Monty Python and the Holy Grail is a British slapstick comedy film made in 1975, concerning the Arthurian legend. It tells the story of King Arthur and his attempt to build a court in Camelot.
The comedy was written by the comedy group Monty Python and directed by Gilliam and Jones. It was conceived during the hiatus between the third and fourth series of their BBC television series Monty Python’s Flying Circus.
The movie, full of random quips, hilarious stand-alone scenes, and the type of comedic anarchy that practically defines British comedy even to this day was a low-budget success story and has become a Cult Classic over time.
Jones and Gilliam, as co-directors, shared the responsibility of corralling the low-budgeted production across the location shoot in Scotland and at Epping Forest outside London.
Shooting for five weeks in 1974, “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” was denied access to most of the castles that had been scouted, so Castle Dome stood in for three different locations. Also, they used Castle Stalker in Scotland for shooting the final scene of the movie.
Originally the knight characters were going to ride real horses, but after it became clear that the film’s small budget precluded real horses, the Pythons decided that their characters would mime horse-riding while their porters trotted behind them banging coconut shells together.
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The film’s initial budget of approximately $319,000 was raised by convincing 10 separate investors to pitch in.
It was funded by a coalition of rock stars and record labels such as Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Elton John, Jethro Tull, Island Records, Chrysalis Records and Michael White.
Still a classic film to this day.