Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Monty Python and the Holy Grail
File:Monty python and the holy grail 2001 release movie poster.jpg Promotional poster for 2001 re-release
Directed by	Terry Gilliam Terry Jones
Written by	Graham Chapman John Cleese Terry Gilliam Eric Idle Terry Jones Michael Palin
Produced by	Mark Forstater Michael White John Goldstone
Starring	Graham Chapman John Cleese Terry Gilliam Eric Idle Terry Jones Michael Palin
Cinematography	Terry Bedford
Edited by	John Hackney
Distributed by	Fox Video (UK, video) Cinema 5 Releasing (USA, 1975) EMI (UK, 1975) Roadshow (Australia, 1975) Sony Pictures deluxe collectors edition DVD
Release dates	United Kingdom: 3 April 1975 United States 10 May 1975
Running time	Original release 87 min. 2001 rerelease 88 min.
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Budget	£229,575
Box office	£80,371,739

Monty Python and the Holy Grail is a 1975 comedy film written and performed by the comedy group Monty Python (Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin), and directed by Gilliam and Jones. It was conceived during a gap between the third and fourth seasons of their popular BBC television series Monty Python's Flying Circus.

In contrast to the group's first film, And Now for Something Completely Different, a compilation of sketches from the television series, Holy Grail was composed of original material, therefore considered the first "proper" film according to the group and mainstream audiences. It generally spoofs the legends of King Arthur's quest to find the Holy Grail. The film was a success on its initial run and remains popular to this day. Idle used the film as the inspiration for the 2005 Tony Award-winning musical Spamalot.

Plot

Monty Python and the Holy Grail loosely follows the legend of King Arthur. Arthur (Chapman) along with his squire Patsy (Gilliam) recruits his Knights of the Round Table, including Sir Bedevere the Wise (Jones), Sir Lancelot the Brave (Cleese), Sir Robin the Not-Quite-So-Brave-As-Sir-Lancelot (Idle) and Sir Galahad the Pure (Palin). The group is instructed by God (represented by an animated photograph of legendary cricket figure W. G. Grace) to seek out the Holy Grail. They are led to a castle controlled by the French where they believe the Grail is being held. After being insulted in mangled Franglais and failing to invade the castle in a Trojan Rabbit, Arthur decides that they must go their separate ways to seek out the Grail.

Concurrent to these events, in a manner of breaking the fourth wall, a modern-day historian, while describing the Arthurian legend as for a television program, is killed by a knight on horseback, triggering a police investigation.

Each of the Knights encounter various perils on their quest. Arthur and Bedevere attempt to satisfy the strange requests of the dreaded Knights who say Ni. Sir Robin narrowly, but bravely, avoids a fight with the Three-Headed Giant. Sir Lancelot accidentally assaults a wedding party at Swamp Castle believing them to be hiding the Grail. Galahad is led by a Grail-shaped beacon to Castle Anthrax, populated by only comely women who wish to perform sexual favors for him, but is "rescued" by Lancelot. The Knights regroup and travel to see Tim the Enchanter, who points them to caves where the location of the Grail is written on the walls. To enter the caves, the group is forced to defeat the Rabbit of Caerbannog using the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch.

With their final destination known, the group travels to its last peril, the Bridge of Death, where each Knight is forced to answer three questions by the bridgekeeper before they can cross; Sirs Robin and Galahad fail and are thrown into the chasm below the bridge, before Arthur tricks the bridgekeeper. Lancelot becomes separated from Arthur and Bedevere, later shown arrested by modern-day police for the murder of the historian. Arthur and Bedevere travel to the Grail's castle, which they find is already occupied by the French who send them away with their insults. They amass a large army to prepare to storm the castle, but just as they are ready to start the charge, the police arrive and stop it, arresting Arthur and Bedevere, and putting an end to the filming.

Breaking the fourth wall

One of the running gags in the film is the frequent breaking of the fourth wall; for example, the aforementioned "old man from scene 24" and the death of the animator. Others include:

• The mood-setting opening credits initially play out in a serious manner before they are "hijacked" three times by trouble-making crewmembers (who, along with adding faux-Norwegian subtitles, sneak in mentions of Sweden and moose, e.g. "A møøse once bit my sister" [sic]) The text at one point claims that they have been completed at the very last minute and at great expense. The last few screens are then shown against a backdrop of garish, blinking fluorescent colors, with repeated mentions of llamas.
• Due to lack of proper budget, the production crew had to be inventive. A rather creative solution on their end was to imitate horse riding by strutting and banging two coconut halves together. This is frequently referenced in the film, and is the main theme of the first sketch (after the credits). The only place in the film where a horse appears is the scene where 'a famous historian' is attacked by an unidentified knight.
• The narrator (played by Michael Palin) is heard being killed after taking too long to introduce scene 24, although strangely he is heard later.
• "The aptly named Sir Not-Appearing-In-This-Film" (Michael Palin's son, William, then an infant, dressed up in chain mail attire).
• When the knights arrive at an obviously fake Camelot and chorus its name in awe, Patsy (Gilliam) is heard to remark "It's only a model" and is promptly shushed.
• In one Castle Anthrax scene, Dingo (played by Carol Cleveland, Python's main female supporting player) faces the camera and inquires about the quality of the scene to that point, asking if it should have been cut. Other characters from scenes both past and future respond and, after being drawn out, command her to "GET ON WITH IT!" (coincidentally, this moment was actually removed from the film on initial release, but was reinstated for TV broadcasts and the video release).
• Prince Herbert (Jones) repeatedly attempts to begin a musical number, but his music-hating father (Palin) demands that the music stop, even saying "You're not going into a song while I'm here!"
• When Prince Herbert is about to tell how his fall off the tall tower was broken, the crowd breaks into song, and everyone who got killed by Sir Lancelot rise from the dead, including Princess Lucky's father.
• The film ends very abruptly, with one of the police officers putting his hand over the photographic lens, the film jumping its sprockets, and the screen suddenly going black.

Background

In 1974, between production on the third and fourth TV series, the group decided that the time was then right to embark on their first "proper" feature film, containing entirely new material. Monty Python and the Holy Grail was based on Arthurian Legend and was directed by both Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam. The latter also contributed linking animations and the opening credits. Along with the rest of the Pythons, Jones and Gilliam performed several roles in the film, but it was Chapman who took the lead as King Arthur. Holy Grail was filmed on location, throughout several picturesque rural areas of Scotland, with a tiny budget of around £150,000 (approx. $350,000 in 1974); the money was raised in part with investments from rock groups, such as Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, and Led Zeppelin, and UK music industry entrepreneur Tony Stratton-Smith (founder/owner of the Charisma Records label, for which the Pythons recorded their song albums).

Production

The film was mostly shot on location in Scotland, particularly around Doune Castle, Glen Coe, and the privately owned Castle Stalker. The many castles seen throughout the film were either Doune Castle shot from different angles or cardboard models held up against the horizon (this is referred to in Patsy's dismissive line, "It's only a model" - another example of fourth wall breakage). There are several exceptions to this: the very first exterior shot of a castle at the beginning of the film is Kidwelly Castle in South Wales and the single exterior shot of the Swamp King castle during "Tale of Sir Lancelot" is Bodiam Castle in Kent — all subsequent shots of the exterior and interior of those scenes were filmed at Doune Castle. King Arthur was the only character whose chain mail armour was authentic. The "armour" worn by his various knights was silver-painted wool, which absorbed moisture in the cold and wet conditions.

The film was co-directed by Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones, the first major project for both and the first project where any members of the Pythons were behind the camera. This proved to be troublesome on the set as Jones and Gilliam had different directing styles and it often wasn't clear who was in charge. The other Pythons evidently preferred Jones, who as an acting member of the group was focused more on performance, as opposed to Gilliam, whose visual sense they admired but whom they sometimes thought was too fussy: on the DVD audio commentary, Cleese expresses irritation at a scene set in Castle Anthrax, where he says the focus was on technical aspects rather than comedy. The two later Python feature films, Life of Brian and The Meaning of Life, both have Jones as the sole director.

File:HolyGrail036.jpg

Chapman as King Arthur in Holy Grail

Originally the knight characters were going to ride real horses, but after it became clear that the film's minuscule budget precluded the use of real horses the Pythons decided that their characters would mime horse-riding while their porters trotted behind them banging coconut shells together. The joke was derived from the old-fashioned sound effect used by radio shows to convey the sound of hooves clattering. This was later referred to in the German release of the film, which translated the title as "Die Ritter der Kokosnuss" ("The Knights of the Coconut").

The use of coconuts leads to an extended, tangential discussion on how coconuts could have found their way to the British Isles. The possibility of swallows carrying them, absurd as it seems, reappears in a key moment late in the film and helps Arthur advance his quest.

As an extension of the group's penchant for never abiding to a generic formula, the 2001 DVD release of the film commences with the British Board of Film Censors' certification for Dentist on the Job, a film "Passed as more suitable for Exhibition to Adult Audiences", followed by its grainy black-and-white opening titles and nearly two minutes of the film itself. During the opening scene of Dentist on the Job, the projectionist (played by Terry Jones) realises it is the wrong film and puts the correct one on. (Dentist on the Job was a 1961 comedy starring Bob Monkhouse. Dentist on the Job's alternate title is Get On With It, a phrase that appears multiple times throughout Holy Grail).

Cast

Actor	Main Role	Other roles
Graham Chapman	King Arthur	Voice Of God, Hiccoughing Guard, Middle Head of Three-Headed Knight
John Cleese	Sir Lancelot	Second soldier in opening scene, Man in plague scene with body, Black Knight, Third Villager, French Taunter, Tim The Enchanter
Terry Gilliam	Patsy	Old Man (Soothsayer) in Scene 24/Bridgekeeper, Green Knight, Sir Bors (First to be killed by rabbit), Weak-hearted animator (Himself)
Eric Idle	Sir Robin	The Dead Collector, First Villager, Confused Guard at Swamp Castle, Concorde, Roger The Shrubber, Brother Maynard
Terry Jones	Sir Bedevere	Dennis's Mother, Left Head of Three-Headed Knight, Prince Herbert, Voice Of The Cartoon Scribe
Michael Palin	Sir Galahad	First soldier in opening scene, Dennis, Second Villager, Right Head of Three-Headed Knight, King of Swamp Castle, Monk, Main Knight who says "Ni", Narrator
Neil Innes	Sir Robin's Minstrel	Monk, Page crushed by wooden rabbit, Fourth Villager
Connie Booth	The Witch
Carol Cleveland	Zoot	Dingo (Zoot's twin)
Bee Duffell	Old crone
John Young	Historian	Man who is "not dead yet"
Rita Davies	Historian's Wife
Sally Kinghorn	Winston
Avril Stewart	Piglet

Characters

Knights of the Round Table

• King Arthur – King of the Britons
• Sir Bedevere the Wise
• Sir Lancelot the Brave
• Sir Galahad the Pure
• Sir Robin the Not-Quite-So-Brave-As-Sir-Lancelot
• (The aptly named) Sir Not-Appearing-In-This-Film
• While not referred to as 'Knights of the Round Table', Ector, Gawain, and Bors make limited appearances

Villains

• The Knights Who Say Ni, a mysterious, forest-dwelling order of knights devoted to the word 'Ni'
• The French, who apparently possess the Holy Grail and are unwilling to relinquish it
• The Black Knight, a very stubborn knight who refuses to admit defeat even when dismembered
• The Three Headed Knight, a giant with three heads, all of whom are very argumentative
• The Keeper of the Bridge of Death, who demands correct answers to his three questions before the knights may pass
• The Killer Rabbit, whose fluffiness belies its murderous intent
• The Legendary Black Beast of Aaaaarrrrrrggghhh
• The Witch, who is not really a villain but is reviled by the people as one
• Dennis, who scolds King Arthur for treating him as an inferior

2001 rerelease

On 15 June 2001, Monty Python and the Holy Grail was rereleased on four North American screens. This version of the film was digitally restored and remastered with a new stereo soundtrack. In addition, it restored 24 seconds of material to the Castle Anthrax scene that was not originally in the theatrical release (although had appeared on several video and DVD editions of the film, and when the film was shown on TV in the UK) where Zoot's "identical twin sister Dingo" gets side-tracked in conversation, and she randomly remarks on how much she is enjoying this scene. Several characters, including Tim the Enchanter, God, and the army at the end of the film, tell her to "get on with it!".

In its opening weekend, it grossed a strong US$45,487 ($11,372 per screen). It played in limited release until December 2003, playing at 26 screens at its widest point and eventually grossing US$1,821,082 during its rerelease run. This version of the film still plays periodically at North American repertory theatres.

Soundtrack

Originally, Neil Innes wrote an authentic medieval score for the film, with appropriate instruments, but as accurate as it was, was ultimately deemed too 'quaint' for the film. It was decided to instead use music from the DeWolfe Music production library in London, which the Pythons had used for musical cues dating back to their television series (including recordings of The Liberty Bell March for the series and later live shows).

The imposing first track was considered by Terry Jones to be an homage to one of his favourite film directors, Ingmar Bergman.

The dramatic music played during Sir Lancelot's misguided storming of Swamp Castle is The Flying Messenger by Oliver Armstrong, from the DeWolfe library.

The flagellant monks are chanting a phrase from the Latin Requiem mass, Pie Jesu Domine, dona eis requiem which in English is rendered, Sweet Lord Jesus, grant them rest. They then whack themselves in the head with wooden boards. This is an obvious reference to flagellants during the time of the black plague, a practice also seen briefly in the movie The Name of the Rose. This practice can also be seen in Ingmar Bergman's The Seventh Seal.

The intermission sequence also plays a part of Fats Waller's Alligator Crawl on the organ although it was originally written for piano.

The Album of the Soundtrack of the Trailer of the Film of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, the movie's official soundtrack, is less of a soundtrack and more of a comedy album in its own right, which depicts the "premiere" of the film along with several other sketches intercutting scenes from the movie.

Television broadcast

It had its television premiere Feb. 25, 1977 on the CBS Late Movie. Reportedly the Pythons were displeased to discover a number of edits were done by the network to reduce use of profanity and the showing of blood. The troupe pulled back the rights and thereafter had it broadcast in the United States only on PBS, where it runs uncut.

Home video editions, locations

In 1983, RCA released the first available letterboxed edition on CED in North America, featuring, for the first time, a deleted scene where several characters are telling Carol Cleveland's character Dingo to "Get on with it!". Some of them include characters not seen yet at that point in the film, such as Tim the Enchanter, The Old Man from Scene 24 and the army at the end of the film. It has been available on all subsequent DVD releases.

In 1995, Criterion released a Laserdisc of the film. Additional audio tracks included commentary by directors Jones and Gilliam, and the film completely dubbed in Japanese, portions of which were excerpted with translated subtitles as examples and used in subsequent DVD releases. It also included a theatrical trailer which began with English dialogue (including Michael Palin in 'Gumby' character voice), eventually changing to Mandarin Chinese, which concluded to appear as a mock advertisement for a Chinese restaurant across the street from the exhibiting theater, and includes an outtake with the cardboard cutout of Camelot falling in the distance.

The first DVD was released in 1999 and had only a non-anamorphic print, about two pages of production notes, and trailers for other Sony Pictures releases. On 23 October 2001, the Special Edition DVD was released. It includes two commentary tracks, documentaries related to the "brickfilm", the "Camelot Song" as sung by Lego minifigures, and "Subtitles For People Who Don't Like the Film", consisting of lines taken from William Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part 2. There are also two scenes dubbed in Japanese, where the knights search for a "holy sake cup" and where the Knights Who Say Ni request a bonsai. It also includes a small featurette, presented by Michael Palin, about the proper use of a coconut.

The DVD "Special Edition" includes "The Quest for the Holy Grail Locations", hosted by Michael Palin and Terry Jones, which shows places in Scotland used for the setting titled as "England 932 A.D." (as well as the two Pythons purchasing a copy of their own script as a guide). Many scenes were filmed in or around Doune Castle, "Scene 24" and the blood-thirsty rabbit's "Cave of Caerbannog" were in sight of Loch Tay, near Killin, and "The Bridge of Death" was in Glen Coe. In the closing battle scene, shots facing "Castle Aaaaarrrrrrggghhh" were filmed at Castle Stalker but the shots looking the other way towards the huge army were filmed later on Sheriffmuir near Stirling once they had managed to get enough people — one of them being author Iain Banks, then a student, as he recounts in his non-fiction work Raw Spirit.

In this special edition DVD release, the opening credits of the 1961 film Dentist on the Job is seen before the voice of the projectionist (Terry Jones) mumbles that it is the wrong film. The film stops abruptly and a slide reading "One moment while the operator changes reels" is seen on screen. The projectionist can be heard scrambling to start the correct film.

On 16 September 2003, a "Collector's Edition" DVD was released that includes the features of the previous "Special Edition" as well as a copy of the Screenplay. This set came in a collectible box.

On 3 October 2006, an "Extraordinarily Deluxe" DVD was released that includes the features of the previous "Special Edition" as well as other, new features. These include songs from Spamalot (with accompanying animation), a "Holy Grail Challenge" feature, and a "Secrets of the Holy Grail" feature. The aspect ratio for the "Extraordinarily Deluxe" DVD is 1.66:1, whereas the previous Special Edition features a 1.85:1 aspect ratio. On that same day, Monty Python and the Holy Grail was also released on UMD for PlayStation Portable

Games

In 1985, an unofficial text adventure game called The Quest for the Holy Grail appeared for the Commodore 64 and Sinclair ZX Spectrum computers, released as a budget title on cassette tape by Mastertronic. While the game borrowed many concepts from the movie (the three headed knight, the killer rabbit, holy hand grenade, shrubbery, etc.), the plot of the game made no real attempt to follow the plot of the film. Reviews of the game were not kind, lambasting it for weak humour and ease of completion.

In 1996, 7th Level released the official Monty Python & the Quest for the Holy Grail. It used footage and imagery from the film, as well as audio clips (some new) and featured an animated version of a scene never filmed entitled "King Brian The Wild."

A collectible card game using the characters and plot of the movie was released by Kenzer & Company in 1996.

2008 saw the introduction (in the United Kingdom) of a video, slot gaming machine, featuring sound and video clips from Monty Python & the Quest for the Holy Grail and had win features which are based around the Monster and The Black Knight. The game also features animation based on the film and in the style of Terry Gilliam.

Reaction and legacy

This film is number 40 on Bravo's "100 Funniest Movies". In 2000, readers of Total Film magazine voted Monty Python and the Holy Grail the 5th greatest comedy film of all time. The next Monty Python film, Monty Python's Life of Brian, was ranked #1. A similar poll of Channel 4 viewers in 2005 placed Holy Grail in 6th (with Life of Brian again topping the list). A 2004 poll by the UK arm of Amazon and the Internet Movie Database named Monty Python and the Holy Grail as the best British picture of all time. IMDb ranks it as #68 in their best 250 film list.

John Cleese remarked in the Monty Python: Almost the Truth (The Lawyers Cut) that he'd noticed that Holy Grail was normally ranked as the best Python film in the United States, while he and his fellow Brits generally preferred Life of Brian. He claimed he was "always surprised" by this, citing Holy Grail as being "less mature" and lacking in moral message.

Influence

A number of works, such as video games, novels, and newspapers pay homage to this movie.

• In the 'Robot Chicken' episode, "Gold Dust Gasoline", there is a skit with Santa Claus ringing a Christmas bell and shouting "Bring out your dead!", as a homage to the plague village scene.
• The 2007 DreamWorks film Shrek the Third includes a scene in which a character is banging coconuts together to simulate the sound of horses' hooves. Although both John Cleese and Eric Idle appeared in the film, Idle stated that he did not know and did not approve of the use of the gag in the film. He claims to be considering suing the producers for the unauthorised use of the gag, while the producers claim they were honouring Idle and Cleese by its use.
• The beer Monty Python's Holy GrAil ("Ale") comes complete with Python-style cartoons, including the trademark foot of Cupid. The label states it is "Tempered over burning witches."
• In Action Comics number 587, Superman, while traveling back in time, encounters a character shouting "bring out your dead!" In a later panel, he is asked who Superman was. "A king, I'll warrant. Who else could walk abroad with robes untouched by filth!"
• Dave Mustaine, frontman for the heavy metal group Megadeth, stated that he was inspired by the Rabbit Scene to write the song "Chosen Ones" which appeared on the band's debut album, Killing Is My Business... and Business Is Good!.
• In an early Star Trek: The Next Generation novel, Geordi is looking for someone in a bar. He is told to talk to a Gorn bartender who knows everything. "He knows everything, huh?" states Geordi, skeptically. "What," he asks "is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?" "What do you mean?" asks the Gorn. "An African or a European swallow?" "Boy, he's good!" Geordi responds.
• Ben & Jerry's has an ice cream flavour called Vermonty Python, with fudge cows.
• The Keeper of the Bridge of Death was the inspiration for three cartoons on Sesame Street featuring a similar bridge keeper who stops would-be crossers and gives them shape related challenges, i.e. answering three square-related questions, disposing of anything shaped like a circle, pointing out three triangles.
• In 2009 Gatorade released an online campaign entitled "Mission G" and 10-minute commercial entitled "The Quest for G" that parodies many elements of the film. The commercial starred Kevin Garnett in the King Arthur role; Derek Jeter, Jimmie Johnson, Usain Bolt, Misty May, Kerri Walsh, and Alicia Sacramone as the knights; Kareem Abdul Jabbar in the Tim the Enchanter role and Michael Jordan as the voice of the Grail.
• In the Season 7 Scrubs episode "My Princess," the village set design was a homage to the Holy Grail according to set dresser Patrick Bolton. The village features a Dead Collector with his cart.
• In the video game, Fallout 2, while travelling around, one may encounter a man on a bridge who asks the same questions as those in Monty Python. Also, one may come across a group of armored soldiers on a quest for the Holy Hand Grenade.

Sequel

According to the autobiography The Pythons, Eric Idle had proposed the idea of a Holy Grail sequel in 1998, to commemorate the then 30th anniversary of the group. According to Idle, the movie would be about an attempt to bring the knights together for one last crusade, as a sort of self-referential statement about the Python group. Most of the team thought the idea to be reasonably promising. However, John Cleese didn't want to do it, especially without Graham Chapman's leading man persona in it. The group then fell back, and Idle was angry enough at Cleese that he didn't appear in the 30th anniversary special in BBC, the year after.

External links

• Monty Python and the Holy Grail at IMDb
• Monty Python and the Holy Grail at AllMovie
• Monty Python and the Holy Grail at Rotten Tomatoes
• Estimating the Airspeed Velocity of an Unladen Swallow
• Template:Cite wolfram alpha