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Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Promotional poster for 2001 re-release
Directed by	Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones
Produced by	Mark Forstater, Michael White
Written by	Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin.
Starring	Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin.
Cinematography	Terry Bedford
Editing by	John Hackney
Distributed by	20th Century Fox (UK, video), Columbia Pictures (USA), EMI (UK, 1975)
Release date(s)	3 April 1975 (UK)
Running time	91 min.
Language	English
Budget	£229,000
Preceded by	And Now for Something Completely Different
Followed by	Monty Python's Life of Brian
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

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.

Contents 1 Background 2 Plot 3 Production 4 Cast 5 2001 Re-release 6 Soundtrack 7 Home video editions, locations 8 Games 9 Reaction 10 Cultural references 11 Sequel 12 References and notes 13 External links

The group (including Cleese) reformed in 1974 to write and star in their first feature film of new material. The film, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, was based around Arthurian Legend and directed by Jones and Gilliam, the latter also drawing the film's linking animations and opening credits. Along with the rest of the Pythons, Jones and Gilliam performed several roles in the film, but it was Chapman who took the lead as King Arthur. Holy Grail was filmed on a budget of nearly £150,000; this money was raised in part with investments from rock groups such as Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin - and UK music industry entrepreneur Tony Stratton-Smith (founder/owner of the Charisma Records label for which the Pythons recorded).

The film was shot on location in Scotland, particularly around Doune Castle, Glen Coe, and the privately owned Castle Stalker. Because of the small budget, the film had to make do without horses. This led to one of the film's most memorable running jokes, as every time the script calls for the knights to be majestically riding their steeds, they are actually play-riding along on foot while their squires behind them bang together coconut half-shells to imitate the sound of horses' hooves (a common radio sound effect now shown on screen for comic effect - though this joke had actually been seen previously in a 1956 episode of A Show Called Fred, produced by Richard Lester and starring Peter Sellers). The German name of the movie, Die Ritter der Kokosnuss, is actually based on this joke, as it literally translates as The Knights of the Coconut. The chain mail armor worn by the various knights was actually silver-painted wool, whilst the many castles seen throughout the film were either Doune Castle shot from different angles, or cardboard models held up against the horizon (this is used as a small joke, when Arthur and his knights arrive at Camelot, they all remark "Camelot!", then Patsy, Arthur's squire/steed, remarks "It's only a model." to which Arthur replies "Shh!").

The filming was apparently unpleasant. The weather was poor and the "chain mail" soaked up rain; the budget only allowed for low-quality hotels which could not provide sufficient hot water for the team to bathe every evening; Gilliam and Jones argued with each other and with the other Pythons; and the extent of Chapman's alcoholism became apparent when he began to suffer from delirium tremens during the filming. Terry Gilliam later said in an interview that "everything that could go wrong did go wrong".^{[citation needed]} The Pythons recall that the filming of Holy Grail is the only time any of them can remember the usually amiable Palin losing his temper. This occurred when Jones and Gilliam insisted on repeatedly re-shooting a scene in which Palin played a character called "the mud eater". The scene was ultimately cut from the film.

The film proved a success and in 2000, readers of Total Film magazine voted Monty Python and the Holy Grail the 5th greatest comedy film of all time.

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.

After 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".

The film was shot on location in Scotland, particularly around Doune Castle, Glen Coe, and the privately owned Castle Stalker. The many castles seen throughout the film were either Doune Castle shot from different angles or cardboard models held up against the horizon. (This was referenced in Patsy's famous line, the dismissive "It's only a model" in reference to Camelot — which it was.) The only exception to this is the very first exterior shot of the castle of the Swamp King, which is Bodiam Castle in East Sussex - all subsequent shots of its exterior and interior were filmed elsewhere. The chain mail armour worn by the various knights was also actually silver-painted wool (which tended to absorb moisture in the cold and wet conditions).

The film was co-directed by Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones, the first major project for both and the first project where any members of the Pythons were behind the camera. This proved to be troublesome on the set as Jones and Gilliam had different directing styles and it often wasn't clear who was in charge. The Pythons evidently preferred Jones, an acting member of the group, as opposed to Gilliam, who began as an animator. On the DVD audio commentary track Cleese expresses irritation at a scene set in Castle Anthrax where he says the focus was on technical aspects rather than comedy. The two later Python feature films, The Life of Brian and the Meaning of Life, both have Jones as the sole director.

The Pythons decided on a joke where the characters would pretend to ride horses while their porters banged coconut shells together, an in-joke as to how BBC radio shows and old-time radio in general had produced the sound effect of horses since the 1930s (a gag seen previously in the sole surviving episode of the 1956 program A Show Called Fred, produced by Richard Lester and starring Peter Sellers, and also used on The Goon Show in the form of "here comes a man riding on coconut shells"), with the added benefit of being much cheaper than hiring horses and learning to ride them. This was later referenced in the German release on 13 August 1976, which translated the title as "Die Ritter der Kokosnuß"^[1] ("The Knights of the Coconut"), and in a successful attempt in Trafalgar Square at 7pm on St George's Day 2007 to break the world record for the largest coconut orchestra.^[2]

The use of coconuts leads to an extended (and boring, to Arthur) discussion on how coconuts could have found their way to the British Isles. The possibility of swallows carrying them, absurd as it seems, reappears in a key moment late in the film and helps Arthur advance his quest.

As an extension of the group's penchant for bizarre title credits, the 2001 DVD release of the film commences with the British Board of Film Censors' certification for Dentist on the Job, a film "Passed as more suitable for Exhibition to Adult Audiences", followed by its grainy black and white opening titles and several minutes of the film itself (approximately 1 minute 48 seconds). During the opening scene of Dentist on the Job, the projectionist (played by Terry Jones) realises it is the wrong film and puts the correct one on. (Dentist on the Job was a 1961 comedy starring Bob Monkhouse, perhaps chosen as an epitome of the comedy to which Monty Python had once provided an alternative. Also, Dentist on the Job's alternate title is Get On With It, a phrase that appears multiple times throughout Holy Grail.)

Holy Grail's start credits spoof Ingmar Bergman's film The Seventh Seal and so include mock Nordic subtitles and many gratuitous references to "møøse" and llamas. The subtitles fictionally tell how those responsible for the fake credits were sacked and replacement credits were created at great expense. The film has no ending credits, or indeed any indication whatsoever that the film is over, instead showing a policeman forcibly shutting down the camera and cutting straight to a black screen and a full two minutes and forty seconds of organ music. Due to the abrupt ending of the movie, the first few seconds of the opening credits are sometimes shown again when the film is played on television. The organ music is often missing from cinema showings as inexperienced cinema projectionists tend to mistake the ending blank footage (with audio track) as scrap film and remove it before sending the film back to the depot.

• Graham Chapman played King Arthur. He also played the voice of God, one of the Giant's three heads, and a guard of Swamp Castle with the hiccups.
• Terry Jones played Bedevere. He also played the female peasant who bothers Arthur, another of the Giant's three heads, and Prince Herbert.
• John Cleese played Sir Lancelot. He also played Tim the Enchanter, the Black Knight (except when he had been reduced to one leg), the second guard to discuss swallows, a man carrying a not-yet-dead man to the cart in the plague-ridden village, a peasant who accuses a woman of being a witch, and the insulting Frenchman.
• Eric Idle played Sir Robin. He also played a collector of the dead (who clangs on the musical triangle shouting, "Bring out your dead!"), a peasant who accuses a woman of being a witch, a guard who needs to be spoon-fed instructions at Swamp Castle, Lancelot's servant Concord, Roger the shrubber (somebody who arranges, designs, and sells shrubberies), and Brother Maynard (a priest who is eaten by the Black Beast of Aaaaargh).
• Michael Palin played Sir Galahad. Palin had the most roles in the film: a mud eater, Dennis the anarcho-syndicalist peasant who accuses Arthur of displaying "the violence inherent in the system," another peasant who accuses a woman of being a witch, the first guard to discuss swallows, another of the Giant's heads, the Lord of Swamp Castle, one of the wedding guests, the leader of the Knights who say "Ni!", a priest who reads the instructions for the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch from the Book of Armaments (credited as "Brother Maynard's Brother"), and the narrator.
• Terry Gilliam played Patsy, Arthur's servant, who bangs coconuts together and calls Camelot "only a model". He also played the Green Knight who dies fighting the Black Knight, the Old Man from Scene 24 that pops up again as the Bridgekeeper, Sir Bors (who cries out during the Camelot song "I have to push the pram-a-lot!", and who is killed by the rabbit), a gorilla hand turning pages of "the book of the film" during the narration, and finally himself as the animator who dies of a fatal heart attack.
• Carol Cleveland played Zoot, one of the maidens in the Castle Anthrax. She also played Zoot's identical twin sister Dingo.
• Connie Booth played the woman accused of being a witch.
• Neil Innes played Sir Robin's favourite minstrel, another peasant who accuses a woman of being a witch, a monk, and Galahad's servant/horse crushed by the Trojan Rabbit.
• John Young played the famous historian and the not-yet-dead old man carried by Cleese.
• Bee Duffell played the old crone who was questioned by Arthur about where to locate a shrubbery. On the DVD commentary, the Pythons compliment her performance, but none of them can recall why they cast an actual old woman when any of them could have done it just as easily.

On June 15, 2001, Monty Python and the Holy Grail was re-released on four North American screens. This version of the film was digitally restored and remastered with a new stereo soundtrack. In addition, it restored 24 seconds of material to the Castle Anthrax scene that was not originally in the theatrical release (although had appeared on several video and DVD editions of the film, and when the film was shown on TV in the UK on the BBC on 31 December 1992) where Zoot's "identical twin" sister gets side-tracked in conversation and several characters (some of which hadn't been introduced yet, like Tim the Enchanter) tell her to "get on with it!".

In its opening weekend, it grossed a strong US$45,487 ($11,372 per screen). It played in limited release until December 2003, playing at 26 screens at its widest point and eventually grossing $1,821,082 USD during its re-release run. This version of the film still plays periodically at North American rep theatres.

The Album of the Soundtrack of the Trailer of the Film of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, the movie's official soundtrack, is less of a soundtrack and more of a comedy album in its own right, which depicts the "premiere" of the film along with several other sketches intercutting scenes from the movie.

The flagellant monks are chanting a phrase from the Latin Requiem mass, pie Jesu Domine, dona eis requiem, which in English is rendered, Holy Lord Jesus, grant unto them rest. They then hit themselves with wooden boards. This may be in reference to the flagellants during the time of the black plague.

The first DVD was released in 1999 and boasted only a non-anamorphic print, about two pages of production notes, and trailers for other Sony Pictures releases. On October 23, 2001, the Special Edition DVD was released. It includes two commentary tracks, documentaries related to the film, the "Camelot Song" as sung by LEGO minifigures (Source), and "Subtitles For People Who Don't Like the Film", consisting of lines taken from William Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part 2, and in the opening has a conversation between two people written in "Swedish". There are also two scenes synchronised in Japanese, where the knights search for a "holy sake cup" and where the Knights Who Say Ni request a bonsai. Most of the home video adaptations feature an extra scene where several characters are telling Carol Cleveland's character Dingo to "Get on with it!". Some of them include characters not seen yet at that point in the film, such as Tim the Enchanter, The Old Man from Scene 24 and the army at the end of the film (this scene was also shown in the Comedy Central broadcasts of the film). It also includes a small featurette about proper use of a coconut.

The DVD "Special Edition" includes "The Quest for the Holy Grail Locations", hosted by Michael Palin and Terry Jones, which shows places in Scotland used for the setting titled as "England 932 A.D." (as well as the two Pythons purchasing a copy of their own script as a guide). Many scenes were filmed in or around Doune Castle, "Scene 24" and the blood-thirsty rabbit's "Cave of Caerbannog" were in sight of Loch Tay, near Killin, and "The Bridge of Death" was in Glen Coe. In the closing battle scene, shots facing "Castle Aaaaarrrrrrggghhh" were filmed at Castle Stalker but the shots looking the other way towards the huge army were filmed later on Sheriffmuir near Stirling once they had managed to get enough people - one of them being author Iain Banks, then a student, as he recounts in his non-fiction work Raw Spirit. It should be noted that this DVD edition is missing the "Swedish" subtitle "Mønti Pythøn ik den Hølie Gräilen" in the film's opening title screen.

In this special edition DVD release, the opening credits of the 1961 film Dentist on the Job is seen before the voice of the projectionist (presumably that of Terry Jones) mumbles that this is wrong film. The film stops abruptly and a slide reading "One moment while the operator changes reels" is seen on screen. The projectionist can be heard scrambling to start the correct film (Dentist on the Job has an alternative title of Get On With It!).

On October 3, 2006, an "Extraordinarily Deluxe" DVD was released that includes the features of the previous "Special Edition" as well as other, new features. These include songs from the Spamalot (with accompanying animation), a "Holy Grail Challenge" feature, and a "Secrets of the Holy Grail" feature. The aspect ratio for the "Extraordinarily Deluxe" DVD is 1.66:1, whereas the previous Special Edition features a 1.85:1 aspect ratio. Also, the "Extraordinarily Deluxe" DVD restores the "Swedish" subtitle missing from the Special Edition.

In 1985, an unofficial text adventure game called The Quest for the Holy Grail appeared for the Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum computers, released as a budget title on cassette tape by Mastertronic. While the game borrowed many concepts from the movie (the three headed knight, the white rabbit, holy hand grenade, shrubbery, etc.), the plot of the game made no real attempt to follow the plot of the film. Reviews of the game were not kind, lambasting it for weak humour and ease of completion.

In 1996, 7th Level released the official Monty Python & the Quest for the Holy Grail. It used footage and imagery from the film, as well as audio clips (some new) and featured an animated version of a scene never filmed entitled "King Brian The Wild".

Minigames included variations on popular games such as Whack-A-Mole ("Spank the Virgins") and Tetris ("Bring Out Your Dead").

A collectible card game using the characters and plot of the movie was released by Kenzer & Company in 1996.

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.^[3]

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A number of works, such as video games, novels and newspapers pay homage to this movie, an indication of its huge following.

• 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 DreamWorks animated film Shrek the Third (2007) includes a scene where a character is banging coconuts together to simulate horses' hooves. Although both John Cleese and Eric Idle did appear 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.^[4] Another scene shows King Harold apparently dying twice in the film, but soon revealed that he was still alive, perhaps a reference to the infamous "I'm Not Dead/I'm Getting Better" scenes.
• The Knights who say Ni scene is 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".
• 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.
• The PC game Fallout 2 contains at least two easter eggs featuring this movie. One is where King Arthur and his Power Armor clad knights searches 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.

According to the autobiography The Pythons, Eric Idle had proposed the idea of a Holy Grail sequel in 1990. According to Idle, the movie would be about an attempt to bring the knights together for one last crusade, as a sort of self-referential statement about the Python group. The team, however, did not want to do it, which made Idle realize that "[the group] would never, ever work together again," especially since Graham Chapman had died the year before.

• Monty Python and the Holy Grail at the Internet Movie Database

• Estimating the Airspeed Velocity of an Unladen Swallow

v • d • e Monty Python
Graham Chapman · John Cleese · Terry Gilliam · Eric Idle · Terry Jones · Michael Palin Douglas Adams · Connie Booth · Carol Cleveland · Neil Innes
TV series	Monty Python's Flying Circus · Monty Python's Fliegender Zirkus · Monty Python's Personal Best
Films	And Now for Something Completely Different · Monty Python and the Holy Grail · Monty Python's Life of Brian · Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl · Monty Python's The Meaning of Life
Specials	Parrot Sketch Not Included - 20 Years of Monty Python · Monty Python Live at Aspen · Python Night - 30 Years of Monty Python
Albums	Monty Python's Flying Circus · Another Monty Python Record · Monty Python's Previous Record · The Monty Python Matching Tie and Handkerchief · Monty Python Live at Drury Lane · The Album of the Soundtrack of the Trailer of the Film of Monty Python and the Holy Grail · Monty Python Live at City Center · The Monty Python Instant Record Collection · Monty Python's Life of Brian · Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album · Monty Python's The Meaning of Life · The Final Rip Off · Monty Python Sings · The Ultimate Monty Python Rip Off · The Instant Monty Python CD Collection · The Hastily Cobbled Together for a Fast Buck Album
Stage productions	Spamalot · Not the Messiah (He's a Very Naughty Boy)

v • d • e Films directed by Terry Gilliam

Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) • Jabberwocky (1977) • Time Bandits (1981) • Brazil (1985) • The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988) • The Fisher King (1991) • Twelve Monkeys (1995) • Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998) • The Man Who Killed Don Quixote (2000, unfinished) • The Brothers Grimm (2005) • Tideland (2005) • The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus (2009) Shorts: The Crimson Permanent Assurance (1983) • Storytime • The Miracle of Flight