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 Rated Movies #94 | 2 wins & 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

History is turned on its comic head when, in 10th century England, King Arthur travels the countryside to find knights who will join him at the Round Table in Camelot. Gathering up the men is a tale in itself but after a bit of a party at Camelot, many decide to leave only to be stopped by God who sends them on a quest: to find the Holy Grail. After a series of individual adventures, the knights are reunited but must face a wizard named Tim, killer rabbits and lessons in the use of holy hand grenades. Their quest comes to an end however when the police intervene - just what you would expect in a Monty Python movie.

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Plot Keywords:

knight | lancelot | king arthur | holy grail | camelot | 

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Taglines:

Sets The Cinema Back 900 Years!

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Genres:

Adventure | Comedy | Fantasy

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English French Latin

Release Date:

23 May 1975 (UK)

Also Known As:

Die Ritter der Kokosnuß

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

The gorilla hand turning the pages was director Terry Gilliam's. The hand turning pages before that is that of Gilliam's wife.

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Goofs

When arriving at the castle of the French taunters, Patsy blows a note on some kind of musical instrument, which only moments before he wasn't even carrying.

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Quotes

[first lines]
King Arthur: Whoa, there!

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Crazy Credits

On the Regions 2 and 4 DVD's (Europe and Australasia) release, the end credits are extended to three minutes (rather than 20 seconds) of a black screen with the intermission music.

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Connections

References The Flintstones (1960)

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Soundtracks

Fanfare
Written by Neil Innes
Published by EMI Songs/United Partnership

User Reviews

Monty Pythonis never boring...no exception here!

Monty Python and the Holy Grail is hilarious. It was sort of my introduction to Monty Python and I became hooked on it after watching this. It's just so funny! We've all heard the story of King Arthur and how he pulled Excalibur out of the stone, etc. and in this movie, the Monty Python troupe basically parodies that legend. What more can I say? They're geniuses! Anyone who's ever seen 'Flying Circus' or 'Life of Brian' or anything else Python-related can probably back that up. If you want to become an addict (like me) this is a good place to start. You'll probably laugh hardest during the 'killer rabbit' scene.