A Parody Outline of History

A Parody Outline of History is hilarious but scathing anti-war satire of The Outline of History (1920) by H. G. Wells, written by Donald Ogden Stewart, in the styles of popular authors of the day, and first published in 1921 only a year after World War I ended.

This ear-popping audio dramatization was produced and voiced by Joe Bevilacqua (aka Joe Bev)—enhanced with music and sound effects—in the style of the popular performers of 1920s and 30s, including The Marx Brothers, Laurel and Hardy, Jack Benny, W.C. Fields, Gary Cooper, and John Wayne.

Stories in this set:

1. CRISTOFER COLOMBO: A Comedy of Discovery
Written in the manner of James Branch Cabell
Performed in the manner of a Marx Brother movie
Cast of Characters
Narrator: Paul Frees
Cristofer Columbo: Chico Marx
Rusty the Sorcerer: Harpo Marx
King Ferdinand: Groucho Marx
Queen Isabella: Margaret Dumont

2. MAIN STREET: Plymouth, Mass
Written in the manner of Sinclair Lewis
Performed in the manner of a Laurel and Hardy movie
Cast of Characters
Narrator: Paul Frees
Pricilla: Zasu Pitts
Kennicut: James Finlayson
Miles Standish: Stan Laurel
John Alden: Oliver Hardy
Manager of Heaven: Oliver Hardy
Drunk: Arthur Housman
Friend: Edgar Kennedy
Heaven Reporter: Walter Winchell

3. THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH
Written in the manner of F. Scott Fitzgerald
Performed in the manner of a Laurel and Hardy movie
Cast of Characters
Narrator: Paul Frees
Miles Standish: Stan Laurel
John Alden: Oliver Hardy
Pricilla: Zasu Pitts
Auntie Brewster: Billie Burke

4. THE SPIRIT OF ‘75: Letters of a Minute Man
Written in the manner of Ring Lardner
Performed in the manner of The Jack Benny Show
Cast of Characters
Minute Man: Jack Benny
Wife: Mary Livingstone
Driver: Rochester
Waiter: Frank Nelson
Tea Party Indian: Dennis Day,
Tea Party Indian: Don Wilson,
Bystander: Fred Allen
English Horse: Mel Blanc
Drunken Singers: Mel Blanc with The Sportsman Quartet

5. THE WHISKY REBELLION
Written in the manner of a bedtime story Manner of Thornton W. Burgess
Performed in the manner of a W.C. Fields movie
Cast of Characters
Storyteller: W.C. Fields
Aunt Polly: Mae West
Jed: Walter Brennan
Assorted Drunken Yodeling Children with Guns

6. HOW LOVE CAME TO GENERAL GRANT
Written in the manner of Harold Bell Wright
Performed in the manner of a Frank Capra movie
Cast of Characters
Narrator: Paul Frees
General Ulysses S. Grant: Gary Cooper
Geraldine Rhinelander: Olivia De Havilland
Mrs. Rhinelander: Emma Dunn
Ella Flowers: Katherine Hepburn
Mrs. Vandergriff: Margaret Dumont
Reverend: Charles Ruggles
Drunk #1: Arthur Housman
Drunk #2: W.C. Fields
The Crippled Newsboy: Jackie Cooper

7. CUSTER’S LAST STAND
Written in the manner of Edith Wharton
Performed in the manner of a John Ford movie
Cast of Characters
Narrator: Paul Frees
Philip Custer: John Wayne
General George Custer: Walter Brennan
Mary Custer: Maureen O’Hara
Little George
Little Mary
French Waiter

8. FOR THE FREEDOM OF THE WORLD: A Drama of the Great War
Act I—Written in the manner of Mary Raymond Shipman Andrews
Act 2—Written in the manner of Eugene O’Neill
Performed in the manner of a Laurel and Hardy movie (directed by Preston Sturges)
Cast of Characters
Narrator: Paul Frees
American Soldiers: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, James Finlayson, Ned Sparks
American Lieutenant Edmund Kockenlocker: William Demarest
Prussian Soldiers: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Leon Askin
Ellen Ratzkywatsky: Betty Hutton
Mrs. Finlayson: Esther Howard
The Landlady: Mary Carr
Angels: Zasu Pitts, W.C. Fields, Groucho Marx, Chico Marx, Jack Benny, Gary Cooper, John Wayne, Arthur Housman
Construction Site Foreman: Billy Bletcher