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