Customer Reviews

Story of Mankind

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Well, if you've always wanted to see Vincent Price as the Devil, John Carradine as a lion-carressing Pharaoh, Peter Lorre as Nero the Roman emperor and Dennis Hopper as Napoleon, this is the place to look! You also get Hedy Lamarr and the Marx Brothers. This is a star-studded affair.
Somewhere in the sky, a well-dressed and ever-mellifluous Vincent Price is arguing in front of a Celestial Jury with Ronald Colman, who speaks on behalf of Man. The purpose of said trial is to decide whether Mankind is GOOD or BAD, and worth being saved or not. To this effect a great many obvious historical characters are on hand to serve as examples of one or the other inclination.
This is served into typical 1950s Hollywood fashion: naive, colorful, full of clichés... and very entertaining! Many scenes look like stock-shots from other and previous productions, so that the whole thing looks like a schoolbook made alive. Price in particular is a treat to watch! This film was a peculiar endeavour to begin with, and amounts now to a unique watching experience of psychedelic proportions, which the eager film-lover will not look down upon.
The film has long been impossible to find, so this is a welcome though expensive reissue (and more so for overseas customers), of very good quality sound and picture. No subtitles and no bonuses.
Also recommended in the same DVD-on-demand collection: THE BIG CIRCUS, also by Irwin Allen (as producer), and also with Peter Lorre and Vincent Price. A no less colorful venture than THE STORY OF MANKIND, it is a more straightforward venture and a very pleasing one.

This is a movie i watched as a kid (many years ago) with fascination. Is now very dated but is a curio of a movie just to see some of the old greats do there stuff.Harpo Marx as usual magic to watch!!!! Raises a few questions of the human condition circa 1957. If you think about nothing is much better these days

To me this is a classic film, one of Irwin Allen's epics. The cast is headed by Ronald Colman, Vincent Price, and Cedric Hardwicke, with numerous part played by such greats as Hedy Lamarr, Groucho Marx as Peter Minuet, Peter Lorre as Nero, Dennis Hopper as Napoleon, Harpo Marx as Isaac Newton, John Carradine, Marie Windsor, Agnes Moorehead, Reginald Gardiner, Virginia Mayo, and many more, some of them in their only color film.

Producer-director Irwin Allen's answer to "Around the World in 80 Days" was this painfully bad 1957 adaptation of the Hendrik Willem van Loon book. Plenty of talent - and stock footage - goes to waste in "The Story of Mankind." Only Ronald Colman, Vincent Price, Harpo Marx (as Sir Isaac Newton), Groucho Marx (as Peter Minuit) and Peter Lorre (as Nero) manage to avoid total embarrassment. Allen's first disaster movie in every sense of the word. Sadly, the final screen appearances of Colman, Harpo and Chico Marx.

THE STORY OF MANKIND came out in theaters 13 months after Cecil B. DeMille's epic blockbuster THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. This writer can't help thinking that Irwin Allen offered this all-star feature as his answer to DeMille, adapting Henrik Van Loon's book for the screen and depicting the history and civilization of mankind in a colorful, panoramic production. Made sense at the time: entertainment on this scale was not yet available to television, and the prestigious all-star cast and Technicolor trappings indicated that this was an "important" picture. You'd think so yourself -- if you haven't seen the movie.

This plays almost exactly like an educational documentary you might see in an elementary-school Social Studies class. Historical names and landmarks are cited, famous scenes are re-enacted (with plenty of stock shots), and mankind's achievements and failings are illustrated and argued throughout. The cast of guest stars is impressive, but it reminded me a Bob Hope TV special with all-star cameos in one long, labored sketch. Most of the stars in THE STORY OF MANKIND are screen veterans who are rather past their prime, reciting ponderous dialogue. A few notables overcome the script: Vincent Price has the best turn (as the Devil), happily pointing out mankind's shortcomings while earnest Ronald Colman counters with mankind's good points. Peter Lorre plays Nero flamboyantly; Agnes Moorehead is a fiery Queen Elizabeth I opposite Reginald Gardiner's patient William Shakespeare; Charles Coburn is a compassionate Hippocrates; young Dennis Hopper, representing the new school of introspective acting techniques, offers a quiet interpretation of Napoleon Bonaparte. But otherwise producer Allen fits any movie name into a costume and has him do a fleeting bit: Edward Everett Horton as Sir Walter Raleigh, Harpo Marx as Sir Isaac Newton, Franklin Pangborn as one of Marie Antoinette's coterie, Bobby Watson doing his time-honored impersonation of Adolf Hitler (in flattering color), Anthony Dexter as Christopher Columbus and Chico Marx as his confidant, and so on.

The only breath of fresh air in this stuffy pageant is Groucho Marx as Peter Minuit, swindling the Indians out of Manhattan Island. Groucho is the only member of the cast who speaks in a relaxed, unaffected manner, and during these few minutes the viewer can relax with him for some "contemporary" chuckles. Then it's back to the museum for more World History.

If THE STORY OF MANKIND had played on network television as a "spectacular" in 1957, it would probably have been hailed with fine reviews, praise for its ambition, and kudos for bringing such thoughtful and historical entertainment to the home screen. Unfortunately it was released to theaters, where its shortcomings and shallowness were magnified on the big screen. For today's video viewers it makes a better TV show. Marx Brothers completists will want this, and movie buffs will enjoy playing "spot the cameos." The Warner Archive DVD is presented "flat" (full-screen "pan-and-scan", the way it was first shown on television), and the print quality is excellent.

"The Story of Mankind" is a 1957 film based on the 1921 book by Hendrik Willem van Loon. It belongs in the "mankind on trial" genre and it's most notable as the last film of Ronald Coleman, Franklin Pangborn, Hedy Lamarr, and the 3 Marx Brothers, and the first commercial film for disaster impresario Irwin Allen.

In addition to these actors, the film features Vincent Price (The Devil), Virginia Mayo (Cleopatra), Agnes Morehead (Queen Elizabeth), Peter Lorre (Nero), Charles Coburn (Hippocrates), Dennis Hopper (Napoleon), Francis X Bushman (Moses), etc. There are also miles of stock footage from Warner Bros. archives used to portray the different epochs on history.

Handsome Ronald Coleman (1891-1958) plays the "Spirit of Mankind". Coleman was a silent film actor whose rich, melodious voice propelled him to stardom when talkies came out. He was Oscar nominated for two films in one year - 1929 ("Bulldog Drummond" and Condemned"), and again in 1942 ("Random Harvest") and finally won in 1947 ("A Double Life"), for which he also won the Golden Globe.

Sinister Vincent Price plays "the Devil". We tend to think of Price for all the B horror movies he made in the 50s and 60s, especially the first 3D film "House of Wax" (1953) and the marvelous "The Fly" (1958). But Price was extremely versatile, and did comedies (e.g., "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein", 1948), period pieces (e.g., "The Ten Commandments", 1956), and film noir ("Laura", 1944).

In her last American film, Hedy Lemarr (1913-2000) plays Joan of Arc. She was one of the most beautiful actresses of all time, and her American film debut in "Algiers" (1938) launched her on a 20 year career that included films like "White Cargo" (1942), "Tortilla Flat" (1942), and "Samson and Delilah" (1949).

In his last film, prissy Franklin Pangborn (1889-1958) plays a Frenchman. He made more than 200 films between 1926 and 1958 and specialized in comedies, playing hotel managers, floor walkers, and efficacious clerks. He worked often with Bing Crosby, W.C. Fields, Frank Capra, and Preston Sturges.

Sir Cedric Hardwicke (1893-1964) plays the judge. Cedric's strong voice and stony appearance graced nearly 100 films. He played the evil bishop in "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" (1939), Dr. Livingstone in "Stanley and Livingstone" (1939), and King Arthur in "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" (1949). I remember him best as the Pharaoh in "The Ten Commandments" (1956). Hardwicke is good as usual.

Irwin Allen (1916-91) won an Oscar for his documentary "The Sea Around Us" (1953) and was nominated for "The Towering Inferno" (1974). He became the "master of disaster" with films like "The Poseidon Adventure" (1972), "Flood" (1976), "Fire" (1977), and "The Swarm" (1978). He also enjoyed making sci fi TV series like "Lost in Space" (1965-8), "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea" (1964-8), and "Land of the Giants" (1968-70).

"Mankind on trial" was portrayed in a "Star Trek: The Next Generation" episode "Encounter at Farpoint" (1987) and the Japanese horror/manga series "Devil Lady" (1998-9).

The top grossing films in 1957 were "Bridge on the River Kwai", "Peyton Place", "Sayonara", "Old Yeller", and "Raintree County". The big Oscar winners were "Kwai" (Picture, Director, Actor) and "Sayonara" (Actor, Supporting Actress). Other notable films released that year include "Three Faces of Eve", "Pal Joey", "Funny Face", and "Witness for the Prosecution"

Although the film is included in Medved and Lowell's "The 50 Worst Films of All Time", you may just find this film a real treat. For one thing it's chocker block full of famous actors, and for another, Vincent Price is having so much fun as the Devil it really shouldn't be missed.

Since amazon doesn't award half stars, I am forced to give this movie two stars but I cannot give it three. It falls squarely in the middle as a movie that is as bad as it is good and vice versa. But have no doubts, it is the best 2 star film that you will ever see. Producer Irwin Allen whose disaster movies (TOWERING INFERNO) and sci-fi TV series (VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA) were still in the future cut his teeth on this 1957 historical and hysterical glimpse at the history of Man. Based on a serious work by Dutch author Henrik van Loon (actually his real name, pronounced LONE), this all star extravaganza must be seen to be believed. I remember seeing it as a child in black & white and thinking how awe inspiring it all was. A high tribunal in outer space deciding the ultimate fate of Mankind while the Spirit of Man (Ronald Colman in his last film) and the Devil (Vincent Price at his most elegant) argued for and against. The arguments on both sides were compelling and Mankind is left to determine his own fate. Something to do with the super H-Bomb (remember this was the Cold War 1950s).

As fantasies go this is pretty cut-rate but where else can you see Peter Lorre as Nero, Virginia Mayo as Cleopatra, Hedy Lamar as Joan of Arc, and Dennis Hopper(!) as Napoleon. Let's not forget Francis X. Bushman as Moses, Agnes Moorehead as Queen Elizabeth I, Edward Everett Horton as Sir Walter Raleigh and you haven't lived until you see Groucho Marx as Peter Minuet buying Manhattan from the Indians or Harpo Marx as Sir Isaac Newton. Mix these players with the greatest collection of stock footage ever seen and you have an unforgettable experience. As history it's worthless but the entertainment value is priceless. Seeing it in Technicolor only adds to the fun especially in the earthly visits. The celestial courtroom scenes are also memorable. The movie is very well made for its limited budget. They match up the stock footage nicely and the costumes do look good but the script is really camp. In its defense the movie makes no attempt to be serious, nevertheless it's films like THE STORY OF MANKIND that show us just how bad a Hollywood film can be in a really good way.

I got this movie as a gift for my fiance who knew that the Marx brothers were in it and is a HUGE fan of theirs. The movie was very very boring and the Marx brothers made about a 5 minute cameo in it. We were pretty dissapointed. I will make sure to research more thoroughly next time before buying a movie I am not famliar with.