And Now for Something Completely Different (1971)

Director:

Ian MacNaughton

Writers:

Graham Chapman (screen foreplay & conception) &
John Cleese (screen foreplay & conception) ...
(more)

Release Date:

22 August 1972 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

An anthology of Monty Python's best sketches from their 1st & 2nd seasons of their original TV show.

Plot Keywords:

Monty Python | Blackmail | Lumberjack | Dead Parrot | Twit

Cast

Graham Chapman	...	Brother / British pedestrian / Mr. Harrison (Apricot) / Sergeant-Major / 'Hell's Grannies' policeman / Jimmy Blankensop / Sir Edward Ross / Restaurant patron #1 / Letter Writer / Oliver St. John Mollusk
John Cleese	...	Announcer / Hungarian Man / Self-Defence Teacher / Sir George Head / Policeman / Interviewer / Mr. Praline / Second General / Christopher Columbus / Mungo the Cook / Bank Robber / Accountant #2 (falling past the window) / Vocational Guidance Counselor / Vivian Smith Smythe Smith
Terry Gilliam	...	Self-defence nun / Flasher / Uncle Sam / Caterpillar man / Sign holder
Eric Idle	...	Prosecutor / Marriage Counselor / Arthur Nudge / Self-defence student #4 (interested in pointed sticks) / 'Hell's Grannies' analyst / Arthur Wilson / Arthur Wilson Two / Nightclub Emcee / Linkman / First General / Restaurant Manager / Lingerie Shop Owner / Accountant #1 (falling past the window) / Fairy Godmother / Rita Fairbanks / Simon Zinc Trumpet Harris
Terry Jones	...	Stage Manager / Tobacconist / 2nd Hungarian Man / Squire / Self-defence student #3 / Tenant #1 / Flasher / Mouse Organist Ken Ewing / Fat Soldier / Waiter / Nude Organist / Brian / Nigel Incubator Jones
Michael Palin	...	Man with tape recorder / Phrasebook Author / Arthur Pewtey / Self-defence student #2 / Tenant #2 / Lost His Wallet / Shrill Petrol Announcer / Milkman / Ernest Scribbler / Bevis (pet shop employee / lumberjack) / Headwaiter Gilberto / Herbert Anchovy / Gervais Brookhamster
Carol Cleveland	...	Dierdre Pewtey / Storyteller / Milkman Collector / Restaurant Patron #2 / Elsbeth
Connie Booth	...	Best Girl
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Neville Chamberlain	...	Himself (with Munich Accord) (archive footage) (uncredited)
Winston Churchill	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Adolf Hitler	...	Himself (speech to RAD, from T.d.W.) (archive footage) (uncredited)
Lesley Judd	...	Distraught Mother (uncredited)
King George VI	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Richard Nixon	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother	...	Herself (archive footage) (uncredited)

Directed by
Ian MacNaughton

Writing credits
Graham Chapman		(screen foreplay & conception) &
John Cleese		(screen foreplay & conception) &
Terry Gilliam		(screen foreplay & conception) &
Eric Idle		(screen foreplay & conception) &
Terry Jones		(screen foreplay & conception) &
Michael Palin		(screen foreplay & conception)

Produced by
Patricia Casey	....	producer
Victor Lownes	....	executive producer
David Gil	....	executive producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Douglas Gamley		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
David Muir		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Thom Noble

Art Direction by
Colin Grimes

Makeup Department
Ivy Emmerton	....	hairdresser
Jimmy Evans	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Kevin Francis	....	production manager
Tim Hampton	....	post-production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Douglas Hermes	....	assistant director (as Doug Hermes)

Art Department
Bob Hedges	....	property master
Leo Mason	....	construction manager
Tony Noble	....	assistant art director

Sound Department
John Brommage	....	sound mixer
Terry Poulton	....	dubbing editor
Dennis Berry	....	sound supervisor (uncredited)

Special Effects by
John Horton	....	special effects consultant

Camera and Electrical Department
Brian Grainger	....	camera operator
Douglas Webb	....	still photographs
Nobby Cross	....	gaffer (uncredited)
Roy Rodhouse	....	best boy (uncredited)

Animation Department
Terry Gilliam	....	animator

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Ken Lewington	....	costumes

Editorial Department
Pepita Fairfax	....	assistant film editor

Other crew
Zelda Barron	....	continuity
Jack Hawtree	....	production accountant
Sally Pardo	....	production secretary (as Sally Hyman)

Production Companies

• Columbia Pictures Corporation
• Kettledrum / Lownes Productions
• Kettledrum Films (as A Kettledrum Production)
• Playboy Productions (presents)
• Python (Monty) Pictures (as A Python Productions Film)

Distributors

• Carlotta Films (2003) (France) (theatrical)
• Cine-Studio (1984) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Coline (1974) (France) (theatrical)
• José Frade Producciones Cinematográficas S.A. (1990) (Spain) (theatrical)
• Outsider Diffusion (1994) (France) (theatrical) (re-issue)
• Rosenbergs Filmbyrå (1978) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Sherlock Media S.L. (1999) (Spain) (theatrical) (re-issue)
• Carlotta Films (????) (France) (DVD)
• Columbia Pictures (1972) (USA)
• Columbia TriStar (video)
• DNC Home Entertainment (????) (Italy) (video)
• Future Film (2004) (Finland) (DVD)
• Transvídeo (19??) (Brazil) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Bob Godfrey Films Ltd.  animations photographed by (as Bob Godfrey Films)
• Dark Star  publicity: France (re-issue: 2003) (uncredited)
• Lee Lighting  grip and lighting equipment (uncredited)

Also Known As:

Monty Python's And Now for Something Completely Different (UK) (complete title)

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Netherlands:16 | Finland:K-3 (new rating: 2001) | France:U | Australia:PG | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG | Finland:K-10 | Iceland:L | Sweden:11 | UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (video rating) (1986) | USA:PG | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Black Park, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

Dual currency is shown during the film (as seen on the supermarket adverts - 9np or 1/9). This was common for UK films of the early seventies as the country was changing its currency from pounds, shillings and pence to decimalization (Sterling).

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: During the mountaineer sketch, Eric Idle clearly breaks character and suppresses laughter when John Cleese reads from the dictionary.

Quotes:

Mungo the Cook: You bastards! You vicious, heartless bastards! Look what you've done to him! He's worked his fingers to the bone to make this place what it is, and you come in with your petty feeble quibbling and you grind him into the dirt, this fine, honorable man, whose boots you are not worthy to kiss! Oh... it makes me mad...
[Slams cleaver into the table]
Mungo the Cook: Mad! Stark, stirring... MAD!

Movie Connections:

Edited from "Monty Python's Flying Circus: Whither Canada? (#1.1)" (1969)

Soundtrack:

The Lumberjack Song

Very good introduction to the insane world of Monty Python

Produced in 1971 on a shoestring budget with the aim of breaking the Python team in the States (which eventually happened when the TV series began running on PBS), this film consists of classic moments from the first two series of Monty Python's Flying Circus, lovingly reprised, and in some cases improved upon. The 'Vocational Guidance Counsellor' sketch with Michael Palin's chartered accountant who wants to be a lion tamer is certainly better than the TV version, as is the bank robber in a lingerie shop sketch, which is performed here in such a dry, straight-faced, understated way, it makes me laugh every time. There are lots of other classics to enjoy - the dirty fork, Hell's Grannies, the Upper Class Twit of the Year show, Blackmail, camp square-bashing, the Killer Cars...if you can look past the obviously low budget (the sound mix makes some scenes sound as if they were recorded in a cake tin), you'll find one of the most tirelessly inventive sketch comedies of all time. And remember, it's NOT pining, it's passed on!