Photo: The Eclectic Dad
If you’re into British comedy, you’re going to love this.
Troupe member Michael Palin has given multiple boxes from his private archive to the British Library in London, which contain a handful of cut and never-before-seen scenes from the slapstick comedy film Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
The scripts include an alternate ending to the film as well as two scenes written by Palin and Terry Jones in 1973, with one featuring a “Pink Knight” and another set in a “Wild West bookshop.”
The alternate ending to the film is a battle fought between the knights of Camelot, the French, and the Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog, and was most likely scrapped because it cost too much to produce.
Another script introduces a character called the Pink Knight, a guard who refuses to let King Arthur cross a bridge until he gets a kiss. Palin noted that this character might not have been written today, since in 1973, there was a lot more awkwardness associated with homosexuality. Below is an excerpt from the script:
P.K: Oh just a little one. I won’t touch you with my hands
ARTHUR (TRYING TO GET BY): no no I’m afraid not
P.K: Come on, it won’t lead to anything, I promise.
ARTHUR: No I don’t want to
P.K: I won’t get involved or anything. Just a bit of fun
ARTHUR: No
P.K: Oh go on. No-one’ll know. We don’t have to go all the way
ARTHUR: Get away
P.K (TRYING TO MAUL HIM): Come on
ARTHUR: Stand back!
In an interview with the Times, Palin added that “The Holy Grail took shape gradually and at the beginning it had far more ideas in it than ended up on screen because you had to have a narrative. In the end the story of the knights was strong enough.”
Selected scripts from Palin’s private archive will be available to view at the British Library starting August 7.
