Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)

King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table embark on a surreal, low-budget search for the Holy 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 #104 | 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 Launcelot 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 / Voice of Cartoon Scribe
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 | camelot | king arthur | holy grail | arthurian legend | 

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Taglines:

You can do worse than see it.

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Genres:

Adventure | Comedy | Fantasy

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English French Latin

Release Date:

27 June 1975 (Ireland)

Also Known As:

Die Ritter der Kokosnuß

Filming Locations:

Appin, Argyll and Bute, Scotland, UK

Box Office

Budget:

£229,575 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$45,487, 17 June 2001, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$1,229,197, 27 May 2012

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$5,028,948

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

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and Genesis all contributed to the film's budget.

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Goofs

During the witch trial a couple of chickens on a rooftop disappear and reappear between shots.

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Quotes

[first lines]
King Arthur: Whoa, there!

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Crazy Credits

All the credits are at the beginning. There are no credits at the end. The screen goes black after the movie ends with the depiction of the end of the physical film reel.

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Connections

Referenced in Doogal (2006)

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Soundtracks

He's Going to Tell
Words by the Pythons
Music by Neil Innes

User Reviews

An example of why British humor is much smarter than ours.

This is how to make a comedy. Laughs can be found throughout, and the 4th wall falls apart throughout the film without any actors chewing the scenery. The movie from the first scene, and on is great. The acting is wonderful. Everybody in the cast delivers the jokes hilariously. Also the the actors never seem to overact at all. There are a few jokes that go on for to long, but it is aware of this. If only another comedy that doesn't deserve to have its name mentioned (cough Disaster Movie cough) was self-aware that the jokes it had were to long. It really is a shame that British people can say that they have awesome comedies like this, and we have a lot of awful comedies like (sigh) Disaster Movie. This film is a work of genius.

4 stars out of 4