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 | Camelot | Holy Grail | Castle | King Arthur

Awards:

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 / Voice of Cartoon Scribe / Prince Herbert
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)

Runtime:

91 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English | French | Latin

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 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:12 (re-rating) (2006) | 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:

John Cleese as Tim the Enchanter actually stood on the pinnacle seen at the beginning of his scene. On one side was a drop he said could have killed him, and on the other was a drop he said could have maimed him. To make matters worse, the wind kept threatening to push him over either side. Between takes, he would crouch down to avoid being pushed over by the wind. The whole experience was one he remembers as being very frightening, but he did it anyway, because he knew what kind of budget and time-lines they had to work with.

Goofs:

Continuity: The position of Arthur's right arm while Robin answers the Bridgekeeper's questions.

Quotes:

[first lines]
King Arthur: Whoa, there!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Bully (2006) (VG)

Soundtrack:

The Promised Land

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.