Mel Brooks is such a legendary figure in the comedy world that it's easy to forget he's only made 11 movies, and that some of them aren't very good. The Producers, Blazing Saddles, and Young Frankenstein (both 1974) are almost universally considered classics; everything after that (and 1970's The Twelve Chairs, in between) is hit or miss. Brooks' last two films, Robin Hood: Men in Tights in 1993 and Dracula: Dead and Loving It in 1995, were total letdowns, an embarrassment to fans who couldn't believe how far Brooks had fallen.Yet even Brooks' lesser films have their moments, and they all have their supporters. Often, the fans remember those moments and forget (forgive?) everything else. I find that to be the case especially with History of the World: Part I, which was released 28 years ago this week, on June 12, 1981. People remember it fondly. They cite the classic moment when Moses comes down from Mt. Sinai with the 15 -- then he drops one of the tablets; make that 10 -- 10 commandments. Funny scene, sure. But it's 30 seconds in a 90-minute movie that is lazy, scattershot, and poorly structured. Watch it now: It's clearly a junk drawer of leftover jokes and transparent attempts to recapture Brooks' former glory.Almost all the elements of a Brooks film are here. The cast includes previous Brooks collaborators Dom DeLuise, Madeline Kahn, Harvey Korman, Rudy DeLuca, and Cloris Leachman. The jokes include the usual references to Jews, urine, and black men's penises. What's missing is a coherent screenplay. Brooks' films are usually genre satires, but this one doesn't take aim at anything in particular. The first five minutes are devoted to caveman skits; then there's one minute of the Old Testament (basically just the Moses joke), followed by 45 minutes in ancient Rome, nine minutes in the Spanish Inquisition (long enough for one musical number), and 28 minutes in the French Revolution. Then there's an epilogue teasing "Part II" (which Brooks never had any intention of making), where the other "historical" events include ... "Jews in Space"? How does that fit with the theme? It doesn't. It's a random joke that Brooks happened to come up with, and he thought, "Hey, we're making a movie right now. Why not wedge it in?" It's a comedy fire sale. Everything must go! Then again, maybe Brooks was ahead of his time. The caveman sequence contains a reference to gay marriage, and the inclusion of both cavemen and Moses hints at the culture war between strict Bible interpreters and evolutionists. But maybe I'm stretching here. The "Spanish Inquisition" production number is clearly an effort to duplicate the famous "Springtime for Hitler" sequence from The Producers. Where "Springtime" had dancers arranging themselves into the shape of a swastika, "Inquisition" has dancers rising out of a pool in menorah formation. Both seek laughs (and earn them) by turning sober material into a glitzy Hollywood-style showtune. In the ancient Rome sequence, Gregory Hines' slave character opens the door to Blazing Saddles-style black-and-white shenanigans, and Madeline Kahn's boozy, leering empress isn't far from her character in that earlier film. Reviews from History's theatrical release are hard to come by, since only a few critics working in 1981 have online databases. But I was gratified to read Roger Ebert's 2-star review that expressed feelings very similar to mine:

Mel Brooks's movie History of the World: Part I is a rambling, undisciplined, sometimes embarrassing failure from one of the most gifted comic filmmakers around. What went wrong? Brooks never seems to have a clear idea of the rationale of his movie -- so there's no confident narrative impetus to carry it along. His "history" framework doesn't have an approach or point of view; it's basically just a laundry-line for whatever gags he can hang on it.

• The top song on the Billboard Hot 100 chart was Kim Carnes' "Bette Davis Eyes." The follow-up, "Bette Midler Thighs," was less successful.

• The first cases of what would come to be known as AIDS had been diagnosed in five patients in Los Angeles a week earlier.• Major League Baseball went on strike on this day, and not for the last time. Later strikes would be even more intimidating, as rampant steroid use made players able to carry larger picket signs for longer periods of time. • In less than a month, Ronald Reagan would nominate Sandra Day O'Connor to be the first female Supreme Court justice. • Taylor Kitsch and Julia Stiles were both a couple months old. Natalie Portman was three days old. Chris Evans would be born the next day. * * * * *"Eric's Time Capsule" appears every Monday at Film.com. You can visit Eric at his website, where nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition.