Mel Brooks Wildly Overpaid Orson Welles For History Of The World, Part I

Nobody does comedy like the legendary Mel Brooks. With films like "Blazing Saddles," "Young Frankenstein," "The Producers," and "Spaceballs," he's changed the face of comedy and influenced generations with his work. Orson Welles did the same with drama. Welles, of course, was a director, actor, writer, and producer and one of the most influential in film history. I mean, his first film was "Citizen Kane" in 1941 (which he co-wrote, directed, produced, and starred in) if that gives you an idea of what he's done. He made "Touch of Evil," "Chimes at Midnight," "The Trial," and "Macbeth," among others. Not only that, but he was responsible for the famous radio broadcast of "The War of the Worlds" (based on the novel by H.G. Wells), which led some listeners to believe that there was a real Martian invasion happening.

It seems like an unlikely team-up, Welles and Brooks, but it happened when Welles narrated each chapter of Brooks' "History of the World, Part I." Despite Brooks being the comic genius, Welles got the last laugh, according to a 2015 British Film Institute video interview. It all had to do with the paycheck for that film. Brooks has a great chuckle about it as he honors Welles, saying, "we joined the world of cinema art because of people like Orson Welles." 

When you hire someone like Orson Welles, you should probably expect perfection, but Mel Brooks had him booked for five whole days. He explained that Welles was supposed to work from nine to five for those days, narrating each of the segments for the film with lines like, "Rome, center of the universe ... " and "The ape rose and became man." Welles, however, was just too good at his job to take up all that time. As Brooks told BFI: 

"I paid him for five days. He was like, 'I want $5,000 a day,' right? So he started at, like, to test his voice out. This is about 10 to nine in the morning. By 11:30, 12 o'clock, he had done all of the narration; it was all perfect. He said, 'Any changes? I'll do anything you want, Mel.' I said, 'It's flat-out perfect,' you know? I said, 'My god, I could have paid you $5,000!'"

True, of course, but it is Orson Welles we're talking about here. It's kind of awesome that he came in, nailed it all, and still asked for the total amount of money. What's even better is what Welles said he would do with the money. 

When the interviewer asked if Mel Brooks tried to cut Orson Welles' pay, Brooks says that it was too late and, "I just got so angry that I paid him so much, and he did it in 10 minutes." Then he asked about what Welles would do with the $25,000 he was paid. Brooks said: 

"He said, 'Cuban cigars and Sevruga caviar.' He said, 'I would have included women, but I'm getting just a little too heavy for that kind of athletic ... ' So he was gonna buy — I said, 'Well, how many, you know, you can get about a hundred Cuban cigars,' and he said, 'A lot of Sevruga. I could've bought beluga, but Sevruga is just as good and half the price.' You know that's — he was an incredible man."

An understatement from another incredible man. Brooks is back (at the age of 96, no less) as the writer, executive producer, and star of the sequel series "History of the World, Part II." If you've seen the trailer, you know just how funny this will be. 

"History of the World, Part II" will begin streaming on Hulu on March 3, 2023. Two episodes (of eight) will be released each day for four days.