Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)

Directors:

Terry Gilliam
Terry Jones

Writers:

Graham Chapman (written by) &
John Cleese (written by) ...

Release Date:

10 May 1975 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Comedy

Tagline:

Makes Ben Hur look like an Epic

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Knight | Holy Grail | Camelot | Castle | King Arthur

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Graham Chapman	...	King Arthur / God / Middle Head / Hiccoughing Guard (voice)
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 / Cartoon Scribe / Prince Herbert (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

Also Known As:

"Mønti Pythøn ik den Høli Gräilen" - International (English title) (subtitle)
"Monty Python and Holy Grail" - Japan (English title)

Runtime:

91 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English | French | Latin

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

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

Certification:

Canada:A (Nova Scotia) | Canada:AA (Ontario) (re-rating) (2001) | Canada:PG (Ontario) (original rating) | Canada:PG (Manitoba) | Portugal:M/12 | UK:15 (video rating: 1988) | Brazil:18 | Argentina:Atp | UK:A (original rating) (cut) | New Zealand:M | Canada:PG (British Columbia) | Australia:PG | Canada:G (Quebec) | Finland:K-16 | Iceland:L | Ireland:15 | Norway:16 (original rating) | Singapore:PG | Spain:T | Sweden:15 | USA:PG | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Appin, Argyll and Bute, Scotland, UK

Company:

Michael White Productions

Trivia:

In several scenes the monks chant in Latin: "Pie Iesu domine, dona eis requiem". The translation of this is: "Merciful Lord Jesus, grant them rest." It's part of the standard Latin funeral rite. The German heavy metal band Blind Guardian sampled this on the opening track of their album "Follow the Blind".

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: Monk hits his head with a board before other Monks. The sound is not heard.

Quotes:

[first lines]
King Arthur:Whoa, there!

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in Quest for Glory IV: Shadows of Darkness (1994) (VG)

Soundtrack:

He's Going to Tell

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.