And Now for Something Completely Different
And Now for Something Completely Different is a 1971 British sketch comedy film based on the television comedy series Monty Python's Flying Circus featuring sketches from the show's first two series. The title was taken from a catchphrase used in the television show.
And Now for Something Completely Different
Ian MacNaughton
Terry Gilliam (animated sequences)
Monty Python's Flying Circus
by Monty Python
Patricia Casey
- Graham Chapman
- John Cleese
- Terry Gilliam
- Eric Idle
- Terry Jones
- Michael Palin
David Muir
- Douglas Gamley
- Terry Jones
- Michael Palin
- Fred Tomlinson
- Playboy Productions
- Kettledrum Films
- Lownes Productions
- Python (Monty) Pictures
- 28 September 1971
88 minutes
United Kingdom
English
£80,000
The film, released on 28 September 1971 in the United Kingdom and 22 August 1972 in the United States,[2][3] consists of 90 minutes of sketches and animation sequences seen in the first two series of the television show. All of the sketches were recreated for the film without an audience, and were intended for an American audience which had not yet seen the series. The announcer (John Cleese) appears briefly between some sketches to deliver the line "and now for something completely different", in situations such as being roasted on a spit and lying on top of a desk in a small pink bikini, as well as the Colonel (Graham Chapman) interrupting them and deeming them "too silly".
Each playing various characters
Origins of phrase[edit]
The origin of the phrase is credited to Christopher Trace, founding presenter of the children's television programme Blue Peter, who used it (in all seriousness) as a link between segments.[4]
Many of the early episodes of Monty Python's Flying Circus feature a sensible-looking announcer (played by John Cleese) dressed in a black suit and sitting behind a wooden desk, which in turn is in some ridiculous location such as behind the bars of a zoo cage or in mid-air being held aloft by small attached propellers. The announcer would turn to the audience and announce "and now for something completely different", launching the show's opening credits starting with the second series of the show.
The phrase was also used as a transition within the show. Often it would be added to better explain the transition, for instance, "And now for something completely different: a man with a tape recorder up his brother's nose".
Production[edit]
Background[edit]
And Now for Something Completely Different is the Pythons' first feature film, composed of some well-known sketches from the first two series of the Flying Circus, including the "Dead Parrot" sketch, "The Lumberjack Song", "Upper Class Twit of the Year", "Hell's Grannies", the "Nudge Nudge" sketch and others. The original sketches were recreated for the film with an extremely low budget, often slightly rewritten and edited. Financed by Playboy′s UK executive Victor Lownes, it was intended to help Monty Python break into the United States. Although the film was initially unsuccessful at achieving an American breakthrough, it did well financially in the United Kingdom, and later in the United States on the midnight movie circuit, after the Pythons achieved some success there following their first exposure on US television and the release of Monty Python and the Holy Grail. The group did not consider this film a success, but it enjoys a cult following among Python fans today.
Production with Lownes[edit]
The film was the idea of entrepreneur Victor Lownes, head of Playboy UK, who convinced the group that a feature film would be the ideal way to introduce them to the US market. Lownes acted as executive producer. Production of the film did not go entirely smoothly. Lownes tried to exert considerably more control over the group than they had been used to at the BBC. In particular, he objected so strongly to one character—'Ken Shabby'—that his appearance was removed, although stills from both this and a further cut sketch, "Flying Sheep", were published in Monty Python's Big Red Book. Terry Jones and Michael Palin later complained that the vast majority of the film was "nothing more than jokes behind desks."
Another argument with Lownes occurred when Terry Gilliam designed the opening credits for the film. Because the names of the Pythons were shown in blocks of stone, Lownes insisted that his own name be displayed in a similar manner. Initially, Gilliam refused but eventually he was forced to give in. Gilliam then created a different style of credit for the Pythons so that in the final version of the film, Lownes' credit is the only one that appears in that way.
John Cleese says when they test screened the film "the audience thought it was terrific and they fell about until they got to forty-five minutes in, and then . . . they stopped laughing." So the film was recut but audiences again stopped laughing forty five minutes in. They recut it a third time and the audiences stopped after forty five minutes. Cleese attributed this to the fact the film did not have a story.[5]
Budget[edit]
The film's budget was £80,000, 40% of which came from Lownes.[6] This is self-referentially acknowledged in the film's Killer Cars animation; the voiceover narration (done by Eric Idle) mentions "a scene of such spectacular proportions that it could never in your life be seen in a low-budget film like this... if you notice, my mouth isn't moving, either". The film was shot on location in England and inside an abandoned dairy (rather than on a more costly soundstage) beginning on October 26, ten days after recording was completed on the second series, and ending on December 9, 1970. The budget was so low that some effects seen on the television series could not be repeated in the film.
Release[edit]
Reception among American audiences[edit]
Reviews for American audiences were mixed (principally because British humour was unfamiliar to American viewers at that time) but mostly positive. When it was released on 22 August 1972, the film had little success at the box office and did not do well until a late 1974 re-release, which was after PBS began showing the original television episodes in the US. It currently has a 88% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 26 reviews, with an average score of 6.9/10.[7]
Home media[edit]
The film originally was on DVD in Region 1 from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment; in 2005, it was repacked in a new collector's pack called And Now For Something Completely Hilarious! which also features the films Monty Python and the Holy Grail and The Adventures of Baron Munchausen.