Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)

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

Directors:

Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones

Writers:

Graham Chapman, John Cleese,

Stars:

Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle

Top 250 #87 | 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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 / Prince Herbert / Cartoon Scribe (voice)
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

Storyline

The movie starts out with Arthur, King of the Britons, looking for knights to sit with him at Camelot. He finds many knights including Sir Galahad the pure, Sir Lancelot the brave, the quiet Sir Bedevere, and Sir Robin the Not-Quite-So-Brave-as-Sir Lancelot. They do not travel on horses, but pretend they do and have their servants bang coconuts to make the sound of horse's hooves. Through satire of certain events in history (witch trials, the black plague) they find Camelot, but after literally a quick song and dance they decide that they do not want to go there. While walking away, God (who seems to be grumpy) come to them from a cloud and tells them to find the Holy Grail. They agree and begin their search. While they search for the Grail, scenes of the knight's tales appear and why they have the name they have. Throughout their search they meet interesting people and knights along the way. Most of the characters die; some through a killer rabbit (which they defeat with the holy ...

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Plot Keywords:

knight | holy grail | king arthur | castle | lancelot | 

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Taglines:

Makes Ben Hur look like an Epic

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Genres:

Adventure | Comedy | Fantasy

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English French Latin

Release Date:

25 May 1975 (UK)

Also Known As:

Los caballeros de la mesa cuadrada

Filming Locations:

Appin, Argyll and Bute, Scotland, UK

Box Office

Budget:

£229,575 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$45,487 (USA) (15 June 2001)

Gross:

$1,229,197 (USA) (25 May 2012)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Michael White Productions, National Film Trustee Company, Python (Monty) Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

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

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Patsy only has one line in the movie. The line is "It's only a model."

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Goofs

During the Tale of Sir Lancelot, Lancelot wreaks havoc among the wedding celebration. Upon entering the second floor, he passes the bride's father. He doesn't attack him at all but later in the scene, the father had Lancelot's sword driven through his head.

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Quotes

[first lines]
King Arthur: Whoa, there!

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Crazy Credits

Wi nøt trei a høliday in Sweden this yër?

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Connections

Referenced in Jeopardy!: Episode #22.103 (2006)

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Soundtracks

"God Choir"
Written by Neil Innes
Published by EMI Songs/United Partnership

User Reviews

Pure Lunacy

Well, if you want original humor, meaning something different than what you normally see - this is your ticket. The above statement was true 30 years ago, and still holds. It's just silly, far-out humor.

It's not all winners, no comedy is, but there are enough of them, and enough classic bizarre scenes that it's always a hoot to re-visit this film from time to time. The only problem I have with it are the cheap shots in gives - in typical 1970s fashion - of anything Biblical. But, it's not that bad and most of the film is pretty innocent.

It's pretty much one ludicrous scene after another. I mean, where else do you see a knight fighting on after his legs are chopped off, then his arms?!! Or a killer rabbit? It was almost like watching a Marx Brothers film 40 years later with '70s irreverence.

Don't let the PG rating fool you. This would be an easy PG-13 today with all the blood, some cursing and the violence. I know some young kids, however - nice kids, too - who love this film as much as adults, so it can't be too offensive.

If I had to describe this movie in one word it would be "lunacy."