Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)

User Rating:

8.5/10   

Directors:

Terry Gilliam
Terry Jones

Writers:

Graham Chapman (written by) &
John Cleese (written by) ...

Release Date:

10 May 1975 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Comedy

Tagline:

Makes Ben Hur look like an Epic

Plot:

King Arthur and his knights embark on a low-budget search for the Grail, encountering many very silly obstacles.

Plot Keywords:

Knight | Camelot | King Arthur | Holy Grail | Castle

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Graham Chapman	...	King Arthur / Voice of God / Middle Head / Hiccoughing Guard
John Cleese	...	Second Swallow-Savvy Guard / The Black Knight / Peasant 3 / Sir Lancelot, the Brave / Taunting French Guard / Tim the Enchanter
Eric Idle	...	Dead Collector / Peasant 1 / Sir Robin the Not-Quite-So-Brave-as-Sir Launcelot / First Swamp Castle Guard / Concorde / Roger the Shrubber / Brother Maynard
Terry Gilliam	...	Patsy / Green Knight / Old Man from scene 24 (Bridgekeeper) / Sir Bors / Animator / Gorrilla Hand
Terry Jones	...	Dennis's Mother / Sir Bedevere / Left Head / Voice of Cartoon Scribe / Prince Herbert
Michael Palin	...	First Swallow-Savvy Guard / Dennis / Peasant 2 / Right Head / Sir Galahad the Pure / Narrator / King of Swamp Castle / Brother Maynard's Brother / Leader of The Knights who say NI!
Connie Booth	...	The Witch
Carol Cleveland	...	Zoot / Dingo
Neil Innes	...	First Monk / Singing Minstrel / Page Crushed by the Rabbit / Peasant #4
Bee Duffell	...	Old Crone
John Young	...	Dead Body / Historian Frank
Rita Davies	...	Historian's Wife
Avril Stewart	...	Dr. Piglet
Sally Kinghorn	...	Dr. Winston
Mark Zycon	...	Prisoner

Also Known As:

Mønti Pythøn ik den Høli Gräilen (International: English title) (subtitle)
Los caballeros de la mesa cuadrada (Argentina) (Spain) (short title) [es]
Monty Pythons galna värld (Finland: Swedish title) (Sweden) [sv]
Die Ritter der Kokosnuß (West Germany) [de]
Gyalog galopp (Hungary) [hu]
Los caballeros de la mesa cuadrada y sus locos seguidores (Spain) [es]
Monty Python (Italy) [it]
Monty Python a svatý grál (Czech Republic) [cs]
Monty Python e o Cálice Sagrado (Portugal) [pt]
Monty Python em Busca do Cálice Sagrado (Brazil) [pt]
Monty Python i swiety graal (Poland) [pl]
Monty Python og de skøre riddere (Denmark) [da]
Monty Python og ridderne av det runde bord (Norway) [no]
Monty Python sacré graal! (France) [fr]
Monty Python, sacré graal (France) [fr]
Monty Pythonin hullu maailma (Finland) [fi]
Oi ippotes tis eleeinis trapezis (Greece) (reissue title) [el]
To adelfato ton ippoton tis eleeinis trapezis (Greece) [el]

Runtime:

91 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English | French | Latin

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital (2001 re-release) | Mono (original release)

Certification:

Canada:A (Nova Scotia) | Canada:AA (Ontario) (re-rating) (2001) | Canada:PG (Manitoba) | Canada:PG (Ontario) (original rating) | Portugal:M/12 | UK:15 (video rating: 1988) | Brazil:18 | Argentina:Atp | UK:12 (re-rating) (2006) | UK:A (original rating) (cut) | New Zealand:M | Australia:PG | Canada:G (Quebec) | Finland:K-16 | Iceland:L | Ireland:15 | Norway:16 (original rating) | Singapore:PG | Spain:T | Sweden:15 | USA:PG | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Appin, Argyll and Bute, Scotland, UK

Company:

Michael White Productions

Trivia:

Graham Chapman's alcoholism caused problems during filming, and not just through his repeatedly forgetting his lines. The first day of shooting required Chapman to cross the Bridge of Death. When working on "Monty Python's Flying Circus" (1969), Chapman had been used to drinking heavily to calm his nerves. He quickly discovered to his dismay that the crew had no alcohol on the set, and the nearest town was too far away for a quick trip to purchase any. Consequently, he was visibly stressed, shaking, sweating and moving slowly throughout the scene, yet he was known to be an experienced rock climber. Not knowing about his alcoholism, the crew wondered if Chapman's heavy costume caused the stress; it was actually alcoholism-induced DTs.

Goofs:

Continuity: When King Arthur threatens to say "Ni" to the old crone, the left side of his chain mail coif is behind him; before and after that cut, both sides of his coif are draped over his shoulders.

Quotes:

[first lines]
King Arthur: Whoa, there!

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 50 Greatest Comedy Films (2006) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Sunrise Music

WHAT is the capital of Assyria? I don't know that!

I do know, however, that Monty Python and the Holy Grail is one of the funniest movies ever made. Let's face it, if the Python hadn't showed up in 1969, someone would have created them by now, or the world would be a much sadder place. Alongside Life of Brian, which is the sextet's masterpiece, Holy Grail is an excellent start if you want to get addicted to their surreal humor.

As suggested in the title, the film deals with the Arthurian stories, freely reinterpreted by the Python ensemble: after recruiting his knights, including Sir Lancelot (John Cleese), Sir Robin (Eric Idle), Sir Bedevere (Terry Jones) and Sir Galahad (Michael Palin), King Arthur (Graham Chapman) embarks on a mission from God (also Chapman, voice only though): to seek and find the Holy Grail. No need to say, the journey is going to be perilous, but also hilarious, our heroes doing their "best" to screw everything up.

As in Life of Brian, there are so many good bits choosing just one or two feels reductive and disrespectful, given the material. It's pure comedy gold from start to finish, a non-stop gag marathon: from the mock Scandinavian subtitles in the opening credits to the argument about swallows, from the Killer Rabbit to the Black Knight and the jaw-dropping epilogue, you will keep grinning like never before (if you're unfamiliar with these comedians, that is). Actually, after some serious thinking I can select two particular sequences as particularly memorable: the Knights who say "Ni!" and the Bridge of Death. The rest of the film is ace too, but those two scenes are the ones I can't stop thinking of fondly whenever the movie is mentioned.

Oh, and let's not forget Terry Gilliam's vital contribution: he doesn't appear that much as an actor (his Bridgekeeper is absolute genius, though), but he compensates that with the remarkable animations used to depict part of this epic adventure. Speaking of epic, this picture has one of the most brilliant tag-lines in comedy history, if not film history in general.

Oh yes, the world wouldn't be quite the same without the Monty Python. Even the most miserable person on the planet will laugh like a lunatic after viewing any of their films.

P.S. Ni!