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.
Country
Production
Budget
$400 000
Box office
$1 823 909
Director
Actors
Scenario
Producer
Mark Forstater, Michael White, John Goldstone
Camera operator
Terry Bedford
Composer
Artist
Roy Forge Smith, Philip Cowlam
Audition
Editing
John Hackney
Whole Team (33)
Whole Team (33)
Short description
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".
What's left behind the scenes
- 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.
- 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.
- Graham Chapman's (1941-1989) addiction to alcohol, which he unsuccessfully tried to fight, caused problems during filming, and not only because he was constantly forgetting his lines. On the very first day of shooting, he was required to walk across the 'Bridge of Death.' During the production of the series 'Monty Python's Flying Circus' (1969-1974), Chapman drank heavily to calm his nerves, but here he discovered that there was no alcohol on set, and it was impossible to make a quick trip to a shop in the nearest town to stock up. For this reason, Chapman felt ill, was shaking, was covered in sweat, and moved very slowly before the camera, despite being an experienced climber in real life. No one in the crew understood the reason for this, whereas the actual culprit was delirium tremens.
- During one of the first screenings of the film for a live audience, Terry Jones, one of the screenwriters and directors, noticed that the audience laughed far less at jokes and gags if music was playing on screen at the same time. Jones removed the musical accompaniment from such moments wherever possible. Throughout all subsequent screenings, he noted that viewers reacted much more positively to the jokes in the absence of music, and from then on, he removed the soundtrack whenever possible in moments where the visuals were meant to be funny.
- 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 photograph of God depicts William Gilbert Grace (1848-1915), one of the most famous cricket players in history.
- The vessel in the film's finale was conceived by Terry Gilliam. It made a great impression on the other members of the production team.
- 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.
- 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.
- Part of the filming took place in Scotland, at Dun and Stalker castles, near a village.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- In the witch hunt scene, Eric Idle grimaced and bit the blade of the scythe he was holding. This was not in the script; Idle couldn't stop himself from laughing and bit whatever was closest simply to avoid bursting out and ruining the take.
- 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 members of Pink Floyd were such avid 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) just to watch it.
- A real rabbit was used for the filming of the killer rabbit sketch; it was simply borrowed for the shoot and smeared with red paint, under the assumption that it could be easily washed off afterward, which turned out not to be the case. According to Terry Gilliam, had they been more experienced in filmmaking, they would have simply bought the rabbit. In any case, the animal was not harmed during filming. The rabbit's bites were filmed using special mannequins designed and created by Gilliam and special effects lead John Horton.
- 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.
- The abrupt ending of the film is explained by the fact that there were insufficient budgetary funds to film the battle scene.
- During the fight between the Black Knight and the Green Knight, John Cleese and Terry Gilliam performed all the stunts themselves. Both had to learn how to handle heavy swords while wearing full suits of armor. They decided against using doubles or stuntmen in advance and genuinely enjoyed the filming process.
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Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
