And Now for Something Completely Different

(Ian MacNaughton, UK 1971, 88 min., 35mm)

Monty Python at 50. Halfway through the run of their sketch comedy show Monty Python’s Flying Circus on British television, the Pythons took some of the best skits from the first two seasons and put them on the big screen, introducing American audiences to their manic sensibility. The fast-moving film includes some 44 sketches, including “The World’s Deadliest Joke,” “The Lumberjack Song,” “Nudge, Nudge, Wink, Wink,” “Hell’s Grannies,” “Upperclass Twit of the Year,” and “The Dead Parrot,” which made them legends. While not successful in breaking the Pythons into America, the film retains a cult following to this day.