Brooks takes on a variety of roles. the absurd mockery of history (my personal favorite is the wildly depraved King Louis), but the stand-up philosopher in the movie’s Roman Empire episode credited his portrayal of “Comicus” with the mug-happy nonsense that Cantor made famous. Or so I was told. To be honest, I’ve only seen his work in clips. Cantor did not translate to the present day as the Marx Brothers did. But maybe there is buried treasure here.
According to James Robert Parish “It’s Good To Be King: The Seriously Funny Life of Mel Brooks” The filmmaker cites Cantor’s performance in the 1933 musical-comedy “Roman Scandals” as crucial:
“When I played ‘Comicus’ in the Roman scenes of ‘History of the World: Part I’, I thought of myself as Eddie Cantor. I wore a short little toga and made my eyes pop out at reactions like that. My ‘Comicus’ was a tribute to Eddie Cantor It was my timing, it was my excitement.”
“Roman Scandals” is currently available to rent on AppleTV, YouTube, and Amazon Prime. While we wait for Brooks’ Hulu premiere of “History of the World, Part II” on March 6, 2023, maybe we should give Mel a good hand and watch this relic. Still, judging by the black face footage from the movie I just came across, you might be better off skipping it altogether.