic" and the "period costume drama" subgenres. The four main segments of the film consist of stories set during the Dawn of Man, the Roman Empire, the Spanish Inquisition (as a lavish musical song-and-dance number) and the French Revolution.
At the very end of the film there is a teaser-trailer for History of the World: Part II, which promises to feature a Viking funeral, Hitler on Ice, and Jews in Space. As of the writing of this article no release date has been set for this proposed sequel.
