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In the French Revolution scene of History of the World, Part I, Mel Brooks appears to re-use Harvey Kormann's character of Hedy/Hedley Lamar from Blazing Saddles.

This is underscored by the re-use of the "mispronounced name" gag: The character (also played by Harvey Kormann) is frequently addressed as "Count de Money" but insists that it be pronounced as "Monet".

Online searches disagree on which is the correct spelling of the name, although Wikipedia and IMDB both show "Monet".

(To my mind, the gag would be funnier if it were actually spelled "Money" a la Hyacinth Bucket).

It would be great to have a definitive answer citing either an original script, or on-screen credits.

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  • Generally, if a word is spoken but not shown in writing in a film, I don't know what would make a spelling correct or incorrect. But there is, of course, a famous French painter whose name is spelled Monet and pronounced like the name in History of the World, one of a very few French names well-known to Americans, suggesting somewhat that it's the spelling that everyone would think of while making the film or while watching it.
    – Chaim
    Nov 14, 2021 at 6:45

1 Answer 1

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Straight from IMDB:

Harvey Korman as Count de Monet

The joke is in the pronounciation of Monet, which sounds like Monay, or Money. Count De Monet. Count The Money. All part of the joke.

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    Thanks for your answer. I did stipulate that IMDB said this. Does this site consider IMDB authoritative?
    – Spencer
    Nov 13, 2021 at 21:00

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