Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)

Timing: 1:31 (91 min)

7.804/10
6343

7.796/10
37139

8.2/10
601000

All about film

Video 8

Photo 128

Actors and characters

Release date

1975-04-03

Country

United Kingdom

Production

Python (Monty) Pictures Limited, Michael White Productions, National Film Trustee Company, EMI Films

Genre

Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy

Budget

$400 000

Revenue

$5 763 644

Website

https://www.sonypictures.com/movies/montypythonandtheholygrail

Director

Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones

Actors

Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones, Michael Palin, Connie Booth, Carol Cleveland, Neil Innes, Bee Duffell
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Terry Gilliam, Michael Palin

Producer

Mark Forstater, Michael White, John Goldstone

Operator

Terry Bedford

Composer

Artist

Philip Cowlam

Audition

Editing

John Hackney
All team (33)

• Part of the filming took place in Scotland, at Dun and Stalker castles, near a village.
• During one of the first test screenings before a live audience, Terry Jones, one of the scriptwriters and directors, noticed that the audience laughed much less at the jokes and gags when music was playing on the screen at the same time. Jones removed the musical accompaniment from such moments where possible. Throughout subsequent screenings, he noticed that audiences reacted much more positively to the gags in the absence of music, and since then, he has removed musical accompaniment from moments where the visuals became funny whenever possible.
• The members of Pink Floyd were such ardent fans of the series "Monty Python's Flying Circus" (1969-1974) that they took breaks from recording the album "The Dark Side of the Moon" (1973) to watch it.
• The sound of coconut shells being struck together was used to imitate the sounds of galloping horses, simply because the budget didn't allow for the use of real horses.
• During the witch-hunting scene, Eric Idle grinned and bit down on the blade of the scythe he was holding. This wasn't in the script; Idle couldn't contain his laughter and bit whatever was at hand, just to avoid bursting out laughing and ruining the take.
• The knights' armor was actually made of wool, so considering the typical weather conditions in Scotland and England, the actors were constantly sweaty and freezing during filming. To make matters worse, the hotel where everyone was staying had only a limited number of bathtubs and hot water, resulting in a race for a hot bath at the end of each shooting day.
• A real rabbit was used in the filming of the killer rabbit sketch; it was simply borrowed for the shoot and smeared with red paint, assuming it could be easily washed off afterward, which proved not to be the case. According to Terry Gilliam, if they had been more experienced filmmakers, they would have simply bought the rabbit outright. Either way, the animal was not harmed during filming. The rabbit bites were filmed using special dummies devised and created by Gilliam and special effects supervisor John Horton.
• The photograph of God depicts William Gilbert Grace (1848-1915), one of the most famous cricket players in history.
• When the first screening of the film began at the Cannes Film Festival, the credits rolled and the audience in the auditorium began to laugh. When the screening was stopped, the audience simply broke out in hysterics, assuming it was intentional. In reality, an anonymous tip had been received by the police about a bomb being planted in the cinema, so the audience had to be evacuated.
• During the duel between the Black and Green Knights, John Cleese and Terry Gilliam performed all the stunts themselves. Both had to learn to handle heavy swords while wearing full knightly armor. They had refused the use of stunt doubles and stunt performers in advance, and they themselves genuinely enjoyed the filming process.
• Graham Chapman's (1941-1989) fondness for alcoholic beverages, which he unsuccessfully tried to combat, caused problems during filming, and not only because he kept forgetting his lines. On the very first day of filming, he was required to walk across the 'Bridge of Death.' While working on 'Monty Python's Flying Circus' (1969-1974), Chapman drank a lot to calm his nerves, but here he found that there was no alcohol on set, and it wasn't easy to quickly run to the nearest town to stock up. For this reason, Chapman felt unwell, he was shaking, and covered in sweat, and moved very slowly in front of the camera, despite being an experienced mountaineer in real life. No one on the film crew understood the reason for this, but the real culprit was actually delirium tremens.
• King Arthur's army consisted of 175 students from Stirling University (they were filmed from different angles to make the army appear visually larger than it actually was). A request was made to the university administration, promising each extra actor two pounds sterling for a day's work, free transportation to the filming location, food, and 'a lot of fun.'
• The abrupt ending of the film is explained by the fact that there were insufficient budgetary funds to film the battle scene.
• The ship in the film's finale was conceived by Terry Gilliam. It made a great impression on the other members of the film crew.