Johnny Showtime: MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL

 by JB

The good folks at Fathom Events continue to do The Lord’s Work this week by dutifully re-releasing one of the funniest films ever made to theaters.

How many times have I seen this film? Hundreds, probably. I still remember my first screening. I was twelve years-old at the late, lamented Arlington Theater. By then I was such an inveterate Python fan, based on their incredible BBC television series, that I took the family’s Kodak Instamatic camera to the movie and took pictures of the screen.

None of those came out.

I remember buying the Methuen Publishing book of the film, which contained the finished screenplay and a very different rough draft. The material cut from that rough draft became the sketches used for a disastrous pair of ABC-TV specials in 1976.

ABC cut the shows to ribbons, and the Pythons sued them and won damages.

The film was a more-or-less permanent part of my Film Studies syllabus for the 35 years I taught high school. That adds up to five or six screenings a year or about 200 total. I was the faculty sponsor of a competitive speech event called Group Interpretation. One year I dutifully turned the Python script into a group interpretation entry, and we dutifully made it to the State Competition. It was in adapting that script that I first concluded how great it was—even with high school students acting it out, you can’t kill it, it’s still incredibly funny and never fails to get laughs. What I’m saying is this: ALL OF YOU STILL HAVE A CHANCE TO SEE THIS IN AN HONEST-TO-GOODNESS MOVIE THEATER THIS WEEK. IT’S SCREENING WEDNESDAY NIGHT.

THE PLOT IN BRIEF: King Arthur (Graham Chapman) roams the English countryside to find knights who will join him in his court at Camelot. None of the English peasants seem to believe that Arthur is really King. Various adventures involve the scholarly Sir Bedevere (Terry Jones), the cowardly Sir Robin (Eric Idle), the chaste Sir Galahad (Michael Palin), and the violent Sir Lancelot (John Cleese). The knights also encounter various Black Knights, French Taunters, three-headed Knights, Shrubbers, Wizards, and Knights who say “Ni.”

This week’s Fathom Events screening features a short introduction by Python members John Cleese, Michael Palin, and Terry Gilliam where they briefly reminisce about the film on the occasion of its 50th anniversary. I wish this special introduction was longer.

I hemmed and hawed about going to see this in a theater (again). Did I really want to drag my ass to my local cineplex on a cold and cloudy Sunday afternoon to witness a film I had already seen hundreds of times? But then, the miracle happened...

Ten or twelve young men, taking up the entire front row... brought coconuts with them.

For any readers not familiar with the film, the Python team decided early on in pre-production to forego the bother and expense of renting real horses... and simply have the knights’ lackeys and servants bang coconuts together to create the sound of horses’ hooves. It’s a really funny joke that never seems to get old in the movie, and it saved them lots of money and time. The Python fans at my screening on Sunday were very respectful; they knew exactly when to “clop-clop-clopitty-clop,” never too loudly and never stepping on a single joke. It was great. This was one of my favorite Fathom Events screenings of all time. Thanks, guys. It was like REAL surround sound in the theater, performed live. Yowsa.

THIS JUST IN: Perennially broke Python John Cleese will embark upon a tour of sorts this fall, travelling all over the USA, screening Holy Grail, and sitting for a live, post-movie Q &A. When I first saw the top tickets prices, I thought they were a little steep, but now I am warming to the idea of attending this, the venue in question is only 20 minutes from my house. Good Lord, he must need the money; he’s doing 31 shows with a top ticket price of 200 dollars!

September 6      Mesa Arts Center           Mesa, Arizona
September 7      Fox Theater                   Tucson, Arizona
September 9      The Grove of Anaheim Anaheim, California
September 10      Balboa Theater          San Diego, California
September 11     Fred Kavli Theater      Thousand Oaks, California
September 13      Golden State Theater Monterey, California
September 14      San Jose Civic Center San Jose, California
September 18      Majestic Theater         San Antonio, Texas
September 19      Smart Financial Center Sugarland, Texas
September 20      Majestic Theater          Dallas, Texas
September 21      Long Center                  Austin, Texas
September 25      Saenger Theater          Pensacola, Florida
September 27      Florida Theater          Jacksonville, Florida
September 28      Peabody Auditorium    Daytona Beach, Florida
September 30      Ovens Auditorium      Charlotte, North Carolina
October 1            Carolina Theater          Durham, North Carolina
October 2          Charleston Music Hall     Charleston, South Carolina
October 4          Music Center Strathmore North Bethesda, Maryland
October 5          State Theater                    New Brunswick, New Jersey
October 8          Performing Arts Center   Bloomington, Illinois
October 9          Genesee Theater              Waukegan, Illinois
October 11        Schuster Center               Dayton, Ohio
October 12        Capitol Theater              Wheeling, West Virginia
October 15        Town Hall                      New York, New York
October 16        Palace Theater              Stamford, Connecticut
October 17        Capitol Arts Center      Concorde, New Hampshire
October 18        Paramount Arts            Peekskill, New York
October 19        Keswick Theater          Glenside, Pennsylvania
October 23       Memorial Auditorium     Lowell, Massachusetts
October 24       Landmark Theater          Syracuse, New York
October 25       Palace Theater              Albany, New York