Beforehand, it was agreed that Orson Welles would receive $5,000 per day in exchange for his services. Figuring that he'd have to spend five eight-hour days recording and re-recording these lines with Welles, Mel Brooks paid him $25,000 up front. But by noon on the first day, Welles had recorded his lines to perfection. "Oh, my god, I could've paid you $5,000", Brooks lamented. After kicking himself for a few minutes, the funnyman asked Welles how he planned to spend the bounty. "Cuban cigars and Sevruga caviar", Welles replied.
According to Mel Brooks, the Moses scene was a last minute addition. "Sometimes, you will get very lucky, and the set will give you ideas for jokes", Brooks said in a 2012 interview with the Directors Guild of America. One day, he was gazing out at the scenery that had been built for the caveman segments, when the gears in his head started turning. "I immediately thought, 'Well, where do I go from here?'" Brooks recalled. Heading into the shoot, his plan was to "skip the Bible and go to Rome." But eventually, he realized that the Stone Age set might enable him to explore another chapter in world history. With a few minor alterations, Brooks converted his fake caves into a mountaintop, and the Moses bit was born.
This movie is responsible for popularizing the catchphrase, "It's good to be the King." The expression is said by Mel Brooks during "The French Revolution" segment. Mel repeated this line in Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993) as well as in the stage version of the musical 'The Producers.'
During the "Jews in Space" sequence, the camera moves through the center of the Star of David-shaped spaceships and some Hebrew letters are visible on the interior wall, just under the guns. The word these letters spell is "Kosher".
In The Old Testament segment, the writing on the tablets are the correct two word Hebrew version of the commandments: Don't kill, Don't steal, Don't lie, et cetera. The five more Don'ts on the third tablet that Moses accidentally drops, are: Don't impregnate, Don't laugh, Don't buy, and the last one: Don't break. The letters of the fourth commandment on that tablet make the sounds of TLRT, but that's not a word in Hebrew (could be a production mistake).
Hugh Hefner: As an entrepreneur in "The Roman Empire" segment revealing his new concept, "The Centerfold".
Albert Whitlock: Uncredited, the special effects expert as a used chariot salesman in "The Roman Empire" segment.