When Monty Python set about filming their follow-up to And Now for Something Completely Different<\/em><\/a> \u2013 <\/em>with Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones as co-directors to retain more control over the final product \u2013 the troupe had been operating as a unit for half a decade and were eager to transcend the sketch format. Just as they exploded the conventions of television comedy in the first three series of Monty Python\u2019s Flying Circus<\/em>, they were prepared to do the same for the medieval epic, although they arrived at it via a circuitous route. The initial writing sessions generated a wealth of material that eventually coalesced around a retelling of the legend of King Arthur and his knights, but the first draft also included scenes in modern-day Britain, which were wisely set aside. The decision to keep the story firmly in the past made the moments when the present intrudes on it all the more jarring and unexpected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Holy Grail<\/em> is built on the disparity between its realistic depiction of life in the Middle Ages and sanitized Hollywood spectacles like 1953\u2019s Knights of the Round Table<\/em> and 1967\u2019s Camelot<\/em>. In addition, King Arthur\u2019s frustrating encounters with what can best be termed \u201cthe common folk\u201d (the likes of which Mel Ferrer and Richard Harris were generally spared) are given extra weight by the inherent dignity Graham Chapman brings to the role despite spending so much screen time pretending to be riding a horse. (The moment when he and his knights \u201cdismount\u201d is a sublime sight gag a full two-thirds of the film has been leading up to.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Along with taking King Arthur down a few pegs (as Michael Palin says on the commentary, \u201cThis is the way to deal with powerful people: make fun of them\u201d), the Pythons use his knights to poke fun at the notion of chivalry. Jones\u2019s Sir Bedevere the Wise is prone to spouting nonsense about the Earth being banana-shaped. John Cleese\u2019s Sir Lancelot the Brave is apt to lose his head and charge into battle against a castle full of unarmed merry-makers. Palin\u2019s Sir Galahad the Pure is ready to give into temptation the first time it presents itself. And Eric Idle\u2019s Sir Robin the Not-Quite-So-Brave-as-Sir-Lancelot is a coward who regularly soils his armor and has a chicken on his shield for a reason. Meanwhile, Gilliam\u2019s Patsy doesn\u2019t say much, but when he does speak, he deflates their triumphant arrival at Camelot by grumbling that it\u2019s \u201conly a model.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In addition to the occasional fourth-wall break (such as Arthur\u2019s comment about another character\u2019s \u201ceccentric performance\u201d and a reference to one who appeared in \u201cScene 24\u201d), the modern world begins encroaching on the film with the introduction of \u201ca famous historian\u201d whose violent death at the blade of a knight on the horseback leads to a police investigation that progressively closes in on our heroes. The historian\u2019s death, incidentally, is one of many moments that push the film\u2019s PG rating. See also: the Green Knight\u2019s bloody demise, the Black Knight\u2019s dismemberment, Lancelot\u2019s crazed assault on Swamp Castle, and Sir Bors\u2019s gory death by rabbit. Fans of the Flying Circus<\/em> were no strangers to such Peckinpah-inspired mayhem, but the conjunction of comedy and bloodletting was still something of a novelty on the big screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Holy Grail<\/em> definitely had something on its side when it arrived in theaters in the spring of 1975. American fans primed by the proliferation of the Flying Circus<\/em> on public television (as well as imports of Python books and records) lined up around the block for its New York engagement, and it soon joined the ranks of other cult favorites on the college circuit. And thanks to its extraordinarily tight budget \u2013 every penny of which is accounted for in the screenplay book \u2013 it remains their most profitable feature. Not bad for a film shot under trying conditions by a pair of novice directors. That there would be more<\/a> to come<\/a> was inevitable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMonty Python and the Holy Grail\u201d can be readily found on a number of <\/em>streaming services<\/em><\/a>. No need to set alight a grail-shaped beacon.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/holy-grail-still-1024x577.jpg\")
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