Cast

Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones, Michael Palin, Neil Innes, Carol Cleveland

Film description

Taking advantage of the titanic popularity of Monty Python’s Flying Circus, the comedy troupe performed their best sketches live at tours in Great Britain and the United States. This performance, recorded live in September 1980 in Hollywood, drew rock concert-like hordes of fans. As Gilliam recalls, the Pythons, like the Beatles, were driven in limousines with a crowd of bodyguards and performed at a sold out Bowl (capacity 8,000) to an audience lip-syncing the lines of dialogue. The film includes all the greatest hits, from the Ministry of Silly Walks and football games between Nietzsche and Socrates to the Travel Agent, with additional treats like Eric Idle as Mr Smoketoomuch running from John Cleese along auditorium aisles, while drivelling never-ending monologue. Live and uncensored (unlike the TV version), the artists take greater liberties with direct dialogues, which are enhanced by Gilliam’s animations, his appearance as Mao Tse-Tung (among others), all blended into sketches and displayed on a large screen.