Holy Grail

Lore & Background

In AD 932, King Arthur and his squire Patsy travel Britain searching for men to join the Knights of the Round Table. Along the way, Arthur debates whether coconuts could be found in a temperate climate, passes through a town infected with a plague, recounts receiving Excalibur from the Lady of the Lake to two anarcho-syndicalist peasants, and defeats the Black Knight. At an impromptu witch trial, he recruits Sir Bedevere the Wise, later joined by Sir Lancelot the Brave, Sir Galahad the Pure, Sir Robin the Not-Quite-So-Brave-as-Sir-Lancelot, and the aptly named Sir Not-Appearing-in-this-Film. Arthur leads the knights to Camelot, but changes his mind after the knights in the castle perform a musical number, deeming it 'a silly place'. God then appears and orders Arthur to find the Holy Grail.

In Their Own Story

Arthur and his knights arrive at a castle occupied by French soldiers, who claim to have the Grail and taunt the Britons, driving them back with a barrage of barnyard animals. Bedevere concocts a plan to sneak in using a Trojan Rabbit, but forgets to tell the others to hide inside it; the Knights are forced to flee when it is flung back at them. Arthur decides the knights should go their separate ways to search for the Grail. Meanwhile, a modern-day historian filming a documentary on the Arthurian legends is killed by an unknown knight on horseback, triggering a police investigation. Arthur and Bedevere are given directions by an old soothsayer and attempt to satisfy the strange requests of the dreaded Knights Who Say 'Ni!'. Robin avoids a fight with a Three-Headed Knight by running away while the heads are arguing amongst themselves. Galahad is led by a grail-shaped beacon to Castle Anthrax, which is occupied exclusively by nubile young women, but is 'rescued' against his will by Lancelot. Lancelot receives an arrow-shot note from the nearby Swamp Castle and storms it, only to discover the author is an effeminate prince. Arthur and his knights regroup and are joined by Brother Maynard, his monk brethren, and three new knights: Bors, Gawain and Ector. They meet Tim the Enchanter, who directs them to a cave where the location of the Grail is said to be written. The entrance is guarded by the Rabbit of Caerbannog, which kills Bors, Gawain and Ector. Arthur uses the 'Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch' to destroy the creature. Inside the cave, they find an inscription directing them to 'the Castle of Arrrghhh'. They are interrupted by the animated 'Legendary Black Beast of Arrrghhh', which devours Brother Maynard. Arthur and the knights escape after the film's animator unexpectedly suffers a fatal heart attack, erasing the Black Beast. The knights approach the Bridge of Death, where the bridgekeeper demands they each answer three questions. Lancelot crosses easily; Robin and Galahad are flung into the Gorge of Eternal Peril. When Arthur asks for clarification on a question regarding the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow, the bridgekeeper cannot answer and is himself thrown into the gorge. Arthur and Bedevere find Castle Arrrghhh occupied by the French soldiers. After being repelled by showers of manure, they summon an army of knights. As the army charges, the police arrive, arrest Arthur and Bedevere on suspicion of the murder of the historian, and break the camera, abruptly ending the film.

Reader's Guide

The film was mostly shot on location in Scotland, particularly around Doune Castle, Glen Coe, and the privately owned Castle Stalker. The many castles seen throughout the film were mainly either Doune Castle shot from different angles or hanging miniatures. The first exterior shot of a castle at the beginning of the film is Kidwelly Castle in South Wales, and the single exterior shot of the Swamp Castle during 'Tale of Sir Lancelot' is Bodiam Castle in East Sussex; all subsequent shots of the exterior and interior of those scenes were filmed at Doune Castle. At the start of 'The Tale of Sir Robin', there is a slow camera zoom in on rocky scenery that is actually a still photograph of the gorge at Mount Buffalo National Park in Victoria, Australia. The scene in which the knights fight the Rabbit of Caerbannog was filmed at Tomnadashan mine. A real white rabbit was used, switched with puppets for its killings. The bite effects were done with special puppetry by both Gilliam and SFX technician John Horton. The rabbit was covered with red liquid to simulate blood, though its owner did not want the animal dirty and was kept unaware.

Did You Know?

• The entire original budget of £175,350 (about $410,000 in 1974) was provided by eight investors including Led Zeppelin (£31,500), Pink Floyd (£21,000), and Ian Anderson (£6,300).
• The film grossed more than any other British film screened in the US in 1975.
• Thirty years later, Eric Idle used the film as the basis for the 2005 Tony Award–winning musical Spamalot.
• In the US, the film was selected in 2011 as the second-best comedy of all time in the ABC special Best in Film: The Greatest Movies of Our Time behind Airplane!.
• The scene with the Rabbit of Caerbannog was filmed at Tomnadashan mine using a real white rabbit switched with puppets for its killings.