Still there? Good, stay on your jaded, video-sated arses...

An extra note: This section should now be superfluous since, with recent DVD releases, a lot of previously unreleased material has now become available as extras. But we'll carry on regardless...

1.   Information about the team's first feature film And Now For Something Completely Different (1971), is pretty scarce. Contemporaneous press reviews can be found here. As far as edits are concerned however it is known that the following material was cut from the final edit:

a) A version of Series 1's 'Ken Shabby' sketch was removed from the middle of the film. Executive producer Victor Lownes, who put up most of the money (and mostly chose which sketches would appear), found the sketch 'too repulsive'; the Pythons argued their corner, bar Cleese who agreed with the cut, even though his then-wife Connie Booth reprised her TV role for the sketch. (The discarded celluloid was later used for the Shabby 'Juliette' photostory parody in the Big Red Book.

(b) A second cut was ego-fuelled. Lownes' title credit, as designed by Terry Gilliam, didn't satisfy said producer, who reckoned it was too small. Gilliam walked away from the argument in a huff and Lownes hired someone else to re-design that section of the titles. His name now appears in huge stone Gilliam-esque letters and is the only part of the sequence not animated. The Pythons later alluded to this situation in their Time Out listings parody (Time Out, 04/05/73), where - in the film section - they advertised 'Playmate Cinema: 'Victor Lowndes [sic] Presents' (from Midnight) - The film of the millionaire (90 mins). The credit sequence is a little long (80 mins) but the rest of the film is nice and short.'

[NOTE (1): Hewison mentions that some prints of the film retain the original title sequence, but we've never come across a copy. Also, some video release versions feature no 'Roar' FX as the Playboy bunny opens its mouth pre-titles, and feature the full, non-drowned-out musical fanfare.]

[NOTE (2): The German release of the film was given the alternate title Monty Python's Wunderbare Welt der Schwerkraft ('Monty Python's Wonderful World Of Gravity'), for reasons which elude us.]

2.   There were originally two separate edits of Monty Python And The Holy Grail (1975), identifiable from each other by a scene which was cut. Amusingly, the scene in question features all the characters from the film discussing whether the scene should have been cut (or rather the entire 'Castle Anthrax' scene, of which it comprises a small section).

Known as 'The Missing 24 seconds' (and advertised as such on the 80s video releases that featured it), the footage appears to have been crudely edited back into the print and a noticeable judder and drop in picture quality can be detected at this point. The scene can be found at 39'18:

	DINGO (CLEVELAND) Oh, wicked, bad, naughty, evil Zoot. Oh, she is a bad person and must pay the penalty. (SUDDENLY COMES OUT OF CHARACTER AND TURNS TO THE CAMERA) Do you think this scene should have been cut? We were so worried when the boys were writing it. But now we're glad! It's better than some of the previous scenes, I think. CUT BACK TO THE THREE-HEADED KNIGHT KNIGHT (JONES) At least ours was better visually. CUT BACK TO CONSTITUTIONAL PEASANTS DENNIS (PALIN) At least ours was committed - it wasn't just a string of pussy jokes. CUT TO SOOTHSAYER SOOTHSAYER (GILLIAM) Get on with it... CUT TO TIM THE MAGICIAN TIM (CLEESE) Yes, get on with it. CUT TO ARMY OF PIKEMEN ARMY Yes, get on with it!!! CUT BACK TO DINGO DINGO Oh, I am enjoying this scene! CUT TO ANIMATION OF GOD GOD Get on with it! DINGO SIGHS Monty Python & The Holy Grail, 1975

The original rental edition of the video featured this sequence, along with the fantastic trailer (which included specially-filmed material) and an endless 'Intermission' sequence at the end of the film, which was presumably what the original audiences saw as they put on their duffels and left the cinema.

The first sell-through video featured none of the above. The 1997 edition features 'The Missing 24 Seconds' and the trailer, but no 'Intermission' sequence. The DVD/Video currently available (released in 2001) features all the previously missing material and plenty of extras, some great: Film Night, and some which makes you lose the will to live: 'Camelot' in fucking Lego.

The "This scene should have been cut" joke doesn't feature in the 'final draft' script, which was published - with crayonic alterations - as the Monty Python And The Holy Grail (Book), so it canbe safe to assume that 'Castle Anthrax' was one of the first scenes to be filmed (i.e., they knew in advance to film extra little cutaways featuring various other characters commmenting on the situation).

[NOTE (1): The Holy Grail scriptbook is excellent. Not only does it feature the entire original shooting script (allowing one to see exactly how the film took shape) but also the first draft, which contained a lot of material that later turned up in the fourth TV series (henceCleese's occasional writing credits for this series). There is some ambiguity as to whether the book is a genuine replica of the original script material or a facsimile - however, given the sheer esoteric messiness of its presentation, we find its authenticity difficult to dispute. If it's a parody, it's a worryingly good one. However, it's fair to assume that the handwritten alterations to the 'final draft' were made for the purposes of the book only, and that (a) many of the cut lines were filmed, and (b) the additional material was suggested mid-shoot.]

[NOTE (2): For a nice collection of contemporaneous press articles about Monty Python & The Holy Grail, please feel free to wander around the press archive.]

	'ASIDES #1' - Things to insert into the main articles when we get a chance... Joe4SOTCAA: "Almost forgot about this one - Graham Chapman's wail of "Jesus Christ!!" as the French Taunters catapult a cow at the knights - in some prints (notably the one used for clips on Python Night) has the line overdubbed with "Bleedin' Heck!!". Squidy: "This is most probably the version of 'Holy Grail' which aired on CBS on 25/2/1977 as "The CBS Late Night Movie". The first TV screening of the film, it's said that most of the blood and swearing was cut out. When the Pythons found out about this, they wrestled back the rights of the film and when it was next screened in America, on Python-friendly PBS, it was totally uncut. Also, the clip shown on Python Night being in 4:3 implies that it was from a TV version, as does the fact that "Bleedin' heck!" sounds like an American trying to do a Graham Chapman voice, although why the BBC should use a TV version when the film had just been remastered and released on widescreen video with the extra 24 seconds is beyond me. Joe4SOTCAA: "It was a 'BBC/A&E Network Co-Production'. We probably don't need to ponder any further than that really."

One notable scene takes place in someone's flat as the Pythons (sans Idle, who didn't join them for the Amnesty show, and Gilliam, who did but was elsewhere) rehearse and revise a special courtroom sketch they've assembled, as Wilmut notes, from four previous courtroom sketches). This footage is probably the closest we'll ever come to eavesdropping on the Pythons' working methods, for despite the presence of the film cameras, there seems to be a genuine candidness to the whole set-up. Of course this was 1976, and Adam Bloom hadn't yet been born... *

	A LARGE ROOM IN A FLAT. FROM LEFT TO RIGHT SIT CLEESE, CHAPMAN, PALIN (WEARING A GARISH TANKTOP), TWO UN-NAMED WOMEN (POSS. ANNE JAMES AND ALISON DAVIES), CAROL CLEVELAND AND TERRY JONES. ALL HAVE COPIES OF A COURTROOM SKETCH SCRIPT. JONES IS IN MID FLOW AS THE JUDGE. JONES (READING SCRIPT) ...the Reverend Jean-Claude Motson, Father Kevin Joyce O'Malley, Monsignor Jean-Paul Reynard", (WE HEAR CLEESE CHUCKLE), "Padre Robert Henry Noonan, Rabbis Edwin and..." (CLEESE LAUGHS AGAIN, JONES ALMOST JOINS IN) "...Kelly Makepiece Gingolde, Pope Mario Vercotti, Divisional Fire officer Carl Heinz Biolek, (CHAPMAN THROWS HIS HEAD BACK WITH LAUGHTER) "...and Bombadier Arthur Buddha... on or about the morning of the third Sunday in Epiphany. Have you anything to say before this court considers your case?" CONTINUED CHAT UNDER VOICEOVER. CHAPMAN DOES ANOTHER WHIPLASH-LAUGH. VOICEOVER (DUDLEY MOORE) The Python team are reworking their courtroom sketch for the Amnesty Benefit, and for their forthcoming Broadway show. They've done the sketch once before on television, but they're still not happy with it. CLEVELAND (READING SCRIPT) "Sorry, you're honour - how do you spell that? S-M-I... and then I go a bit wrong..." JONES (READING) "What, Smith?" CLEVELAND (READING) "Yes, M'lud." JONES (READING) "T-H!" CLEVELAND (READING) "Oh of course, that's it!" OUT OF CHARACTER, JONES STUDIES THE SCRIPT AND BITES HIS LIP JONES What do you think about the shape? It seems kind of... CHAPMAN Actually there is re-writing to be done around the area at the end of the... CLEESE I don't think it matters that it wanders from point to point... JONES No, I think... CLEESE ...because I think each point is very funny and is abandoned about... I don't think any of the points go on too long. I may be wrong but... (CONSIDERS) Is it funny? JONES Oh, it is funny, yeah... PALIN It's just... just a matter of working it out when you... do it with someone. I mean... CLEESE ...it held together better than I expected. JONES Yes. CLEESE I like this sketch - there's a lot of shouting in it! CUT TO THE TEAM REHEARSING THE SKETCH. STILL AT THE FLAT BUT THEY ARE NOW SITTING IN VAGUELY THE SAME POSITION AS THEY WILL WHEN THEY PERFORM IT ONSTAGE. JONES (READING, AS THE JUDGE) "Stand up! Sit down! Go 'Moooo!'" THE OTHERS GO 'MOOOO!' JONES (READING) "See? On with the skating vicar! And on with the pixie hats! And everybody sing..." ALL Anything goes in Anything goes out Fish, bananas, old pyjamas, Mutton, beef and trout... OUT OF CHARACTER NOW CLEESE I think... I still think you should instruct us to do one more thing 'cos I remember this was one of the moments where I cried with laughter, watching it on the box, Sit dow... Stand up, Sit Down, Go Moo... and I think there should be one other... PALIN On with the pixie hats, yes... JONES ...have we got another...? CLEESE ...and then reverse those lines, saying 'Now on with the pixie hats and order in the s... the skating vicar..." ALL AGREE. THROUGHOUT THE ABOVE CLEESE HAS BEEN LOUNGING BACK ON A LEATHER SOFA WITH HIS LEGS ABOVE THE FLOOR, CLICKING HIS HEELS TOGETHER PALIN 'And bring down the curtain!' JONES 'Clap your feet...' PALIN '...and end the sketch!' JONES 'Shut up, sit down, go Mooo...' PALIN What's the movements we had for 'Anything Goes In'? JUMP CUT TO PALIN STANDING UP DEMONSTRATING THE DANCE PALIN It's... Fish... (MIMES SWIMMING) bananas... (MIMES A BENDY BANANA SHAPE) old pyjamas... (MIMES PULLING ON A PAIR OF PYJAMA BOTTOMS) JONES Mutton... (THEY PAUSE WHILE THEY TRY TO REMEMBER THE MOVEMENTS) PALIN Mutton.. (MIMES TWO HORNS ON HIS HEAD), Beef... (MIMES GRABBING A COW'S RUMP) and trout... (DOES 'FUCK ME' GESTURE. THEY ALL LAUGH) Just like trout to do that... ANOTHER JUMP-CUT. SHOT OF JONES, CLEESE AND PALIN GOING THROUGH THE CHOREOGRAPHY; CLEESE HAVING THE TIME OF HIS LIFE. THIS TIME THE ACTIONS ARE REARRANGED - THE HORNS DENOTING 'MUTTON', THE GESTURE MEANING 'BEEF' AND, AS PER THE TV SERIES, ENDING WITH A BOTTOM SHOT FOR 'TROUT'. ALL Anything goes in Anything goes out Fish, bananas, old pyjamas, Mutton, beef and trout... ALL THREE LAUGH AT THEIR SILLINESSES Pleasure At Her Majesty's, BBC1 29/12/76

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