Audience Member
Hendrik Willem van Loon wrote and illustrated The Story of Mankind in 1921, telling brief chapters of the history of Western civilization, always asking "Did the person or event in question perform an act without which the entire history of civilization would have been different?"
Thirty years later, former publicist Irwin Allen chose the book as his first non-documentary film, directing, writing and producing the film with the goal of only having an actor and actress appear in the film before changing up his strategy and taking a page out of the recent box office hit Around the World In 80 Days and having a cast of nearly fifty stars tell the story. Oh yeah and lots and lots of repurposed b-roll from other movies and stock footage.
Ronald Colman is The Spirit of Man and Vincent Price is Mr. Scratch. They're testifying in front of a tribunal that will decide the fate of mankind, who has created a Super H-Bomb, and the powers that run the universe will determine whether they stop the bomb or allow it to destroy the human race. That leads to a cavalcade of stardom, with Hedy Lamarr as Joan of Arc, Virginia Mayo as Cleopatra, Agnes Moorehead as Queen Elizabeth I, Peter Lorre as Nero, Charles Coburn as Hippocrates, along with all three Marx Brothers in their last film together.
But wait -- there's more. Cesar Romero! John Carradine! Dennis Hopper as Napoleon! Francis X. Bushman as Moses! Jim Ameche, taking over the role his brother made famous, Alexander Graham Bell!
All on sets that seem made for TV with dialogue made for the grade school stage. Yes, The Story of Mankind certainly is something else. Everyone in this showed up for one day to film their part and were all paid pretty well. So who cares if the movie is so strange, kind of like a religious epic with no religion.
When asked if the film was based on a book, Colman replied, "Yes. But they are using only the notes on the dust jacket."
Rated 1.5/5 Stars •
Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars
02/06/23
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Audience Member
I couldn't even watch. Seems like the people making movies in the 50's were morons or thought that their audience was.
Rated 0.5/5 Stars •
Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars
02/08/23
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Audience Member
My late night movie insomnia habit's. curiosity has been satisfied. Truly a clunker, but now I want to write an essay about moralistic therapeutic deism in Hollywood.
Rated 2.5/5 Stars •
Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars
02/06/23
Full Review
s r
Seemed like that had footage of all the eras of history and turned it into a final judgement film. It was poorly told and I only liked satan's depiction by price and the Marx brothers' cameo.
Rated 1.5/5 Stars •
Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars
03/31/23
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Audience Member
Not the worst idea, and the heavenly court works well with Colman and Price bouncing off each other as opposites as they dissect the history of the world. It does however feel a bit like a clip show at times with clearly scenes from other films being used to paint the arguments. It's not all like that though and plenty of the historical observations are part of this production and there's a plethora of names in them too.
Rated 2.5/5 Stars •
Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars
02/06/23
Full Review
Audience Member
WOW......WOW.....WOW....WOW.....JUST SEEN THIS MOVIE 4 THE 1ST TIME N THINK THAT THIS IS A GOOD MOVIE 2 WATCH......its got a good cast of actors/actresses throughout this movie......I think that the director of this drama/sci-fi/fantasy movie had done a great job of directing this movie because you never know what 2 expect throughout this movie......WARNING THIS MOVIE CONTAINS STROBE LIGHTNING EFFECTS THROUGHOUT SOME SCENES THROUGHOUT THIS MOVIE.......
the whole cast::
Cast
Ronald Colman as The Spirit of Man
Vincent Price as Mr. Scratch
Hedy Lamarr as Joan of Arc
Groucho Marx as Peter Minuit
Harpo Marx as Sir Isaac Newton
Chico Marx as Monk
Virginia Mayo as Cleopatra
Agnes Moorehead as Queen Elizabeth I
Peter Lorre as Nero
Charles Coburn as Hippocrates
Sir Cedric Hardwicke as High Judge
Cesar Romero as Spanish Envoy
John Carradine as Khufu
Dennis Hopper as Napoleon Bonaparte
Marie Wilson as Marie Antoinette
Helmut Dantine as Marc Antony
Edward Everett Horton as Sir Walter Raleigh
Reginald Gardiner as William Shakespeare
Marie Windsor as Joséphine de Beauharnais
George E. Stone as Waiter
Cathy O'Donnell as Early Christian Woman
Franklin Pangborn as Marquis de Varennes
Melville Cooper as Major Domo
Henry Daniell as Bishop Cauchon
Francis X. Bushman as Moses
Jim Ameche as Alexander Graham Bell
David Bond as Early Christian
Nick Cravat as Devil's Assistant
Dani Crayne as Helen of Troy
Richard H. Cutting as Court Attendant
Anthony Dexter as Christopher Columbus
Toni Gerry as Wife
Austin Green as Abraham Lincoln
Eden Hartford as Laughing Water
Alexander Lockwood as Promoter
Melinda Marx as Early Christian Child
Bart Mattson as Cleopatra's Brother
Don Megowan as Early Man
Marvin Miller as Armana
Nancy Miller as Early Woman
Leonard Mudie as Chief Inquisitor
Burt Nelson as Second Early Man
Tudor Owen as High Tribunal Clerk
Ziva Rodann as Egyptian Concubine
Harry Ruby as Indian Brave
William Schallert as Earl of Warwick
Reginald Sheffield as Julius Caesar
Abraham Sofaer as Indian Chief
Bobby Watson as Adolf Hitler
Sam Harris as Nobleman in Queen Elizabeth's Court (uncredited)
Angelo Rossitto as Dwarf in Nero's Court (uncredited)
Paul Zastupnevich as Apprentice (uncredited)
Warner Home Video released the film as part of its Warner Archive made-to-order DVD line on July 20, 2009 in the United States.
Like Allen's previous two films, it features vast amounts of stock footage, in this case, battles and action scenes culled from previous Warner Bros. costume films, coupled with cheaply shot close-ups of actors on much smaller sets. This was the last film picture to feature the three Marx Brothers (and their only film in Technicolor), although they are seen in separate scenes rather than acting together. This was also the last film of star Ronald Colman, the last film of character actor Franklin Pangborn, and the last American film of Hedy Lamarr.
Years later, The Story of Mankind was included as one of the choices in the 1978 book The Fifty Worst Films of All Time.
it is nothing special 2 watch, it is really campy movie 2 watch but man it is such an entertaining movie 2 watch, I think that this is such an enjoyable movie 2 watch, its got such a great cast throughout this movie, but it is nothing special 2 watch, I think that both Vincent price, Ronald colman were absolutely brilliant throughout this movie.....I think that this is such an enjoyable movie 2 watch with a great cast throughout this movie.....
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
02/27/23
Full Review
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