Monty Python and the Holy Grail (film)

.Monty Python and the Holy Grail is a 1975 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 made 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, which was a compilation of sketches from the television series, Holy Grail was their first film composed of wholly original material. 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 retains a large-scale cult following today. The film was the inspiration for the 2005 Tony Award-winning musical Spamalot, written by Eric Idle.

Directed by Terry Gilliam,
Terry Jones
Produced by Mark Forstater,
Michael White

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
Elspeth Cameron - Girl in Castle Anthrax
Mitsuko Forstater - Girl in Castle Anthrax

Sandy Johnson - Knight of Ni, Villager at witch burning, Musician at wedding, Monk, Knight in battle
Sandy Rose - Girl in Castle Anthrax
Romilly Squire - Musician at wedding, Villager at witch burning
Joni Flynn - Girl in Castle Anthrax
Alison Walker - Girl in Castle Anthrax
Loraine Ward - Girl in Castle Anthrax
Anna Lanski - Girl in Castle Anthrax
Sally Coombe - Girl in Castle Anthrax
Vivienne MacDonald - Girl in Castle Anthrax
Yvonne Dick - Girl in Castle Anthrax
Daphne Darling - Girl in Castle Anthrax
Fiona Gordon - Girl in Castle Anthrax
Gloria Graham - Girl in Castle Anthrax
Judy Lams - Girl in Castle Anthrax
Tracy Sneddon - Girl in Castle Anthrax
Sylvia Taylor - Girl in Castle Anthrax
Joyce Pollner - Girl in Castle Anthrax
Mary Allen - Girl in Castle Anthrax

Julian Doyle - Police Sergeant
Charles Knode - Camp' Guard / One of Robins Minstrels
Zack Matalon - Guard who falls into barrels
William Palin - Sir Not-Appearing-in-this-Film (photograph)
Tom Raeburn - Guard Eating Apple
Roy Forge Smith - Inspector End of Film
Maggie Weston - Page turner (hand only)

Plot synopsis

King Arthur is recruiting his Knights of the Round Table throughout England. He is frustrated at every turn by anarcho-syndicalist peasants, a Black Knight that refuses to give up despite losing both his arms and legs, and guards that are more concerned with the flight patterns of swallows than their lord and master. Finally he meets up with Sir Bedevere the Wise, Sir Lancelot the Brave, Sir Galahad the Pure (also called "the Chaste"), Sir Robin the Not-Quite-So-Brave-As-Sir-Lancelot, and "the aptly named Sir Not-Appearing-In-This-Film", and declares them the Knights of the Round Table. They are given a quest by God to find the Holy Grail.

After they split up, Sir Robin encounters a Three-Headed Giant, Galahad runs across the perils of Castle Anthrax, Sir Lancelot massacres a wedding at Swamp Castle, and Arthur and Bedevere encounter the dreaded Knights who say Ni. They each overcome their individual perils and reunite to face a bleak and terrible winter. Surviving the winter by eating Sir Robin's minstrels, they venture further to a pyromaniac enchanter named "Tim", who takes them to a cave guarded by a killer rabbit.

The Killer Rabbit attacksAfter killing the vicious Rabbit of Caerbannog with the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch, the knights face The Legendary Black Beast of Aaargh, and cross the Bridge of Death that is guarded by "the old man from Scene 24". Arthur and Bedevere survive to arrive at Castle Aaargh, and face the French Taunter once more. The film ends abruptly when a group of police from the 1970s interrupt the climactic battle scene to arrest Bedevere and King Arthur for the murder of Frank, the "famous historian".

King Arthur is recruiting his Knights of the Round Table throughout England. He is frustrated at every turn by anarcho-syndicalist peasants, a Black Knight that refuses to give up despite losing both his arms and legs, and guards that are more concerned with the flight patterns of swallows than their lord and master. Finally he meets up with Sir Bedevere the Wise, Sir Lancelot the Brave, Sir Galahad the Pure (also called "the Chaste"), Sir Robin the Not-Quite-So-Brave-As-Sir-Lancelot, and "the aptly named Sir Not-Appearing-In-This-Film", and declares them the Knights of the Round Table. They are given a quest by God to find the Holy Grail.

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 2004 poll by UK arm of Amazon and the Internet Movie Database named Monty Python and the Holy Grail as the best British picture of all time.[

Track listing

Side one
Introduction To The Executive Album Edition
Tour Of The Classic Silbury Hill Theatre
Live Broadcast From London: Premiere Of The Film
Narration From The Silbury Hill Gentlemen's Room / You're Using Coconuts
Bring Out Your Dead
King Arthur And The Old Woman: A Lesson In Anarcho-Syndicated Commune Living
A Witch?
A Lesson In Logic
Camelot
The Quest For The Holy Grail
Live From The Parking Lot At The Silbury Hill Theatre
The Castle Of Louis De Lombard: A Strange Person
Bomb Scare

Side two
Executive Album Edition Announcement
Another Executive Album Edition Announcement
The Story Of The Film So Far
The Tale Of Sir Robin
The Knights Who Say Ni!
Interview with Filmmaker Carl French
The Tale Of Sir Lancelot: At Swamp Castle
Tim the Enchanter / A Shakespearean Critique
A Foul-Tempered Rabbit
The Bridge of Death — (CD version only)
Executive Album Edition Addendum
The Castle Aaargh / The End

2006 Bonus Tracks
Arthur's Song
Documentary - Terry Jones And Michael Palin
Run Away Song

All the games following and including Worms 2 in the Worms series used the Holy Hand Grenade as an all-powerful mega grenade.
In the DVD commentary for the Lord of the Rings films, director Peter Jackson admitted crowd scenes with rural peasants were tricky to design, as they could easily remind viewers of Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Also, in The Two Towers commentary, previsualization artist Christian Rivers compares Helm's Deep to Camelot, saying, "it's only a model."
In the 1999 computer game Heroes of Might and Magic III: The Restoration of Erathia, all of the cheats refer to the movie, including the coconuts, the shrubbery, Tim the Enchanter and the Trojan Rabbit.
The 2007 DreamWorks animated 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 of Shrek for the unauthorised use of this gag, while the producers claim they were honoring Idle and Cleese by putting the part in.[5] Another scene shows King Harold apparently dying twice in the film, but soon revealed that he was still alive; this is perhaps a reference to the infamous "I'm Not Dead/I'm Getting Better" scenes.
The Knights Who Say Ni are referenced in The Simpsons episode Homer Goes To College.
Phil Vischer, creator of the VeggieTales franchise, credits the Frenchmen who taunt King Arthur as the inspiration for his "French Peas" segment.
The Megadeth song "Chosen Ones" on the 1985 album Killing Is My Business- And Business Is Good! is about the scene with the Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog.
The computer game Fallout 2 contains at least two easter eggs featuring this movie. One is where King Arthur and his Power Armor clad knights search for the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch, and the other one is the Bridge of Death, where the pop-quizzing, robe-wearing Bridge Keeper stands, referencing Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
Beginning with the release of 2000 Deluxe Edition, all SimCity games have had a fourth, highest speed setting, "African Swallow."
The MMORPG game Runescape includes several references to the movie, such as when a player tries to use a herring on a tree, as well as various other references.
In the Pop Tarts commercial "Here Ye Dragon," the knight is shown "trotting" on to the screen like King Arthur - sound effects and all.
In the video game True Crime: Streets of LA, one of the pedestrians can be heurd quoting, 'I Fart in your General Direction'