“No, on second thought let’s not salute Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It is a silly film.”
Are you a Baby Boomer male who came of age in the late ’70s? If so, you’ll recall how your place on the pop culture spectrum was in part determined by which of four contemporary movies you most liked to quote: The Godfather, Star Wars, Animal House, or Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Sure, there were others (be wary of anyone who quotes from The Swarm), but familiarity with lines from the above quartet was a way to demonstrate your toughness, your sense of wonder, your fun-loving attitude, or your offbeat sense of humor, respectively.
Over the last couple of weeks, Python fans have been reciting their favorite jokes, quips, and insults to mark the 50th anniversary of the (five out of six) British comedy troupe’s medieval send-up. A quick look at IMDb and other sites reveals the plethora of material available. For example:
“Are you suggesting coconuts migrate?”
“Help! Help! I’m being repressed!”
“‘Tis but a scratch!” “A scratch? Your arm’s off!”
“Well, she turned me into a newt!” “A newt?” “…I got better.”
“It’s only a model.”
“Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of eldeberries!”
“She’s beautiful, she’s rich, she’s got huge… tracts of land.”
“Look, that rabbit’s got a vicious streak a mile wide! It’s a killer!”
And, of course, “Run away!”
Sometimes, even a full quote isn’t even necessary. Just mentioning the Trojan Rabbit, the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch, or the Gorge of Eternal Peril–or simply saying “Ni!”–will elicit knowing smiles and quiet chuckles from folks who saw the film a half-century ago as well as more recent first-time watchers. To this day Monty Python and the Holy Grail is regularly near the top of Greatest Movie Comedy; its closest British-made competition just happens to be the team’s follow-up project, 1979’s Life of Brian.
That Holy Grail was even made in the first place, let alone become a success in 1975 America, is something of a miracle itself. The sextet began working on the script in 1973, one year before their original TV series, Monty Python’s Flying Circus, aired its fourth and final season in the UK. A feature film comprised of that show’s segments, And Now for Something Completely Different, had a less-than-successful U.S. run in 1972. But when PBS stations around the country began airing Flying Circus episodes in 1974 they attracted teen and college age audiences and the show gained cult popularity.
Even so, studios were reluctant to fund a feature-length Arthurian spoof with two rookie co-directors (troupe members Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones). And so the Pythons sought out and got financial backing from Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson, and other celebrity fans (who used their largesse as a tax write-off). One musical legend who didn’t contribute money but was a fan of the film was none other than the King of Rock and Roll himself, Elvis Presley. According to his entourage and a former girlfriend, Elvis saw Holy Grail multiple times over the final two years of his life and, when a stage show didn’t go the way he wanted, was known to say “’tis but a flesh wound.”
Holy Grail debuted in Britain on April 3, 1975 and in the U.S. about three weeks later. Over on this side of the pond, radio ads promoting the film’s release (with “I’ve Got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts” playing in the background, a salute to the knights’ main mode of transportation) promised 1,000 free coconuts to the first 1,000 fans in attendance.
Well, I made it to Opening Night at the Cinema 141 in suburban Wilmington, Delaware, but not the first showing (I was in high school and dependent on my mother for rides). The theatre was only half-full for each performance, but you can imagine my disappointment when I learned no coconuts were being handed out. It didn’t affect my appreciation of the film, however, from the opening credits and their “Swedish” subtitles to the rather abrupt ending (of which John Cleese once explained “It ends the way it does because we couldn’t think of any other way”). Three decades later, I at least managed to get a Killer Rabbit puppet and commemorative can of Spam when I saw Spamalot, the Tony-winning Broadway musical adapted by Eric Idle from Holy Grail.
And now we’d like to hear from you, dear readers. Do you have memories of seeing Monty Python and the Holy Grail when it came out 50 years ago? Do you have a favorite scene or line of dialogue? What is the air-speed velocity of an unladen swallow? Tell us all about it in the comments below.