"The Story of Mankind" initially only came to my attention because I'm an enormous fan of Vincent Price and because I really want to watch all the films and TV-series he ever appeared in,
particularly the ones where his character is credited as "The Devil"; duh! When I started reading more trivia about this production and its infamous reputation, I naturally became only more intrigued. How is it possible that a film with such a phenomenal cast and ambitious premise is labeled everywhere as one of the worst turkeys ever created? The practically unaffordable all-star cast as well as the flamboyant plot can easily be clarified if you take a closer look at the name of the producer/director. Irwin Allen was one of the most notorious big spenders in Hollywood ever. He's mostly known for producing a series of massively budgeted disaster movies during the seventies ("The Towering Inferno", "The Poseidon Adventure"
) but apparently he already had a fondness for bombastic productions in the fifties. The film's turkey reputation can perhaps be clarified easily as well, because the concept is ludicrous, megalomaniac and downright insane.
More than 20 years ago, I watched a horror omnibus film called "Night Train to Terror" and I laughed myself silly because of the goofy wraparound story that featured God and Satan, sitting in a train carriage, discussing whether a handful of thugs belonged in heaven or in hell. Little did I know back then that this preposterous idea was actually just a simplified version of the same plot used in "The Story of Mankind"! Now that humanity has developed an all-destructive H- Bomb, sixty years prior to what has been scheduled, the heavens call together a tribunal that must decide whether mankind is allowed to survive or that it should be extinct for good. The almighty Vincent Price stars as the devil – of course – and pleas to the High Judge (Sir Cedric Hardwicke) that mankind doesn't deserve to exist further, what with the destructive tendencies they demonstrated since centuries already. God himself apparently couldn't make it, but he's replaced by "the Spirit of Mankind" (Ronald Colman) who represents the modest, everyday human being. The whole idea of the movie is that the Price, as the prosecutor, recalls famous historic cases to prove that mankind doesn't deserve to survive, while the Spirit of Mankind is the defending attorney. It must be said that the miserable spirit of mankind can't hold a candle to Vincent – the Devil – Price, and if all this nonsense was real, we would all be extinct! Price recalls some of the most eccentric madmen (or mad women) in history, and colorfully illustrates their share in history's darkest pages from the Roman Empire over the French Revolution, the Colonization of America and towards World War II. As a fan of Vincent Price, I must state that "The Story of Mankind" is worth watching. He has the most lines and screen time, even though he's only the 7th or 8th name on the opening credits, and clearly enjoys all the overlong philosophical monologues he's firing off. The vast majority of the film is stock footage, often terribly bad stock footage in fact. In spite of the versatile segments and cast, "The Story of Mankind" is dreadfully boring, which is probably the biggest letdown of all. Two-thirds of the phenomenal cast only appears in brief cameo roles. Another hero of mine, Peter Lorre, for example only has two lines and the contribution of the legendary Marx Brothers' is negligible as well.
More than 20 years ago, I watched a horror omnibus film called "Night Train to Terror" and I laughed myself silly because of the goofy wraparound story that featured God and Satan, sitting in a train carriage, discussing whether a handful of thugs belonged in heaven or in hell. Little did I know back then that this preposterous idea was actually just a simplified version of the same plot used in "The Story of Mankind"! Now that humanity has developed an all-destructive H- Bomb, sixty years prior to what has been scheduled, the heavens call together a tribunal that must decide whether mankind is allowed to survive or that it should be extinct for good. The almighty Vincent Price stars as the devil – of course – and pleas to the High Judge (Sir Cedric Hardwicke) that mankind doesn't deserve to exist further, what with the destructive tendencies they demonstrated since centuries already. God himself apparently couldn't make it, but he's replaced by "the Spirit of Mankind" (Ronald Colman) who represents the modest, everyday human being. The whole idea of the movie is that the Price, as the prosecutor, recalls famous historic cases to prove that mankind doesn't deserve to survive, while the Spirit of Mankind is the defending attorney. It must be said that the miserable spirit of mankind can't hold a candle to Vincent – the Devil – Price, and if all this nonsense was real, we would all be extinct! Price recalls some of the most eccentric madmen (or mad women) in history, and colorfully illustrates their share in history's darkest pages from the Roman Empire over the French Revolution, the Colonization of America and towards World War II. As a fan of Vincent Price, I must state that "The Story of Mankind" is worth watching. He has the most lines and screen time, even though he's only the 7th or 8th name on the opening credits, and clearly enjoys all the overlong philosophical monologues he's firing off. The vast majority of the film is stock footage, often terribly bad stock footage in fact. In spite of the versatile segments and cast, "The Story of Mankind" is dreadfully boring, which is probably the biggest letdown of all. Two-thirds of the phenomenal cast only appears in brief cameo roles. Another hero of mine, Peter Lorre, for example only has two lines and the contribution of the legendary Marx Brothers' is negligible as well.