The Story of Mankind (1957)
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Future "Master of Disaster" Irwin Allen produced this curious but inarguably fascinating adaptation of Henrik Willem Van Loon's best- selling historical volume. A Celestial Tribunal has been convened to decide the fate of the Earth after the invention of nuclear weapons, with The Devil (Vincent Price) and The Spirit of Man (Ronald Colman) debating if humankind should be allowed to continue or be exterminated once and for all. Both men present examples of human behavior at its best and worst, including Dennis Hopper as Napoleon, Hedy Lamarr as Joan of Arc, Virginia Mayo as Cleopatra, Peter Lorre as Nero, Edward Everett Horton as Sir Walter Raleigh, and Groucho Marx, Harpo Marx, and Chico Marx as, respectively, Peter Minuit, Sir Isaac Newton, and a monk (yes, the producers had the daring and vision to cast the Marx Brothers without having them play any scenes together). The Story of Mankind proved to be the last film for both Ronald Colman and Hedy Lamarr; it was also the last time the three Marx Brothers appeared in the same film, though the individual Marxes appeared in a few films following this. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Complete Cast:
- Ronald Colman - The Spirit of Man
- Vincent Price - The Devil
- Agnes Moorehead - Elizabeth I
- Peter Lorre - Nero
- Dennis Hopper - Napoleon
- Charles Coburn - Hippocrates
- Cesar Romero - Spanish Envoy
- Marie Wilson - Marie Antoinette
- Edward Everett Horton - Sir Walter Raleigh
- Marie Windsor - Josephine
- Cathy O'Donnell - Early Christian Woman
- Melville Cooper - Major Domo
- Francis X. Bushman - Moses
- Nick Cravat - Apprentice
- Richard H. Cutting - Court Attendant
- Austin Green - Lincoln
- Alexander Lockwood - Promoter
- Marvin Miller - Armana
- Tudor Owen - Court Clerk
- Harry Ruby - Indian Brave
- Reginald Sheffield - Caesar
- Bobby Watson - Adolf Hitler
- Angelo Rossitto - Dwarf
- Sam Harris - Noble in Queen Elizabeth's Court
- Hedy Lamarr - Joan of Arc
- Groucho Marx - Peter Minuit
- Harpo Marx - Isaac Newton
- Chico Marx - Monk
- Virginia Mayo - Cleopatra
- Cedric Hardwicke - High Judge
- John Carradine - Khufu
- Helmut Dantine - Antony
- Reginald Gardiner - William Shakespeare
- George E. Stone - Waiter
- Franklin Pangborn - Marquis de Varennes
- Henry Daniell - Bishop of Beauvais
- David Bond - Early Christian
- Dani Crayne - Helen of Troy
- Anthony Dexter - Columbus
- Eden Hartford - Laughing Water
- Melinda Marx - Early Christian Child
- Leonard Mudie - Chief Inquisitor
- Ziva Rodann - Concubine
- William Schallert - Earl of Warwick
- Abraham Sofaer - Indian Chief
- Toni Gerry - Wife
- Don McGowan - Early Man
- Director(s):
- Irwin Allen
- Writer(s):
- Charles Bennett, Irwin Allen
- Producer(s):
- Irwin Allen
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