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The Story of Mankind
1957 US Theatrical Poster
Directed by	Irwin Allen
Produced by	George E. Swink Irwin Allen
Written by	Hendrik Willem van Loon (book) Irwin Allen Charles Bennett
Starring	Ronald Colman Vincent Price
Music by	Paul Sawtell
Cinematography	Nicholas Musuraca
Editing by	Roland Gross Gene Palmer
Distributed by	Warner Brothers
Release date(s)	November 8, 1957
Running time	100 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

  1957 half-sheet poster

The Story of Mankind is a 1957 American fantasy film, based on the nonfiction book The Story of Mankind by Hendrik Willem van Loon, which is notable mostly for its campness, and for featuring an ensemble of notable Hollywood performers in the last years of their careers. The film was former publicist Irwin Allen's first attempt at directing live actors after his documentaries The Sea Around Us and The Animal World.

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. It was the last film picture to feature the three Marx Brothers (and their only film in color), although they are seen in separate scenes rather than acting together. It was also the last film of star Ronald Colman and of character actor Franklin Pangborn, and the last American film of Hedy Lamarr.

  Plot

Scientists have developed a weapon, called the "Super H-bomb", which if detonated will wipe out the human race entirely. A "High Tribunal" in "The Great Court of Outer Space" is called upon to decide whether divine intervention should be allowed to stop the bomb's detonation. The Devil (Vincent Price), who goes by the name of Mr. Scratch, prosecutes mankind while the Spirit of Man (Ronald Colman) defends it.

Price and Colman are allowed to take the tribunal to any period of time to present evidence for mankind's salvation or damnation. They take the tribunal from prehistory through Egyptian, Greco-Roman, medieval, Renaissance, Enlightenment and modern times, looking at historical figures played by a host of guest stars.

  Cast

• Ronald Colman as The Spirit of Man
• Vincent Price as The Devil
• 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)

  Home media

Warner Archives released the film on made to order DVD in the United States on July 20, 2009.

  See also

• List of American films of 1957

  External links

• The Story of Mankind at the Internet Movie Database
• The Story of Mankind at AllRovi
• The Story of Mankind at the TCM Movie Database
• Irwin Allen News Network (The Irwin Allen News Network's Story of Mankind page)