During the summer of 1974, a public TV station in Texas filled some airtime with an obscure British sketch comedy show with the unlikely name of Monty Python's Flying Circus. It was so popular that other public stations around the country started airing the show, and it quickly became a cult favorite, especially with college students. The next year, the Pythons made their first full feature film, “Monty Python and the Holy Grail.”
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Now, 50 years later, the film is considered one of the 10 best comedies ever made. Founding Python, John Cleese is bringing that film and himself to the Sanger Theater in Pensacola. In addition to being an original Python, Cleese has an Academy Award nomination for writing the script for the film "A Fish Called Wanda." And he won an Emmy Award for his legendary guest appearance on the TV show "Cheers."
Earlier this month, Bob Barrett spoke to John Cleese about his upcoming visit to Pensacola.
John Cleese: Do you think they like Monty Python in Pensacola?
Bob Barrett: Well, do you think anybody who doesn't like Monty Python?
Cleese: Yes, most of them vote for Trump.
READ MORE: 50 years of 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail': Its legacy and what it means to fans
Barrett: What is it about “Holy Grail” that really connects with audiences?
Cleese: I think that when people first saw it, it opened a door into a different kind of world that a lot of them just didn't know existed. And I think that was a moment of revelation, and it was a happy revelation. I think that people remember the pleasure they had the very first time they saw it.
Barrett: I certainly remember mine. We walked out of the movie theater saying, "Wait a minute, is that the way it's gonna end? Really?"
Cleese: (Laughs). Yes. Well, I'm not proud of the ending. I think it's the only one we could have come up with, but it's not awfully good.
Barrett: How much of the movie was actually scripted? Was there some ad-libbing going on?
Cleese: Very little ad-libbing. The Pythons, nobody believes this, but it's absolutely true, the Pythons are basically writers who happen to perform their own work. And if you start from the fact we were writers, then you'll have a better idea of what the dynamics of the group were. You see, the important thing about it was that we didn't know what we were doing, and we wrote a first draft that was all over the place. But Michael wrote the coconut scene, and we looked at it, and we said, perhaps the whole film should be about medieval England. And we liked the idea very much, and so we went ahead. We threw out 90% of what we'd written, starting with Michael's coconuts and meat, asking where the coconuts come from, and that wonderful irrelevance. And we just built on that, and then Graham and I were writing sketches also. We put in something about a witch and something about a fierce animal like a rabbit. All the things you expect to find in a medieval thing, but in a silly form. And when we did it, the people who'd invested in it, they were horrified when they saw the first draft. They didn't think it was any good at all. But of course, that's what happens on a movie is the first cut is pretty terrible until you started to edit it properly and put the sound effects on. It was a very, very satisfactory process, though. It was horrible when we were shooting it, but putting it right was good fun. And then all of a sudden it opened in England and it was pretty funny. And then it opened in America, and it was completely different. People absolutely loved it, as though they'd never seen anything like that in their life.
Barrett: Are there any taunts from the French taunter that we haven't heard that ended up on the cutting room floor?
Cleese: You know, I don't know, 50 years ago possibly, but I'm very proud of that. I love the random quality. I love it when he calls them empty-headed animal food trough wipers. It is the most extraordinary, convoluted insult.
Barrett: Well, of course, the movie was later made into a musical, “Spamalot.” And you had a small part in the Broadway production of that, didn't you?
Cleese: Yes, that's right. I did the voice of God for some time until I upset Eric.
Barrett: Is there any chance you might actually become a real knight someday?
Cleese: No, I'm much too … I'm not respectable enough. I talk about the things that upset me. There's a lot in England and America that's wrong at the moment, and I sometimes speak out about it. It's a very strange world we live in, and it's a world that's a tabloid world.
Barrett: I think it's a world that needs the Pythons.
Cleese: I think so. Needs a lot of common sense and a lot of good-natured joshing.
Barrett: Well, the last question, this has to be the last question. What is your favorite color?
Cleese: (Laughs) Oh, its light blue.
Barrett: Well then you can cross the bridge. Go right ahead.
Cleese: Nice. How funny.
Monty Python and the Holy Grail will be shown at the Sanger Theatre in Pensacola on Thursday, September 25, at 7:30 p.m. After the movie, there will be a live Q&A with John Cleese.
