April 12, 1975: Monty Python and the Holy Grail premieres. It is the 1st original feature film made by the Monty Python comedy troupe. They had previously released, in movie theaters, And Now for Something Completely Different, a collection of sketches from their TV show, Monty Python's Flying Circus.
Directing credits are shared by Python members Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones. All 6 members are credited as writers: Gilliam, Jones, Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Michael Palin and Eric Idle.
Palin said, "It was by no means unanimous that we should do a film after the television series. John, to his credit, was doing Fawlty Towers. Eric was doing Rutland Weekend Television. But the two Terrys wanted to direct a film, and I loved cinema as well, so that was the only way forward, not to make it three Python shows tacked one after the other, but to make it a full cinematic experience. No other television series had, as far as I know, leapt into cinema, but we thought we'd have a go."
He appears to have been right: This was before Star Trek: The Motion Picture, and the film-fed growth of that franchise: Usually, it was the other way around, with a film being a success, and then a TV show would be based on it. In the last 10 years, in America, this had included Peyton Place, Gidget and M*A*S*H.
"We had to do something that used all six of us," said Palin, "and, of course, the Round Table was the perfect template for that, because we could each play one of the knights. And also because the Holy Grail legend was something that everyone had heard of, but nobody really knew anything about it. You could create any sort of story based around the search for a Grail."
Each member played multiple roles. Chapman didn't direct, but he did play God. Or, at least, the voice of God. He also played the lead role, King Arthur. Cleese played Sir Lancelot the Brave, and a French castle guard who taunts Arthur and his men. And he plays the Black Knight, whom Arthur slowly defeats, but keeps on fighting Arthur anyway: "'Tis but a scratch!" "'Tis but a flesh wound," and so on, until, with no arms and no legs, he still talks trash, and Arthur, having previously saluted the man's bravery, says, "What are you going to do, bleed on me?"
Gilliam played Patsy, Arthur's servant, who follows him around, clapping coconuts together, to simulate the sound of horse's hooves, as was done in pre-television radio programs. You see, there was a small budget, and they couldn't afford horses, so every knight had a squire who walked behind him and carried coconuts, and the knights merely pretended to ride horses.
Idle played "Sir Robin the-not-quite-so-brave-as-Sir Lancelot," and Lancelot's squire Concorde. He also played the man who drove a cart full of corpses, shouting, "Bring out your dead!" Jones played Sir Bedevere the Wise, whose appellation is ironic, since he seems more a conspiracy theorist. He builds not a Trojan Horse, as in ancient Greece, but a Trojan Rabbit.
And Palin narrates the film, and also plays Sir Galahad the Pure, who ultimately finds the Holy Grail, since he's the only one pure enough. He also plays the leader of the Knights Who Say Ni. According to Arthur, "Those who hear them seldom live to tell the tale!" Apparently, their speaking the word "Ni" causes great pain. But Arthur inadvertently discovers that the Knights Who Say Ni can't handle the word "It," and he and Bedevere pass through the forest that the Knights Who Say Ni were blocking.
There is also a Three-Headed Giant, played by Jones, Chapman and Palin.
Monty Python and the Holy Grail is regarded as one of the funniest films of all time, regardless of country or genre. It lead to two additional Python films: Monty Python's Life of Brian in 1979, and Monty Python's The Meaning of Life in 1983.
I swear, I am not making this up. I had never seen the film until 1992. I was playing in a softball game with members of my church's youth group, and, an inning after getting a hit, I injured my knee. It didn't seem bad enough to go to the hospital, but, in hindsight, I probably should have. After the game, there was a party at a group member's house. He was a Python fanatic, and showed the film. And every time a Knight said, "Ni!" I felt it in my knee. (I should have had surgery on it, but didn't, and have regretted it ever since.)
So I wasn't in the mood for it, and was already not a Python fan, and so, I didn't "get it." About 20 years later, I was in a British-themed restaurant (now defunct) in Brooklyn, and they showed it. Maybe it was the atmosphere, but I liked it a lot better.
In 2005, Idle reworked the film into a Broadway musical titled Spamalot, using songs from the group's entire repertoire. Tim Curry played King Arthur, Sara Ramirez the Lady of the Lake, Hank Azaria Sir Lancelot, and David Hyde Pierce Sir Robin. It won the Tony Award for Best Musical.
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April 12, 1975 was a Saturday. These Major League Baseball games were played:
* The New York Yankees lost to the Detroit Tigers, 7-2 at Shea Stadium, where the Yankees were playing during the renovation of the original Yankee Stadium. Vern Ruhle outpitches Pat Dobson. Lou Piniella got 2 hits, but the rest of the Yankees combined only got 4. Bill Freehan and Nate Colbert hit home runs for the Tigers.
* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 7-5 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. Bob Gibson and former Cardinal Steve Carlton started, but neither was the pitcher of record: Mike Garman was the winning pitcher, Gene Garber the losing pitcher. Ted Simmons singled Ted Sizemore home with the winning run in the top of the 9th inning. Mike Schmidt went 2-for-4.
* The Boston Red Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles. 3-2 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Carl Yastrzemski went 2-for-5. Brooks Robinson went 1-for-6.
* The Chicago Cubs beat the Montreal Expos, 6-3 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.
* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Cleveland Indians, 6-5 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Robin Yount hit a home run. Hank Aaron went 1-for-3 with a walk. Indians player-manager Frank Robinson did not put himself in the game.
* The Kansas City Royals beat the Minnesota Twins, 2-1 at Royals Stadium (now Kauffman Stadium) in Kansas City. Hal McRae singled Freddie Patek home with the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning. George Brett went 0-for-4. Rod Carew did not play. Nor did Harmon Killebrew, the longtime Twins star playing his last season, with the Royals.
* The Oakland Athletics beat the Texas Rangers, 5-4 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. The Rangers cored 3 runs in the bottom of the 9th, but it wasn't enough. Reggie Jackson went 1-for-4. Billy Williams and Sal Band hit home runs for the A's.
* The Houston Astros beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 7-5 at the Astrodome in Houston.
* The San Diego Padres beat the Cincinnati Reds, 3-2 at San Diego Stadium (later Jack Murphy Stadium and Qualcomm Stadium). Pete Rose went 3-for-4 with a walk and an RBI. Johnny Bench and Dave Winfield each went 0-for-3 with a walk, but had an RBI on a sacrifice fly. Willie McCovey, then with the Padres, went 2-for-4.
* The California Angels beat the Chicago White Sox, 4-3 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). Leroy Stanton hit a home run in the bottom of the 10th inning.
* The Atlanta Braves beat the San Francisco Giants, 7-4 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.
* And, as it was the day after the Pittsburgh Pirates' home opener, in which they beat the New York Mets, 4-3, those 2 teams had the day off.
Football was out of season. There were 2 games in the NBA Playoffs. The New York Knicks lost to the Houston Rockets, 118-86 at the Hofheinz Pavilion (now the Fertitta Center) in Houston. And the Seattle Supersonics beat the Detroit Pistons, 100-93 at the Seattle Center Coliseum.
There were 2 games in the American Basketball Association Playoffs. The Denver Nuggets beat their then-rivals, the Utah Stars, 130-119 at the Denver Auditorium Arena. And the San Antonio Spurs beat the Indiana Pacers, 110-109 at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis.
The Stanley Cup Playoffs were between rounds. There were 3 games in the World Hockey Association Playoffs:
* The Houston Aeros beat the Cleveland Crusdaers, 5-3 at the Sam Houston Coliseum in Houston.
* The Quebec Nordiques beat the Phoenix Roadrunners, 3-0 at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix.
* And the San Diego Mariners beat the Toronto Toros, 7-6 at the San Diego Sports Arena (now the Pechanga Arena).
And in English soccer, Yorkshire team Leeds United defeated Arsenal, the team I would one day follow, 2-1 at the Arsenal Stadium, a.k.a. Highbury, in North London.
