History of the World: Part I (1981)

A sketch movie rather than a story: segments set in the Stone Age, the Roman Empire, the Spanish Inquisition and the French Revolution, each narrated by Orson Welles. Brooks plays several roles, including Moses and the stand-up philosopher Comicus, and Gregory Hines makes his film debut. The highs are as good as anything he made, especially the Inquisition staged as a splashy musical number, but the hit rate is uneven and many of the gags are crude for their own sake. Roger Ebert called it a rambling failure while Gene Siskel found plenty of laughs, and both views are fair. Dip in after you know which Brooks you like.