And Now for Something Completely Different is a film
spin-offA spin-off is a new organization or entity formed by a split from a larger one, such as television series based on a pre-existing one, or a new company formed from a university research group or business incubator...
from the television comedy series
Monty Python's Flying CircusMonty Python’s Flying Circus is a BBC sketch comedy programme from the Monty Python comedy team, and the group's initial claim to fame. The show was noted for its surreality, risqué or innuendo-laden humour, sight gags, and sketches without punchlines...
featuring favourite sketches from the first two seasons. The title was used as a
catchphraseA catch phrase is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through a variety of mass media , as well as word of mouth...
in the TV show.
The film, released in
1971The year 1971 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*February 8 - Bob Dylan's hour long documentary film, Eat the Document, premieres at New York's Academy of Music...
, consists of 90 minutes of the best sketches seen in the first two series of the TV show. The sketches were remade on film without an audience, and were intended for an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
audience which had not yet seen the series.
And Now for Something Completely Different is a film
spin-offA spin-off is a new organization or entity formed by a split from a larger one, such as television series based on a pre-existing one, or a new company formed from a university research group or business incubator...
from the television comedy series
Monty Python's Flying CircusMonty Python’s Flying Circus is a BBC sketch comedy programme from the Monty Python comedy team, and the group's initial claim to fame. The show was noted for its surreality, risqué or innuendo-laden humour, sight gags, and sketches without punchlines...
featuring favourite sketches from the first two seasons. The title was used as a
catchphraseA catch phrase is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through a variety of mass media , as well as word of mouth...
in the TV show.
The film, released in
1971The year 1971 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*February 8 - Bob Dylan's hour long documentary film, Eat the Document, premieres at New York's Academy of Music...
, consists of 90 minutes of the best sketches seen in the first two series of the TV show. The sketches were remade on film without an audience, and were intended for an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
audience which had not yet seen the series. The announcer
(John Cleese)John Marwood Cleese is an Academy Award-nominated English actor, comedian, writer, and film producer who is known for being a member of the group of comedians responsible for the sketch show Monty Python's Flying Circus and the four Monty Python films: And Now for Something Completely Different,...
uses the phrase "and now for something completely different" several times during the film, in situations such as being roasted on a spit and lying on top of the desk in a small, pink
bikiniA bikini or two piece is a women's swimsuit with two parts, one covering the breasts, the other the groin , leaving an uncovered area between the two . It is often worn in hot weather or while swimming...
(much to an onlookers disgust).
Background
This was the Pythons' first feature film, composed of some of the best sketches from the first two series of the Flying Circus, re-shot on an extremely low budget (and often slightly edited) for cinema release. Some famous sketches included are: the "Dead Parrot" sketch, "The Lumberjack Song", "Upperclass Twits", "Hell's Grannies", and the "Nudge Nudge" sketch. Financed by
PlayboyPlayboy is an American men's magazine, founded in Chicago, Illinois in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with a presence in nearly every medium. Playboy is one of the world's best...
's UK executive Victor Lowndes, it was intended as a way of breaking Monty Python in America, and although it was ultimately unsuccessful in this, the film did good business in the UK. The group did not consider the film a success, but it enjoys a cult following today.
Production with Lownes
The film was the idea of entrepreneur
Victor LownesVictor Aubrey Lownes III . An executive with Playboy Enterprises in various capacities, various vice-presidencies, always a close confidant of Hugh Hefner. Headed Playboy Europe and the UK Playboy Clubs from the mid-sixties until his dismissal in the early eighties...
, head of
Playboy UKPlayboy Enterprises, Inc. , also organized as New Playboy, Inc. , is the company founded by Hugh Marston Hefner to manage the Playboy magazine empire. Today, Playboy Enterprises, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the development and distribution of adult entertainment. The Playboy...
, who convinced the group that a feature film would be the ideal way to introduce them to the US market and make them lots of money. Lownes acted as executive producer. Production of the film did not go entirely smoothly. Lownes tried to exert a lot 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 the sketch was removed.
Another argument with Lownes occurred when Terry Gilliam designed the opening credits for the film. Presenting the names of the Pythons in blocks of stone, Lownes tried to insist that his 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.
Budget
The budget of the film was horribly low for the time at only
£The pound sterling , often simply called the pound, is the currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands and British Antarctic Territory...
80,000. This is self-reflexively acknowledged in the film's Killer Cars animation; the voiceover narration mentions "a scene of such spectacular proportions that it could never in your life be seen in a low budget film like this. You'll notice my mouth isn't moving, either". The film was shot both on location in England and inside an abandoned dairy, rather than on a more costly soundstage. It was in fact so low that some effects which were done in the TV series could not be done in the film.
Origins of phrase
The origin of the phrase is credited to
Christopher TraceChristopher Leonard Trace was an English actor and television presenter, best remembered for his nine years as a presenter of the BBC children's programme Blue Peter.-Career:...
, founding presenter of the children's television programme
Blue PeterBlue Peter is a long-running BBC television programme for children. It is shown on CBBC, both in its BBC One programming block and on the CBBC Channel.It is named after the blue-and-white flag hoisted by a ship in port when it is ready to sail...
, who used it (in all seriousness) as a link between segments.
Many of the early episodes of
Monty Python's Flying CircusMonty Python’s Flying Circus is a BBC sketch comedy programme from the Monty Python comedy team, and the group's initial claim to fame. The show was noted for its surreality, risqué or innuendo-laden humour, sight gags, and sketches without punchlines...
feature a sensible-looking announcer (played by
John CleeseJohn Marwood Cleese is an Academy Award-nominated English actor, comedian, writer, and film producer who is known for being a member of the group of comedians responsible for the sketch show Monty Python's Flying Circus and the four Monty Python films: And Now for Something Completely Different,...
) dressed in a black suit and sitting behind a wooden desk, which in turn is in some
ridiculousA non sequitur is a conversational and literary device, often used for comical purposes . It is a comment which, due to its apparent lack of meaning relative to what it follows, seems absurd to the point of being humorous or confusing, as in the following joke:The use of non sequitur in humor can...
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 in order to better explain the transition, for instance, "And now for something completely different: a man with a tape recorder up his nose." In later episodes, particularly the third season, the credits-launching was reduced to a split-second stock footage of the announcer saying "And now..." in a similar fashion as was done with its predecessor, the "It's" man, which appears immediately after. Both were preceded by a
nakedNudity is the state of wearing no clothing.It is related to the concept of modesty and is sometimes used to refer to wearing significantly less clothing than expected by the conventions of a particular culture and situation, and in particular exposing the bare skin or intimate...
organistAn organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists...
.
Sketches
- How Not to Be Seen
"How Not To Be Seen" is a popular sketch from Monty Python's Flying Circus. It was first aired as a the 11th episode of the 2nd season of the show....
: A government film which first displays the importance of not being seen, then devolves into various things being blown up, much to John CleeseJohn Marwood Cleese is an Academy Award-nominated English actor, comedian, writer, and film producer who is known for being a member of the group of comedians responsible for the sketch show Monty Python's Flying Circus and the four Monty Python films: And Now for Something Completely Different,...
's (Fred Englehorn) amusement.
- Man with tape recorder
Monty Python’s Flying Circus is a BBC sketch comedy programme from the Monty Python comedy team, and the group's initial claim to fame. The show was noted for its surreality, risqué or innuendo-laden humour, sight gags, and sketches without punchlines...
: After the main title sequence animated by Terry GilliamTerrence Vance "Terry" Gilliam is an American-born British writer, filmmaker, animator, actor and member of the Monty Python comedy troupe. Gilliam is also known for directing several well-regarded films including Time Bandits , Brazil , The Fisher King , and 12 Monkeys...
, which comes after the above sketch, a "The End" screen appears, but a stage emcee (Terry JonesTerence Graham Parry Jones is a Welsh comedian, screenwriter, actor, film director, children's author, popular historian, political commentator and TV documentary host. He is best known as a member of the Monty Python comedy team....
) apologises for the cinema overestimation of the film's length and announces an interval. In the meantime, two short films are shown: One starring a man with a tape recorder up his nose and another starring a man with a tape recorder up his brother's nose (with a brief "stereo" segment at the end of the second film). (In a decided bit of irreverence, the tape recorder is playing La Marseillaise"La Marseillaise" is the national anthem of France.- History :"La Marseillaise" is a song written and composed by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle in Strasbourg on April 25, 1792...
, the French national anthem).
- Dirty Hungarian Phrasebook
"Dirty Hungarian Phrasebook" is a Monty Python sketch that first aired in 1970.The sketch begins in 1970 and is set in Britain. A Hungarian enters a tobacconist's shop and begins a dialogue with the tobacconist; he wants to buy some cigarettes but his phrasebook is poorly written and full of...
: After the above mentioned interval ends, a sketch plays in which a Hungarian immigrant (John CleeseJohn Marwood Cleese is an Academy Award-nominated English actor, comedian, writer, and film producer who is known for being a member of the group of comedians responsible for the sketch show Monty Python's Flying Circus and the four Monty Python films: And Now for Something Completely Different,...
) is arrested after a series of linguistic cock-ups in a tobacconist's (Terry Jones), beginning with "I will not buy this record, it is scratched" (believed by the Hungarian to be a request for cigarettes), then turning into various sexual innuendos ("Do you want to come back to my place, bouncy-bouncy?"). The incident reaches a peak as the tobacconist attempts to communicate "6 shillings, please" in Hungarian, and is rewarded with a left hook (presumably the phrasebook also attempts to create havoc for English people trying to speak Hungarian). The Hungarian gentleman is swiftly arrested for assault, but is released and the author (Michael PalinMichael Edward Palin, CBE is an English comedian, actor, writer and television presenter best known for being one of the members of the comedy group Monty Python and for his travel documentaries....
) of the fraudulent phrasebook is arrested instead.
- Animation-Hand Plants and Things: An animation by Terry Gilliam
Terrence Vance "Terry" Gilliam is an American-born British writer, filmmaker, animator, actor and member of the Monty Python comedy troupe. Gilliam is also known for directing several well-regarded films including Time Bandits , Brazil , The Fisher King , and 12 Monkeys...
depicting cut-out hands as plants and animals.
- Animation-A Barber's Suicide: A barber puts shaving cream all over his head and cuts it off.
- Marriage Guidance Counsellor
The Marriage Guidance Counsellor sketch is from the second Monty Python's Flying Circus episode, "Sex and Violence". It was also featured in the 1971 spinoff film And Now For Something Completely Different, and is notable as being one of Carol Cleveland's first appearances on the series.The sketch...
: The marriage guidance counsellor (Eric IdleEric Idle is an English comedian, actor, author, singer, writer and composer of comic songs. He wrote and performed as a member of the British comedy group Monty Python.-Early life:...
) flirts with and makes love to the attractive Deirdre Pewtey (Carol ClevelandCarol Cleveland is a British actress/comedienne, most notable for her appearances as the only significant female performer on Monty Python's Flying Circus.-Early life:...
), and her husband Arthur Pewtey (Palin) is somewhat depressed by this turn of events. His attempt to "pull his finger out" and end this nonsense fails miserably.
- Animation-The Cannibal Baby: A man carries a baby in a carriage that eats old ladies, but the carriage is turned around by an irate woman and chases the man.
- Animation-The Statue: After the above animation ends, an animated arm tries to remove Michelangelo's David's fig leaf, presumably covering his genitals, but an old woman's head is there instead and demands that smut like this not be shown on screen.
- Nudge Nudge
Candid Photography, better known as "Nudge Nudge", is a sketch from the third Monty Python's Flying Circus episode, "How to Recognise Different Types of Trees From Quite a Long Way Away" featuring Eric Idle and Terry Jones as two strangers who meet in a pub...
: The above animation ends and leads into a bar, where a man (Idle) asks another man (Jones) about his wife, with a relentless stream of sexual innuendos. It turns out that he simply wants to know, "What's itSexual intercourse, also known as copulation or coitus, commonly refers to the act in which the male reproductive organ enters the female reproductive tract. The two entities may be of opposite sexes or not, or they may be hermaphroditic, as is the case with snails...
like?"
- Self Defence Against Fresh Fruit: A teacher (Cleese) educates his students (Graham Chapman
Graham Arthur Chapman was a British comedian, actor, writer, physician and one of the six members of the Monty Python comedy troupe. He was also the lead actor in their two narrative films, playing King Arthur in Monty Python and the Holy Grail and Brian in Monty Python's Life of Brian...
, Terry Jones, Michael Palin, and Eric Idle) how to defend themselves from anyone armed with fresh fruit.
- Hell's Grannies: An uptight colonel (Chapman) warns the film not to get silly again after the above sketch. He then tells the director to cut to a new scene, which is discovered to be about antisocial old ladies. Other gangs referenced are the Baby Snatchers (men dressed as babies snatching people off the street at random) and vicious "Keep Left" signs, at which point the colonel stops the sketch.
- Military March: A military squad does an extremely effeminate chant, which the colonel again finds silly ("and a bit suspect, I think"), and replaces with a cartoon.
- Animation-Rampage of the Cancerous Black Spot: The animation depicts a prince getting a spot on his face, foolishly ignoring it and dying of cancer
Cancer is a class of diseases in which a group of cells display uncontrolled growth , invasion , and sometimes metastasis...
. The spot then goes out to seek its fortune and gets married to another spot.
- Expedition to Mt. Kilimanjaro
Kilimanjaro Expedition is a sketch from the episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus "The Ant, an Introduction", also appearing in the Monty Python film And Now For Something Completely Different...
: Arthur Wilson (Idle) goes to Sir George Head (Cleese) to join an expedition to Mt. Kilimanjaro, but the interview rapidly descends into chaos due to Head's unusual case of double vision and another member of the expedition trashing the office. (The scene ends when Head is startled to see the next scene coming, as it presumably looks to him like a young woman with four breasts.)
- Girls in Bikinis: Sexy women are seen posing in bikinis to the sound of lecherous male slavering, which ends abruptly when the camera pans to John Cleese
John Marwood Cleese is an Academy Award-nominated English actor, comedian, writer, and film producer who is known for being a member of the group of comedians responsible for the sketch show Monty Python's Flying Circus and the four Monty Python films: And Now for Something Completely Different,...
reclining on a desk in a pink bikini and bow tie saying the phrase, "And now for something completely different."
- Would You Like To Come To My Place?: A man (Palin) uses a false excuse to get a police inspector (Cleese) to come back to his place.
- The Flasher: A man (Jones) in a grubby raincoat appears to be flashing his naked body to women on the streets. It turns out, when he does the same to the camera, that he is simply wearing a sign that says "Boo!"
- Animation-American Defense: American Defense, Crelm Toothpaste and Shrill Petrol are advertised.
- Animation-Conrad Poohs and His Dancing Teeth: The 20th Century Frog and MGM-spoofing logos introduce Conrad Poohs (an animated photograph of Terry Gilliam)and his Dancing Teeth, set to the music of Josef Wagner
Josef Wagner may refer to:* Josef Wagner , Austrian composer* Josef Wagner , Nazi official in the Third Reich* Josef Wagner , Swiss bicyclist* Josef Wagner , Czech painter and graphic artist...
's Under the Double Eagle.
- Musical Mice: Arthur Ewing (Jones) has "musical" mice, reputedly trained to squeak at specific pitches. He says they will play Three White Mice, but he simply starts hitting them with mallets and providing the tune himself. His audience is enraged by this and chase him out of the studio.
- Sir Edward Ross: The audience chases Ewing through a TV studio, interrupting a scene where an interviewer (Cleese) calls Sir Edward Ross (Chapman) by a number of inappropriate names, such as "Eddie Baby ", "pussycat", etc.
- Seduced Milkmen
Seduced Milkmen is a sketch written and performed by Monty Python, portraying female sexuality as a trap. The sketch is wordless and just fifteen seconds long but was received well....
: A milkman (Palin) gets seduced at the door of a house by a lovely woman (Cleveland) but then gets locked in her closet with other milkmen, "some of whom are very old."
- The Funniest Joke in the World
"The Funniest Joke in the World" is the title most frequently used for written references to a Monty Python's Flying Circus comedy sketch, which is also known by two other phrases that appear within it, "Joke Warfare" and "Killer Joke", the latter being the most commonly used spoken title used to...
: Ernest Scribbler (Palin), who is shown having just written the joke in the previous sketch and then discarding it, has a sudden inspiration and writes a lethal joke. It is snapped up by the army who send a despatch riderA despatch rider is a military messenger, mounted on horse or motorcycle.Despatch riders were used by armed forces to deliver urgent orders and messages between headquarters and military units...
to collect it and translate it into German. It then goes on to become a deadly weapon in the Second World War. An animated man (based on a portrait of Henry VII of EnglandHenry VII was the King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizing the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death on 21 April 1509, as the first monarch of the Tudor dynasty.Henry was successful in restoring the power and stability of the English monarchy after the political upheavals of the Wars...
) attempts to apologize for the poor taste of this sketch, but is distracted by a woman's flashing her breasts to him.
- Animation-The Old Woman Who Cannot Catch a Bus: As the animated man from the previous sketch chases after the naked woman, an old woman tries to catch a bus, but it drives past. A second bus comes along, but it too drives past. A third bus is flipped over when the woman trips it with her foot
- Animation-The Killer Cars: Cars attempt to stem overpopulation by eating people. Eventually, a giant mutant cat is brought in to scare the cars off. This plan works perfectly, until the cat starts eating buildings. It turns out that the sketch is a story being narrated by an old man.
- Animation-Dancing Venus: The mutant cat from the previous animation falls into a sausage grinder. The resulting "product" leads into the hair of Botticelli's Venus, who stands on her shell...until an arm comes out of the water and twists her nipple like a radio knob. Upbeat music plays, and Venus dances wildly until her exertions cause the shell to tip over, leading to...
- Dead Parrot
The Dead Parrot sketch, alternatively and originally known as the Pet Shop sketch or Parrot Sketch, is a popular sketch from Monty Python's Flying Circus, and one of the most famous in the history of British television comedy...
: Perhaps Monty Python's most famous sketch, Mr. Praline (Cleese) attempts to get a refund for his deceased parrot, but the shopkeeper (Palin) refuses to acknowledge the parrot's passing on.
- The Lumberjack Song
The Lumberjack Song is one of the best-known and most popular sketches by the Monty Python comedy troupe. The song was written by Terry Jones, Michael Palin, and Fred Tomlinson....
: The shop owner sings about his dreams of being a lumberjack. He also sings about his dreams of being female, however, disturbing his best girl (Connie BoothConstance "Connie" Booth is an American writer and actress, known for appearances on British television and particularly for her portrayal of Polly Sherman in the popular 1970's television show Fawlty Towers, which she co-wrote with her then husband John Cleese-Biography:Booth's father was a Wall...
) and the background singers (Canadian Mounties, causing them to leave and throw fruit at him.)
- The Restaurant Sketch
The Dirty Fork, also known simply as Restaurant Sketch, is a Monty Python sketch that appeared in episode 3 of the television series Monty Python's Flying Circus, and later in the film, And Now For Something Completely Different...
: The employees of a restaurant (Jones, Palin, Idle, and Cleese) react with ever-increasing melodrama to a dirty fork given to a dining couple (Cleveland and Chapman), resulting in their horrible deaths. A punchline is then shown, in which Chapman turns to the camera and says "Good thing I didn't tell them about the dirty knife!"
- Animation-Musical Interlude: A picture of Rodin's The Kiss
The Kiss is an 1889 marble sculpture by the French sculptor Auguste Rodin. Like many of Rodin's best-known individual sculptures, including The Thinker, the embracing couple depicted in the sculpture appeared originally as part of a group of reliefs decorating Rodin's monumental bronze portal The...
appears, with the addition of several small holes along the woman's leg. The woman straightens her leg out, and the man plays her like a wind instrument
- Animation-How To Build Certain Interesting Things: Garbage is dropped on a stage and banged repeatedly with a hammer. It takes on the shape of a wheeled arm holding a gun, which rolls into the next scene.
- Bank Robber: A bank robber (Cleese) mistakes a lingerie shop for a bank, and attempts to rob it. After the shop owner (Idle) stymies his hopes of robbery, the robber is somewhat put out by his error, and makes do with a pair of panties.
- People Falling Out of High Buildings: A worker (Idle) sees people going past the window downwards, but his co-worker (Cleese) is uninterested, until they realize that there is a board meeting occurring up stairs and make a little wager that Parkinson will be next. A man played by Chapman then writes a letter of complaint, but just as he writes "I have worked in tall buildings all my life, and have never once--", he is somehow propelled out of a tall building.
- Animation-The Bug: A bug with human
Humans are bipedal primates belonging to the species Homo sapiens in Hominidae, the great ape family. They are the only surviving member of the genus Homo. Humans have a highly developed brain, capable of abstract reasoning, language, introspection, and problem solving...
like features goes to sleep and wakes up as a (effeminate male) butterfly.
- Animation-The Three People: Three people walk in snow singing the title of the next skit, in choral harmony.
- Vocational Guidance Counsellor
Vocational Guidance Counsellor is a Monty Python sketch that first aired on December 21, 1969.The sketch has been credited with creating the popular stereotype of accountants being boring. Four decades on, the Financial Times reported that it still haunts the profession.Mr. Anchovy goes to the...
: Herbert Anchovy (Palin) no longer wants to be a chartered accountant, and harbours dreams of being a lion tamer. The counsellor (Cleese) suggests that Anchovy should instead work his way up to lion taming, via banking, an idea which Herbert initially rejects, until he is informed that the animal he thinks is a lion is in fact an anteaterAnteaters are the four mammal species of the suborder Vermilingua commonly known for eating ants and termites. Together with the sloths, they compose the order Pilosa...
, and that mere stock footage of a lion scares the life out of him. He then desperately cries out that he just wants to see his name in lights, a wish granted by a magic fairy (played by Idle with a moustache).
- Blackmail!: Herbert is initially mystified by his sudden role of hosting the TV show "Blackmail!", but gets into the idea very quickly, and does his new, somewhat questionable duty with enthusiasm and panache.
- The Battle of Pearl Harbor: The silly-hating colonel appears again, and introduces a group of women (the Pythons in drag) re-enacting the attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Japanese navy against the United States' naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of Sunday, December 7, 1941 , later resulting in the United...
(or rather, beating each other with their handbags in mud). They are led by Rita Fairbanks (Idle).
- Romantic Interlude: A man (Jones) and girlfriend (Cleveland) begin making love, and several suggestive images are shown (an industrial chimney collapsing in reverse, a torpedo being fired, etc.), but the images are in fact only films being played by the man. The woman asks whether he's actually going to do something or just show films all night, and the man replies with "Just one more, dear"
- Upper Class Twit of the Year
The Upper Class Twit of the Year is a classic comedy sketch that was seen on the TV show Monty Python's Flying Circus, and also in a modified format as the finale of the movie And Now For Something Completely Different...
: Five mentally addled members of the landed gentry go through a challenging obstacle course, with such events as walking along a straight line, jumping over a wall made of two rows of matchboxes and shooting themselves in the head (one twit is so inept that, in an attempt to back up a car, he somehow manages to run himself over)
- Animation-End Titles: The end credits, rendered in Terry Gilliam's typically absurd style.
British audiences
The film did not offer anything extra for British fans, except the opportunity to see the sketches in colour at a time when many viewers still had black and white sets, and indeed many were disappointed that the film seemed to belie its title. Despite this, the film proved sufficiently popular to make a profit on domestic box office takings alone.
American audiences
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 August 22, 1972, the film had little success at the
box officeA box office is a place where tickets are sold to the public for admission to a venue. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through an unblocked hole through a wall, or at a wicket...
and did not do well until a late
1974 re-releaseThe year 1974 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*February 7 - Blazing Saddles is released in USA*May 1 - George Lucas creates the first draft of what would eventually become Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope....
, which was around the time
PBSThe Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television service with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. However, its operations are largely funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting...
started showing the original television episodes. It currently has a
89% rating on Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films. The name derives from the historical cliché of throwing tomatoes and other produce at stage performers if a performance was particularly bad.- History :...
.
DVD releases
The film originally was on DVD in Region 1 from
Sony Pictures Home EntertainmentSony Pictures Home Entertainment is the home video distribution arm of Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation. It was established in 1978 as Columbia Pictures Home Entertainment....
; however, in 2005, it has been repacked in a new collector's pack called
And Now For Something Completely Hilarious! which also features the films
Monty Python and the Holy GrailMonty Python and the Holy Grail is a 1975 comedy film written and performed by the comedy group Monty Python , and directed by Gilliam and Jones...
and
The Adventures of Baron MunchausenThe Adventures of Baron Munchausen is a 1988 film directed by Terry Gilliam, starring John Neville, Sarah Polley, Eric Idle, Jonathan Pryce, Oliver Reed, Uma Thurman, and Robin Williams.-Plot:...
.
External links