AdventureComedyFantasy

Monty Python and the Holy Grail

- And now! At Last! Another film completely different from some of the other films which aren't quite the same as this one is.

King Arthur, accompanied by his squire, recruits his Knights of the Round Table, including Sir Bedevere the Wise, Sir Lancelot the Brave, Sir Robin the Not-Quite-So-Brave-As-Sir-Lancelot and Sir Galahad the Pure. On the way, Arthur battles the Black Knight who, despite having had all his limbs chopped off, insists he can still fight. They reach Camelot, but Arthur decides not to enter, as "it is a silly place".

Release Date : 1975-03-14

Language :FrenchLatinEnglish

Adult : false

Status : Released

Production Company : Python (Monty) Pictures LimitedMichael White ProductionsNational Film Trustee Company

Production Country : United Kingdom

Alternative Titles :

Cast

Character Name : King Arthur / Voice of God / Middle Head / Hiccoughing Guard

Original Name : Graham Chapman

Gender : Male

Character Name : Second Swallow-Savvy Guard / The Black Knight / Peasant 3 / Sir Launcelot the Brave / Taunting French Guard / Tim the Enchanter

Original Name : John Cleese

Gender : Male

Character Name : Dead Collector / Peasant 1 / Sir Robin the Not-Quite-So-Brave-as-Sir Launcelot / First Swamp Castle Guard / Concorde / Roger the Shrubber / Brother Maynard

Original Name : Eric Idle

Gender : Male

Character Name : Patsy / Green Knight / Old Man from Scene 24 (Bridgekeeper) / Sir Bors / Animator / Gorilla Hand

Original Name : Terry Gilliam

Gender : Male

Character Name : Dennis's Mother / Sir Bedevere / Left Head / Prince Herbert / Voice of Cartoon Scribe

Original Name : Terry Jones

Gender : Male

Character Name : 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!

Original Name : Michael Palin

Gender : Male

Character Name : The Witch

Original Name : Connie Booth

Gender : Female

Character Name : Zoot / Dingo

Original Name : Carol Cleveland

Gender : Female

Character Name : First Monk / Singing Minstrel / Page Crushed by the Rabbit / Peasant #4

Original Name : Neil Innes

Gender : Male

Character Name : Old Crone

Original Name : Bee Duffell

Gender : Female

Character Name : Dead Body / Historian Frank

Original Name : John Young

Gender : Male

Character Name : Historian's Wife

Original Name : Rita Davies

Gender : Female

Character Name : Dr. Piglet

Original Name : Avril Stewart

Gender : Male

Character Name : Dr. Winston

Original Name : Sally Kinghorn

Gender : Female

Character Name : Prisoner

Original Name : Mark Zycon

Gender : Male

Character Name : Girl in Castle Anthrax

Original Name : Elspeth Cameron

Gender : Female

Character Name : Girl in Castle Anthrax

Original Name : Mitsuko Forstater

Gender : Male

Character Name : Knight of Ni / Villager at Witch Burning / Musician at Wedding / Monk / Knight in Battle

Original Name : Sandy Johnson

Gender : Male

Character Name : Girl in Castle Anthrax

Original Name : Sandy Rose

Gender : Female

Character Name : Musician at Wedding / Villager at Witch Burning

Original Name : Romilly Squire

Gender : Male

Character Name : Girl in Castle Anthrax

Original Name : Joni Flynn

Gender : Female

Character Name : Girl in Castle Anthrax

Original Name : Alison Walker

Gender : Male

Character Name : Girl in Castle Anthrax

Original Name : Loraine Ward

Gender : Male

Character Name : Girl in Castle Anthrax

Original Name : Anna Lanski

Gender : Male

Character Name : Girl in Castle Anthrax

Original Name : Sally Coombe

Gender : Male

Character Name : Girl in Castle Anthrax

Original Name : Vivienne MacDonald

Gender : Male

Character Name : Girl in Castle Anthrax

Original Name : Yvonne Dick

Gender : Male

Character Name : Girl in Castle Anthrax

Original Name : Daphne Darling

Gender : Male

Character Name : Girl in Castle Anthrax

Original Name : Fiona Gordon

Gender : Male

Character Name : Girl in Castle Anthrax

Original Name : Judy Lamb

Gender : Male

Character Name : Girl in Castle Anthrax

Original Name : Tracy Sneddon

Gender : Male

Character Name : Girl in Castle Anthrax

Original Name : Joyce Pollner

Gender : Male

Character Name : Girl in Castle Anthrax

Original Name : Mary Allen

Gender : Male

Character Name : Girl in Castle Anthrax

Original Name : Gloria Graham

Gender : Male

Character Name : Girl in Castle Anthrax

Original Name : Sylvia Taylor

Gender : Male

Character Name : Knight in Battle (uncredited)

Original Name : Iain Banks

Gender : Male

Character Name : Police Sergeant (uncredited)

Original Name : Julian Doyle

Gender : Male

Character Name : Peasant (uncredited)

Original Name : Margarita Doyle

Gender : Male

Character Name : Camp Guard / Robin's Minstrel (uncredited)

Original Name : Charles Knode

Gender : Male

Character Name : Guard who Falls into Barrels (uncredited)

Original Name : Zack Matalon

Gender : Male

Character Name : Bash (Mudfighter (uncredited)

Original Name : Scott Mike

Gender : Male

Character Name : Sir Not-Appearing-in-this-Film (uncredited)

Original Name : William Palin

Gender : Male

Character Name : Guard Eating Apple (uncredited)

Original Name : Tom Raeburn

Gender : Male

Character Name : Biff (Mudfighter) (uncredited)

Original Name : Brian Ross

Gender : Male

Character Name : Inspector End of Film (uncredited)

Original Name : Roy Forge Smith

Gender : Male

Character Name : Page-turner (uncredited)

Original Name : Maggie Weston

Gender : Female

Character Name : Dancing Knight (uncredited)

Original Name : John Thornton

Gender : Male

Reviews

Filipe Manuel Neto

@FilipeManuelNeto

2023-02-10

**One of the pinnacles of British humor.** This was my first contact with Monty Python, which I already knew famously, and I loved the movie. It is quite simply one of the high points of British humor. The film is easy enough to understand, parodying the Arthurian legends surrounding the quest for the Grail, but the story is just a pretext for successive jokes, each one better than the last. I don't know the group of comedians very well, but I do know a number of great British comedy actors here, starting with John Clease, Terry Jones, Graham Chapman, Terry Gilliam, Michael Palin and Eric Idle. They are very good individually, but priceless together. The film has several moments worth mentioning, starting perhaps with the witch trial, and then moving on to the fight with the black knight or the knights who say Ni. It's not a very long film, but it's really worth seeing every comic situation. The dialogues are full of hilarious moments. The ending, however, is a little less strong than expected, which does not take away from the film any of its merit. Technically, it's not a remarkable film. There is no concern here with historical accuracy or rigorous recreation of the Middle Ages, nor does the film ask for it. We have stage costumes and props, obviously fake but functional, and interesting sets, in castles and in some reasonably well chosen places. There are some special effects and visuals, but they aren't notable. Be that as it may, it's a comedy that remains fresh despite the decades that have passed since its debut.

drystyx

@drystyx

2023-04-03

Seriously, you could die laughing from this film. I remember the first time I watched this film, back in antenna days on the educational UHF station that was all fuzz, and even then I thought I would die laughing. The story of King Arthur always did beg for such a satire. The bits are almost all memorable. I durst not mention even one, because I would be tempted to mention a hundred more scenes and a thousand more lines. This is very slapstick. I never thought I would laugh at cruelty, but when it is obviously so overdone that it can't be taken seriously, like a man having his arms and legs cut off and still thinking he's invincible, especially when the delivery is so perfect, I can't stop laughing. There are some people who don't like this film, but those people are wipers of other people's bottoms.

CinemaSerf

@Geronimo1967

2024-03-06

Fortunately for me this was a rather short visit to the surreal land of Monty Python, and though it does have it's moments, I was really quite unimpressed by their Arthurian antics. We start with Graham Chapman's King Arthur gadding about England tying to recruit some suitably worthy individuals to sit at his round table. Task complete, he gets a sign from God that they must undertake the most holy of quests - and find the Cup of Christ. It now falls to the other three - Cleese, Idle and Gilliam - to dress up in suits of armour and seek the grail amongst the innuendo-ridden kingdom. Along the way they encounter the Black Knight, a castle full of sex-starved maidens, some monks - indeed just about everyone you might expect from mediaeval society before a really annoying denouement with the "Knights of Ni" - all they want is a little garden, or two... All but fifty years on, it's probably not really fair to look at this with 2024 eyes, but this was my first time of seeing it and I was really left thinking - why didn't the police get involved earlier? It's not that the jokes don't work, well not all of them, anyway - it's that they so labour the punchline. It's as if someone took a thirty minute sketch show and decided to pad it out for an extra hour. Less could certainly have been more. There are a few fun cameos - Carol Cleveland's "Zoot" and Connie Booth's witch stand out, but otherwise I felt a bit like I was the victim of some very dated hype. I didn't hate it, but really - what was all the fuss about?