Monty Python At 50 - Monty Python And The Holy Grail

And now we enter into the realm of the post-Python efforts where their star starts to ascend from successful British TV stars into comedy megastars. While this wasn’t their first film, their initial effort And Now For Something Completely Different was a re-recording for the big screen of a selection of sketches from the TV show. The team were keen to branch out into new territory and leave the TV show behind so the two Terrys took the reins for their second film but first true big screen outing.

Monty Python And The Holy Grail
Dir. Terry Jones & Terry Gillaim / Dur. 92 mins

While this may be the first time they’re doing something for the big screen, the sketch show roots are still fully on display. There isn’t really a plot to speak of, other than King Arthur and his knights are searching for the Holy Grail - it’s really just a framework to hang a collection of themed sketches on. By no means a criticism when the sketches are of such high quality as these - the Black Knight, the constitutional peasants, the French taunter, the deadly rabbit of Caerbannog. For anyone who’s seen it, these descriptions alone should be enough to raise a smile.

Where it differentiates itself from their TV work is in the period authenticity - a combination of both Jones’ and Gillaim’s love of the grubby grimy medieval look. Everything is covered in mud and shit and it does it’s best to look like it’s set in the Dark Ages despite the limited budget upon which they were working. You can see here as well the seeds of later solo Python efforts like Jabberwocky and Erik The Viking - more on which in due course (little bit of foreshadowing there).

This was the first time for me seeing it on a big screen and with an audience (and an audience which surprising contained a large number of people who had never seen it before as evidenced by a show of hands during the introduction). What struck me is just how joke-filled it is - the gags start right from the opening titles and don’t let up pretty much all the way through. Judging from the audience reaction, I'd say pretty much all of those jokes hit the mark and there are a few new fans of Holy Grail floating around out there.

The Intro
This screening featured regular Python collaborator, former Bonzo and solo artist Neil Innes on introduction duties. Innes demurred being referred to as the sixth Python, saying that honour really belonged to Carol Cleveland. He talked about the music - he was originally hired to do the full score but, given the meagre budget, was only able to use a few musicians. As a result, the bulk of the “epic” score was provided by library music although some of Innes’ music remains, most notably the Camelot song.