Graham Chapman Movies

Drawing inspiration from the late Graham Chapman's intentionally fictitious memoir A Liar's Autobiography (Volume VI, filmmakers Jeffrey Simpson, Ben Timlett, and Bill Jones employ 15 teams of animators to tell the outlandish and surreal life story of the Monty Python's Flying Circus member who died of cancer in 1989. With newly discovered audio recordings allowing the celebrated comedian to tell his life story in his own words, A Liar's Autobiography - The Untrue Story of Monty Python's Graham Chapman offers a humorous, and largely untrue, look at a venerable icon of comedy. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

This 56-minute video celebrates 25 years' worth of inspired lunacy from Britain's Monty Python's Flying Circus. Loyal Pythonites John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Graham Chapman, Michael Palin and Terry Gilliam are interviewed, offering surprisingly sobersided insight as to what made their zany aggregation tick. Highlights include vintage clips from the Monty Python TV series, as well as vignettes from the group's theatrical features and concert appearances. As a bonus, we are treated to rare vignettes never before shown on American television. If you've never been exposed to such classic routines as "Dead Parrot", "Lumberjack" and "Department of Silly Walks", don't pass up this opportunity. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Still Crazy Like a Fox was a 1987 TV-movie effort to revive the lighthearted detective series originally telecast in 1984-86. Jack Warden is back as eccentric detective Harry Fox, with John Rubinstein as his conservative lawyer son Harrison. Father and son are lifted from their natural San Francisco habitat and sent on a vacation in England. While in London, Harry spots a man in the act of stealing. But the man is the above-reproach Duke of Kent (James Faulkner), and Harry's accusations are ignored. When the Duke is murdered, Harry goes to the head of the suspect list. Costarring in Still Crazy Like a Fox is British comic actor Graham (Monty Python) Chapman as Harry's dyspeptic Scotland Yard antagonist. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This colorful spoof of pirate movies had all the makings of a classic farce and yet sank straight to Davy Jones' locker at the box-office, for despite it's all-star international cast of famous comedians, and despite the fact that it was largely co-written by "Monty Python"-veteran Graham Chapman and former "Fringie" Peter Cook, the darned thing just wasn't funny. The sketches center around the core story of the dread pirate Yellowbeard's quest for a fabulous treasure, the map for which is tattooed on the head of his prissy son, who wants nothing to do with ships and pirate shenanigans. This was the final film of bug-eyed, beloved comedian Marty Feldman, who died of heart-failure before production finished. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

The highlights of two benefit concerts staged in support of Amnesty International are collected in this British performance film, which features ample helpings of both music and comedy. The members of the Monty Python comedy troupe serve as headliners, performing live variations on some of their most famous sketches. Additional humor is provided by such luminaries as Peter Cook, while the musical segments include performances by Pete Townshend, Eric Clapton, and Sting, amongst others. While all of the performers deliver the goods, the film's overall effectiveness is unfortunately limited by the purely functional direction and often poor image quality. ~ Judd Blaise, Rovi

On a midnight clear 2,000 years ago, three wise men enter a manger where a babe is wrapped in swaddling clothes. It is an infant called Brian...and the three wise men are in the wrong manger. For the rest of his life, Brian (Graham Chapman) finds himself regarded as something of a messiah -- yet he's always in the shadow of this other guy from Galilee. Brian is witness to the Sermon of the Mount, but his seat is in such a bad location that he can't hear any of it ("Blessed are the cheesemakers?"). Ultimately, he is brought before Pontius Pilate and sentenced to crucifixion, which takes place at that crowded, nonexclusive execution site a few blocks shy of Calvary. Rather than utter the Last Six Words, Brian leads his fellow crucifixees in a spirited rendition of a British music-hall cheer-up song "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life." The whole Monty Python gang (Chapman, John Cleese, Michael Palin, Eric Idle, and Terry Gilliam) are on hand in multiple roles, playing such sacred characters as Stan Called Loretta, Biggus Dickus, Deadly Dirk, Casts the First Stone, and Intensely Dull Youth; also showing up are Goon Show veteran Spike Milligan and a Liverpool musician named George Harrison. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

From its opening multi-language titles (that sure looks like Swedish) to the closing arrest of the entire Dark Ages cast by modern-day bobbies, Monty Python and the Holy Grail helped to define "irreverence" and became an instant cult classic. This time the Pythonites savage the legend of King Arthur, juxtaposing some excellently selected exterior locations with an unending stream of anachronistic one-liners, non sequiturs, and slapstick set pieces. The Knights of the Round Table set off in search of the Holy Grail on foot, as their lackeys make clippety-clop sounds with coconut shells. A plague-ridden community, ringing with the cry of "bring out your dead," offers its hale and hearty citizens to the body piles. A wedding of convenience is attacked by Arthur's minions while the pasty-faced groom continually attempts to burst into song. The good guys are nearly thwarted by the dreaded, tree-shaped "Knights Who Say Ni!" A feisty enemy warrior, bloodily shorn of his arms and legs in the thick of battle, threatens to bite off his opponent's kneecap. A French military officer shouts such taunts as "I fart in your general direction" and "I wave my private parts at your aunties." Rabbits are a particular obsession of the writers this time around, ranging from the huge Trojan Rabbit to the "killer bunny" that decapitates one of the knights. Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin collaborated on the script and assumed most of the onscreen roles, while Gilliam and Jones served as co-directors. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this episode, England is held in thrall by Mr. Neutron, the deadliest man in the world. As Mr. Neutron enjoys the hospitality of Mr. and Mrs. Entrail, the Federal Egg Answering Room (F.E.A.R) tries to ascertain Neutron's whereabouts. The only man capable of saving humanity is Teddy Salad, who is somewhere in the Yukon, breeding rabbits. Captain Carpenter discovers that Teddy is posing as a sled dog, and lures him away with a pretty bone. The naked Supreme Commander declares all-out war on Neutron by bombing the wrong cities. By the time Neutron is finished, the only city left standing is Ruislip in the Gobi Desert, and Neutron's sweetheart Mrs. S.C.U.M. has been elected the most beautiful woman in the world by default. One of the few Monty Python's Flying Circus programs to feature a single sustained sketch, "Mr. Neutron" first aired November 28, 1974. In addition to the supporting appearances of Carol Cleveland, Bob E. Raymond, and Sloopy the Dog, the show was to have featured the song stylings of Neil Innes, but time unfortunately ran out. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this episode, Hamlet visits a psychiatrist and confesses that he's always wanted to be a private detective. The Melancholy Dane's sexual hang-ups are dissected by two bogus shrinks, at which point Dr. Bruce Genuine saves the day. The comfy chair used by the host of "Nationwide" is identified as having been stolen from Mrs. Edgeworth. A bride's father shares a bed with his daughter and her husband for the purpose of building a model ship. In "Boxing Tonight," the fight ends when the champ loses his head and arms, just as he'd done in the past six bouts. Mrs. Gorilla, Mrs. Non-Gorilla, and Mrs. Non-Smoker try to watch a soap opera, but end up spouting Shakespeare instead. And a visit to Polonius' House leads to an on-the-spot report from the Queen Victoria Handicap, with eight Queen Victorias in competition. First broadcast November 21, 1974, "Hamlet" features Carol Cleveland, Connie Booth, Jimmy Hill, Bob E. Raymond, and K.Joseph. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this episode, Chris Quinn enters a department store and demands to buy an ant named Marcus. When Chris goes home, his mum informs him that Michael Ellis -- for whom he has been repeatedly mistaken -- has been looking for him. On his own, Chris attends a poetry reading, in which Wordsworth, Shelley, and Keats dedicate their poems to ants not named Marcus. His next stop is Toupee Hall, where a faulty flame-thrower left over from the first sketch wreaks havoc. Just before entering the End of the Show Department, Chris is informed that Michael Ellis Week is over, and Chris Quinn Week has begun. Featuring Carol Cleveland and John Hughman, "Michael Ellis" is made up of unused material from the theatrical feature Monty Python and the Holy Grail. The episode first aired November 7, 1974. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Sometime between seasons two and three of Monty Python's Flying Circus, the series' cast appeared in a 50-minute special that aired exclusively on German television. Popularly known as "Monty Python in Deutschland," this filmed special consisted almost entirely of new material, save for a sketch in which "Colin 'Bomber' Harris'" wrestles with himself. Other bits included a running gag involving an Olympic torch runner, an interview with a Frenchman who had been to the toilet only once in five years (a fact confirmed by such celebrities as Richard Nixon and the Pope), an all-cow version of The Merchant of Venice, and a "traditionally" violent bill of fare at a Bavarian restaurant. According to the late Graham Chapman, the special aired opposite an English-German football match, leaving the Pythonites with an audience comprised entirely of critics. Even so, "Monty Python in Deutschland" was successful enough to warrant a sequel in 1973. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Monty Python's And Now For Something Completely Different was first released in the US in 1973, but didn't really take off as a midnight-movie fixture until after the Monty Python's Flying Circus TV series began making the PBS rounds. Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin and Terry Gilliam are the Pythonites in attendance, together with semiregulars Carol Cleveland and Connie Booth. The sketches presented include such classics as "The Lumberjack Song", "Hell's Grannies", "The Upperclass Twit of the Year Race", and, of course, "The Dead Parrot". Additionally, Terry Gilliam's animated-cartoon interpolations act as buffers between sketches. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

David Niven is Alex, a scholar who has won the Nobel Prize for developing a universal language. The U.S. State Department has decided to honor him with a statue, to be displayed in London's Grosvenor Square. The commission for the project went to Alex's wife Rhonda (Virna Lisi), who has designed a statue that is completely nude, without even a fig leaf. Husband Alex sees that is it a perfect replica of himself, except for the part usually covered by fig leaves. He accuses his wife of using one of her lovers as a model and begins a hilarious search for the original. Robert Vaughn has some good lines as the American Ambassador, discussing the couple's controversy with the President. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi