Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)

The Motor City Cinema Society invites you to a very special 35MM presentation of Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) at the historic Redford Theatre, Detroit’s Movie Palace!

A timeless comedy classic, this film premiered just one year after their groundbreaking television program Monty Python’s Flying Circus (1969-1974) went off the air in England. By its fourth and final series it was shortened to simply Monty Python and unlike the first three, Graham Chapman, Carol Cleveland, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin were temporarily without fellow Python John Cleese for its briefer six episode run.

Once their avant-garde program had finally run its course on British airwaves, all forty-five of its episodes were nearly erased (slated to be recorded over by the BBC to save money on tape costs) were it not for Terry Jones personally saving the master copies himself, just as Terry Gilliam literally had to personally retrieve his animation films used on the show from the trash. BBC negligence notwithstanding, the show then soon became a success in America as it was re-establishing itself with an international cult following, and the reunited Python team shifted focus to the production of a motion picture.

The source material used for the Holy Grail is a reflection of the thorough, educated approach of the Pythons, as well as of their affection for Arthurian and other legends of the Middle Ages. For a comedy that is one of the silliest movies ever made, it is also extraordinarily well researched, with a Pasolini-like pictorial flair for Medieval realism. This degree of authenticity provided the foundation for their inimitable sense of absurd humor to flower as only these comedians could, and it is now one of the most celebrated titles of any genre.

Directed by both Terrys (Gilliam and Jones) and funded by the likes of Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, and Jethro Tull, this hilarious film continues to be endlessly quoted (or, parroted?) inexhaustibly by its zealous fans - for over fifty years! But whether you’ve never seen it a hundred times, once, or never, we assure you that this brilliant and outrageous picture will have something special to offer you on 35MM.

Come and join in the adventure of Arthur, King of the Britons, and Sirs Bedivere, Galahad, Lancelot, and Robin on their quest to find the Holy Grail. SEE why it makes Ben-Hur look like an epic!