And Now for Something Completely Different (1971)

Director:

Ian MacNaughton

Writers:

Graham Chapman (screen foreplay & conception) &
John Cleese (screen foreplay & conception) ...

Release Date:

22 August 1972 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

An anthology of Monty Python's best sketches from their 1st & 2nd seasons of their original TV show.

Plot Keywords:

Monty Python | Lumberjack | Blackmail | Dead Parrot | Twit

Cast

Graham Chapman	...	Brother / British pedestrian / Mr. Harrison (Apricot) / Sergeant-Major / 'Hell's Grannies' policeman / Jimmy Blankensop / Sir Edward Ross / Restaurant patron #1 / Letter Writer / Oliver St. John Mollusk
John Cleese	...	Announcer / Hungarian Man / Self-Defence Teacher / Sir George Head / Policeman / Interviewer / Mr. Praline / Second General / Christopher Columbus / Mungo the Cook / Bank Robber / Accountant #2 (falling past the window) / Vocational Guidance Counselor / Vivian Smith Smythe Smith
Terry Gilliam	...	Self-defence nun / Flasher / Uncle Sam / Caterpillar man / Sign holder
Eric Idle	...	Prosecutor / Marriage Counselor / Arthur Nudge / Self-defence student #4 (interested in pointed sticks) / 'Hell's Grannies' analyst / Arthur Wilson / Arthur Wilson Two / Nightclub Emcee / Linkman / First General / Restaurant Manager / Lingerie Shop Owner / Accountant #1 (falling past the window) / Fairy Godmother / Rita Fairbanks / Simon Zinc Trumpet Harris
Terry Jones	...	Stage Manager / Tobacconist / 2nd Hungarian Man / Squire / Self-defence student #3 / Tenant #1 / Flasher / Mouse Organist Ken Ewing / Fat Soldier / Waiter / Nude Organist / Brian / Nigel Incubator Jones
Michael Palin	...	Man with tape recorder / Phrasebook Author / Arthur Pewtey / Self-defence student #2 / Tenant #2 / Lost His Wallet / Shrill Petrol Announcer / Milkman / Ernest Scribbler / Bevis (pet shop employee / lumberjack) / Headwaiter Gilberto / Herbert Anchovy / Gervais Brookhamster
Carol Cleveland	...	Dierdre Pewtey / Storyteller / Milkman Collector / Restaurant Patron #2 / Elsbeth
Connie Booth	...	Best Girl

Also Known As:

Monty Python's And Now for Something Completely Different (UK) (complete title)
A teraz pora na cos zupelnie innego (Poland) [pl]
Die wunderbare Welt der Schwerkraft (West Germany) [de]
E ora qualcosa di completamente diverso (Italy) [it]
Elämä on Pythonia (Finland) (DVD title) [fi]
La première folie des Monty Python (France) (reissue title) [fr]
Livet e' python (Sweden) [sv]
Monty Python overgiver sig altid (Denmark) [da]
Monty Pythonin paremmat pilat (Finland) [fi]
Monty Pythons bättre bitar (Finland: Swedish title) [sv]
Monty Pythons wunderbare Welt der Schwerkraft (West Germany) [de]
Pataquesse (France) (original subtitled version) [fr]
Se armó la gorda (Spain) [es]
To adelfato me tis... trelles (Greece) [el]
To adelfato ton trellon poiiton (Greece) (reissue title) [el]

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Netherlands:16 | Finland:K-3 (new rating: 2001) | France:U | Australia:PG | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG | Finland:K-10 | Iceland:L | Sweden:11 | UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (video rating) (1986) | USA:PG | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Black Park, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

The sets for this film were built in an abandoned dairy rather than on a (more costly) soundstage.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the animation following the "People falling out of tall buildings" sketch, when the caterpillar walks into his house and climbs into the bed the door to the bedroom is still open. Once the caterpillar falls asleep and the camera fades out, when the camera fades back into him, the door is now closed.

Quotes:

Customer: Look, I took the liberty of examining that parrot when I got it home, and I discovered the only reason that it had been sitting on its perch in the first place was that it had been NAILED there.
Owner: Well, o'course it was nailed there! If I hadn't nailed that bird down, it would have nuzzled up to those bars, bent 'em apart with its beak, and VOOM! Feeweeweewee!
Customer: "VOOM"? Mate, this bird wouldn't "voom" if you put four million volts through it! 'E's bleedin' demised!
Owner: No no! 'E's pining!
Customer: 'E's not pinin'! 'E's passed on! This parrot is no more! He has ceased to be! 'E's expired and gone to meet 'is maker! 'E's a stiff! Bereft of life, 'e rests in peace! If you hadn't nailed 'im to the perch 'e'd be pushing up the daisies! 'Is metabolic processes are now 'istory! 'E's off the twig! 'E's kicked the bucket, 'e's shuffled off 'is mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleedin' choir invisible! THIS IS AN EX-PARROT!

Movie Connections:

Edited from "Monty Python's Flying Circus: Whither Canada? (#1.1)" (1969)

Soundtrack:

Unter dem Doppeladler (Under Double Eagle)

Contractual Obligation

This film really didn't need to be made - but at the time, after two excellent TV series, the Pythons were under pressure to produce a big-screen version for wider distribution.

Thus a number of sketches from the first two series were rewritten, tightened up, and re-enacted, entirely on film. The actual new material is probably around 2% of the script, and I hold the view that many of the sketches were inferior to their TV versions, and much of the better series 1 and 2 stuff (Spanish Inquisition, Silly Walks etc.) didn't even make it to ANFSCD for some reason.

It's interesting to watch the differences in production and compare this material to how it was originally done, and the new devices for linking one sketch to the next keep you on your toes.

But ultimately if you want to watch early python sketches, the TV versions are more rewarding.