Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)

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 | Castle | King Arthur | Holy Grail | Camelot

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 (Ontario) (original rating) | Canada:PG (Manitoba) | 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:

During one of the first screenings of the film in front of a live audience, director Terry Jones noticed that when music was played during the jokes, there was a marked reduction of laughter from the audience. He went back and edited the music out whenever a punchline was delivered. At subsequent screenings he noticed a dramatic increase in the audiences' positive reactions to the jokes. From that point on, whenever he directed, he remembered to stop the music for the funny parts.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Towards the end of Brother Maynard reading the message in the cave, Sir Robin lowers his shield, and it can be seen that he is played by a stand-in and not Eric Idle, who is playing Brother Maynard instead.

Quotes:

[first lines]
King Arthur: Whoa, there!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Boondocks: A Date with the Health Inspector (#1.5)" (2005)

Soundtrack:

Camelot Song (Knights of the Round Table)

Monty Python at their best

In the Realm of King Arthur, the Monty Python team set out on a quest to recruit the best Knights in the kingdom and find the Holy Grail.

This is Classic Python Mayhem, where we encounter Killer rabbits, Knights who go Nee! and Horny Nuns who lure the unsuspecting in with there Grail Shaped Beacon.

The Cast all give Typically Hilarious Performances, bringing another must see to the Python Loving Audience.

If You Like Monty Python, you'll love it, if you don't then stay away.

If you've never seen Monty Python before then give it a try, yes it's dated but its still great fun.

9/10

Also see, The Life Of Brian and The Meaning of Life