You might say that Monty Python found its Holy Grail in British rock bands. Now famous as an iconic comedy troupe, in the early 1970s, Monty Python was a group of young writers and actors with nowhere near the funds required to produce a full-length feature film.
Thank goodness the likes of Led Zeppelin, Jethro Tull, Pink Floyd, and Genesis knew funny when they saw it. Members of those rock bands pitched in thousands of pounds to finance the making of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, the 1975 film that really put Monty Python on the map. "The good news about them was that they didn't want the money back," Python Eric Idle said. "They don't care, and they don't interfere. They don't say, 'Oh no, there should be a scene over here with someone with another head.' They are the best backers."
For their next picture, Monty Python's Life of Brian, former Beatle George Harrison mortgaged his house to help cover the cost. "I mean, imagine what he says to the wife in the morning. 'Hello love, I've just mortgaged the house. I'm going to put it on this film over here,'" Idle recalled.
Something completely different:
- The name Monty Python's Flying Circus has no relevance to anything; it's just a nonsensical name the gang liked for their sketch comedy series.
- Monty Python picked John Philip Sousa's "The Liberty Bell" as its theme song, largely because it was catchy and in the public domain.
- The Dallas public broadcasting station KERA-TV was the first in America to put the Pythons on TV, in September 1974.