[Inspector Abberline]

And Now for Something Completely Different (1971)

Made as a sort of calling card to break into the American market before the television show was picked up by PBS,it is basically a pick and mix of sketches taken from mainly the first two series of the Python's television show.Not necessarily the best it has to be said but probably some of the more visually pleasing gags and on the whole it made a good preview of what the television show had in store for those who had not seen it at the time.In fact I remember seeing this film and The Holy Grail long before I had seen the television show, the sketches are faithfully reproduced for the film albeit on a more slightly bigger budget although it still regains its televisual feel. Starting with the How Not to Be Seen sketch,a great parody of the Government information film, of course there are a few of the early classic sketches in there including Nudge Nudge and Self Defence Against Fresh Fruit and the very funny Hell's Grannies.Interestingly the Terry Gilliam animation The Cancerous Black Spot,is slightly different on the television version in that they over dub the word cancer with gangrene,probably the most ridiculous piece of censorship ever. Of course it includes one of there most famous sketches ever The Dead Parrot,and although I suspect even the most hardened Python fan is probably sick of this joke by now it still funny seeing Cleese and Palin doing the routine,with impeccable timing.This is then followed by another most famous iconic sketch The Lumberjack Song,this is then followed by my favourite part The Dirty Fork where Graham Chapman complains that he has a dirty fork to a waiter while in a restaurant,only for the response of the staff over this unbelievable mistake to get even more melodramatic as the news of this oversight reaches all the employees,and Chapman is surrounded by the dead and dieing he turns to the camera and says "Lucky that I didn't tell them about the dirty knife!",very silly. What also nice is seeing the lovely Carol Cleveland who appears a few times and most especially in Marriage Guidance Counsellor sketch,not just a beautiful lady but also very funny as well.And now is not essential Python,but its certainly important in that step the Pythons made from television to cinema,and while its only a small piece of how good the tv show was,its still a good way to spend 90 mins.