11

TUESDAY

As we prepare to destroy the world, it might be wise to study the 1957 film The Story of Mankind, which posed the question, “Can people be trusted not to blow themselves up now that they have the bomb?” Based on a book by a man named Van Loon, the movie finds Ronald Colman, as “the Spirit of Man,” arguing on our behalf before a troika of outer-space judges who hold Earth’s fate in the balance. Arguing against us, as always, is the Devil, in the apt form of Vincent Price. In this—their last—film, the Marx Brothers appear as shining examples of humanity’s worth, with Harpo as Sir Isaac Newton. Doomed, we are. Though he would go on to define the disaster-film genre, director Irwin Allen here offers little more than a laughably mind-boggling all-star (including Dennis Hopper as Napoleon Bonaparte) head-scratcher. It screens at 8 p.m. at Stetson’s Bar and Grill, 1610 U St. NW. $2 (suggested donation). (202) 736-1732. (Dave Nuttycombe)