In the gap between seasons 1 and 2 of Monty Python’s Flying Circus (1969-1974), the Python team was approached by Victor Lownes, head of Playboy’s UK operation, to put together a compilation film to act as a sort of calling card for America, where he planned to break the team in the student market. The resulting film, And Now For Something Completely Different, is a frustrating (and ill-named) compilation of some of the team’s “greatest hits” to date. Frustrating because, while it was undeniably great to be reacquainted with some of the funniest sketches ever written for British TV, it was somewhat disappointing that we were given so little new material. All of the sketches were re-shot and, in some cases extended, but there was nothing here that Python fans hadn’t seen already.
The choice of material is admittedly very good, taking in most of the acknowledged classics from the first two seasons (though there’s no Ministry of Silly Walks and Lownes insisted that Michael Palin’s monumentally appalling Ken Shabby be removed), including the World’s Deadliest Joke, the Upper Class Twit of the Year Show, the singing lumberjacks and the inevitable Dead Parrot. But what’s lacking is any overall sense of cohesion or purpose. The sketches are simply laid out end to end and what proved inspired, hilarious and highly influential in a 30 minute format comes dangerously close to outstaying its welcome over 90 minutes. The team later proved that they could sustain their unique brand of humour over a longer period (Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975), Monty Python’s Life of Brian (1979)) but fell flat when they tried to repeat the sketch format in the disappointing Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life (1983).
Where And Now For Something Completely Different scores is in the way each member of the team gets to shine just a little more brightly than they did on television. On the big screen (and bear in mind that in 1971 British televisions weren’t as sophisticated as they are today), the subtleties and nuances of each performance come to the fore. John Cleese in particular benefits from this, as does Terry Gilliam, whose animations always looked more impressive on a big screen.
Back in 1971, the film didn’t exactly do what it was intended to do – in Britain, it was a hit and acted as a pre-video chance for fans to catch up on some of the best of Python so far and it probably didn’t hurt the viewing figures for subsequent seasons either. But in the States, it was a only a qualified success. It failed to click with mainstream audiences, though it did generate a small but loyal cult following that was vocal enough to help pave the way for the Python’s conquest of America. In these days of video and DVD, it appears entirely superfluous as most of these sketches are readily available in one format or another in their earlier, arguably better, TV incarnations.
If you’ve never seen Python before, or if haven’t experienced the surreal madness of the team for some while, And Now For Something Completely Different is as good a place as any to start. Otherwise, it’s really one for Python completists only.
The EOFFTV Review 