Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)

Directed by Terry Gilliam & Terry Jones. Starring Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Michael Palin, Terry Jones, Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam, Carol Cleveland, Connie Booth, Neil Innes. [PG]

Inspired send-up of the Arthurian legend has as many belly-laughs as any other film comedy yet produced (and is one of the most quotable pics as well, much to the aggravation of the uninitiated). Story ostensibly about the quest by King Arthur (Chapman) and his Knights of the Round Table to seek the Holy Grail; really just an opportunity for various bits of energetic lunacy involving indestructible black knights, killer rabbits, rescues of effete male damsels, rude Frenchmen flinging la vache via catapult, and the air-speed velocity of unladen swallows. Tempo can be erratic, but there’s hardly a dull spot in the whole picture, and it has a likably shaggy vibe; the low budget actually benefits the comedy, resulting in a few gags that wouldn’t have been done if they were able to achieve their original ideas (the hysterically abrupt ending instead of a big battle scene, clapping coconuts instead of actual horses, etc.). Later adapted by Idle into a Broadway musical called Spamalot.

95/100