Python Wars

[daf]

What about that business with Cleese and Polly in the nude with him hiding her in a bass case? Saw it years ago

Just looked it up - sounds just the ticket - Nice one!

Romance with a Double Bass is a 1974 British short comedy film directed by Robert Young and starring John Cleese and Connie Booth. It was adapted by Young, Cleese and Booth from a screenplay by Bill Owen based on the short story of the same name by Anton Chekhov.

Bill Owen? Compo from off of the "Last of the Summer Wines"? THAT Bill Owen?

Smychkov, a bassist, shows up too early for the ball of a beautiful princess, and decides to spend his extra time skinny dipping in the nearby lake. The princess, meanwhile, has gone fishing at the lake, and later decides to go skinny dipping as well. However, things change when a thief absconds with both Smychkov's and the Princess's clothes, and while the Princess is wandering around stark naked, she meets Smychkov. After their initially embarrassing encounter, he tries to help her return to the castle by hiding her in his bass case.

41 minutes long :

The movie was shown in theatres in 1975 along with The Eiger Sanction by Clint Eastwood.

[dissolute ocelot]

Bill Owen? Compo from off of the "Last of the Summer Wines"? THAT Bill Owen?

A late piece of writing from Bill Owen who seems to have written a few things in the 40s and 50s, notably co-writing and starring in a 1955 Associated-Rediffusion Christmas musical/dance spectacular called Rum Punch, where he appeared alongside John Blythe, Clive Dunn, Cherry Lind, the Visionettes, the Visionaires, and Steve Race and his Orchestra. (The Visionettes were the A-R "house dance crew".) Almost certainly lost.

[Ignatius_S]

Just looked it up - sounds just the ticket - Nice one!

Bill Owen? Compo from off of the "Last of the Summer Wines"? THAT Bill Owen?

41 minutes long :

Owen had a long and very varied career. Amongst his credits is starting in the second UK production of The Threepenny Opera and was lauded for his portrayal of Mack The Knife.

Owen with Tony Russell wrote The Matchgirls, a musical about the 1888 strike (which IIRC was the first time that female in the UK went on strike). Owen wrote the book and lyrics; Russell, the music. The original recording is available and rather good.

Owen in the 1960s also worked as a songwriter for the likes of Englebert Humperdinck. Amongst the songs he did is the English version of Marianne, which was recorded by Cliff Richard.

When there was a stage play based on Last of the Summer Wine, Jonathan Linsley (who played Crusher in it and subsequently, the television series) says that Owen and Peter Sallis re-wrote much of the play and gave it a clear structure and make more of a farce.

[Ignatius_S]

Thanks to this thread, I've finally been prodded to get stuck in to the latest (mostly complete) 'At Last The 1948 Show' DVD set, with the intention of then watching the (partially complete) 'Do Not Adjust your TV' DVD set, then the (utterly incomplete) 'Complete and Utter History of Britain' blu ray set, then on to the Pythons blu rays which I've previously watched on the old 'brown' DVD set about 10 years ago.

Then on to my own fantasy post-split series 5, 6 and 7 - by rotating episodes of (my home-made bootleg DVDs of) Rutland Weekend TV, Ripping Yarns and Fawlty Towers (non-bootleg) DVDs - which worked quite well last time, if I squinted a bit!

(Am I missing anyting else they did on TV - I'm limiting it to the 70s for the purposes of this mental experiment.)

Yup - especially, if you're including writing rather than acting, such as the Doctor series.

In the series of Six Dates with Barker, the psychiatrist episode (essentially a two-handed with Ronnie Barker and Michael Bates) was written by Cleese and is excellent. It's also quite easy thinking about Cleese acting in it. Another episode The Odd Job of interest in a Python way as Chapman would co-write (with Bernard McKenna, who wrote this episode) and star in the film version several years later and it's interesting comparing the two. Bernard McKenna would also co-wrote Yellowbeard, was one of the writers on the Doctors series and acted Life of Brian - so there's very much a Python (particularly Chapman) connection.

Cleese was a regular on Sez Les and worked very well with Dawson, who he had very fond memories of.

Although it's 1981, as you're bending your rules with Romance with a Double Bass, I would also thrown in a short film, The Box. Jones and Palin made this with Mickey Dolenz - the three wrote it, Dolenz directed it and the other two performed in it. It's available on YouTube.

[Ignatius_S]

A late piece of writing from Bill Owen who seems to have written a few things in the 40s and 50s, notably co-writing and starring in a 1955 Associated-Rediffusion Christmas musical/dance spectacular called Rum Punch, where he appeared alongside John Blythe, Clive Dunn, Cherry Lind, the Visionettes, the Visionaires, and Steve Race and his Orchestra. (The Visionettes were the A-R "house dance crew".) Almost certainly lost.

He wrote far more than that. Owen wrote a good number of revues, plays and pantomimes that were political in nature. Owen spent over a decade at the Unity Theatre in London, where he wrote, produced and directed - the television work you mention is just scratching the surface.

[Brundle-Fly]

(Am I missing anyting else they did on TV - I'm limiting it to the 70s for the purposes of this mental experiment.)

How To Irritate People?

[Thosworth]

Just remembered The Strange Case Of The End Of Civilization As We Know It (1979): Cleese as Holmes( ' grandson), Arthur Lowe as Watson, and Booth as Mrs Hudson.

Think it was for ITV. Had the book of the script back in the day, but don't think I've ever actually seen it. Looks like mixed reviews elsewhere, but I'll give it a go later:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nG4onVzLxE

[daf]

Yup - especially, if you're including writing rather than acting, such as the Doctor series.

Think something like Doctors would be too much of a stretch - eg. I may as well include The Goodies as Timbo was in 1948 - that way madness lies!

In the series of Six Dates with Barker, the psychiatrist episode (essentially a two-handed with Ronnie Barker and Michael Bates) was written by Cleese and is excellent. It's also quite easy thinking about Cleese acting in it. Another episode The Odd Job of interest in a Python way as Chapman would co-write (with Bernard McKenna, who wrote this episode) and star in the film version several years later and it's interesting comparing the two. Bernard McKenna would also co-wrote Yellowbeard, was one of the writers on the Doctors series and acted Life of Brian - so there's very much a Python (particularly Chapman) connection.

Also a bit of a stretch, but as I do have that excellent Hark at Barker/Six Dates set, and with only two episodes to deal with - I'll pencil they (them?) in!

Cleese was a regular on Sez Les and worked very well with Dawson, who he had very fond memories of.

Not close enough (again I could include all of the Goodies as Cleese also pops up there "Kids Show"), but I will look out for that - I like Les, unlike most 70's comedians he seemed rather a sweetheart.

Although it's 1981, as you're bending your rules with Romance with a Double Bass, I would also thrown in a short film, The Box. Jones and Palin made this with Mickey Dolenz - the three wrote it, Dolenz directed it and the other two performed in it. It's available on YouTube.

Now this is absolutely on the money - The date's not too much of a deal-breaker, and it's close enough anyway (in Chart Music parlance it falls into "the Eighventies"). Spot on!

[daf]

How To Irritate People?

Just had a quick look up of this and it sounds perfect - Another winner!

[wrec]

Owen had a long and very varied career.

Mad, was just talking IRL about his appearance in Lindsay Anderson's film of Pinter's In Celebration, alongside Brian Cox, James Bowlam and Alan Bates

[Glebe]

Owen in the 1960s also worked as a songwriter for the likes of Englebert Humperdinck.

Hat fucked!

[superthunderstingcar]

Palin was a lead in the TV movie Three Men in a Boat in 1975, along with Tim Curry and Stephen Moore.

Cleese was in the 1979 Doctor Who story City of Death

Spoiler alert

for one exquisite scene

[close]

and made a sketch with Tom Baker for one of the BBC Christmas Tapes around the same time.

[VisitingFantasist]

Bending the rules further, but there were a couple of Python-related short films made by Guinness that they put a surprising amount of effort into; they're not just acting in them, they have co-writing credits as well.

They're 1973's Is This A Record? about the book of records, with Cleese, Palin, Jones, Connie Booth and Frank Muir https://youtu.be/H5bNcnPqtb4 and the 1974 pub industry training film Henry Cleans Up with Palin and Jones https://youtu.be/jDuLBZRDElg - that's a terrible rip of it, but the BFI compilation DVD Roll Out The Barrel has a decent version for completists. It's funny enough, until Jones starts lecturing on the correct method of cleaning out your Guinness taps.

A recording of the first Secret Policeman's Ball show that Cleese put together was broadcast in the BBC's Omnibus strand in 1976, under the name Pleasure At Her Majesty's. I suppose it's technically a TV movie. https://youtu.be/HM4yLrpVKP8

[famethrowa]

the 1974 pub industry training film Henry Cleans Up with Palin and Jones https://youtu.be/jDuLBZRDElg - that's a terrible rip of it, but the BFI compilation DVD Roll Out The Barrel has a decent version for completists. It's funny enough, until Jones starts lecturing on the correct method of cleaning out your Guinness taps.

Wow Terry Jones is pretty good at doing those pipes! (Gilliam would have liked that.) Funny we didn't see his face while he was doing it

Alternate title: The Completely Made-Up Adventures by Digby Turpin

[daf]

Yes all those sound good! Will definitely track down the Pub DVD!

Is that Frank Muir one on an official release?

[VisitingFantasist]

Is that Frank Muir one on an official release?

I'm not aware of it being on any home media releases, no.

The BFI remastered it, along with a whole bunch of comedy odds'n'sods from their archives, to stream on the free section of BFI Player a few years ago (I'm pretty the YT link I posted is a rip from there) including a Spanish TV news report on the filming of Holy Grail, an anti-drink-drive advert from Morecambe and Wise, and a skipful of old silent shorts. https://player.bfi.org.uk/free/collection/comedy-genius

I don't think they've ever included it in any of their themed compilation sets, which would probably be the only way it would crop up anywhere.

[daf]

I'd love a set sweeping up of all this Python-related detritus - training films, ads and oddities all in one place - call it something like "Mostly Python's Filming Surplus".

[PinkNoise]

I'm not aware of it being on any home media releases, no.

The BFI remastered it, along with a whole bunch of comedy odds'n'sods from their archives, to stream on the free section of BFI Player a few years ago (I'm pretty the YT link I posted is a rip from there) including a Spanish TV news report on the filming of Holy Grail, an anti-drink-drive advert from Morecambe and Wise, and a skipful of old silent shorts. https://player.bfi.org.uk/free/collection/comedy-genius

I don't think they've ever included it in any of their themed compilation sets, which would probably be the only way it would crop up anywhere.

Only a tenuous Python link (Ian Macnaughton directed it) but everyone should watch Le Petomane (1979) on the BFI Player at least once. Leonard Rossiter in the title role, Galton & Simpson wrote the script and "Bullet" Baxter as the Prince Of Wales. And, if my information is correct, "special sound" by Brian Hodgson, formerly with the Radiophonic Workshop. 

[superthunderstingcar]

I'd love a set sweeping up of all this Python-related detritus - training films, ads and oddities all in one place - call it something like "Mostly Python's Filming Surplus".

Underrated post.

[Barry Admin]

I must have played Another Monty Python record a thousand times growing up.

I'm near sure I had their flexi disc, must have picked it up years later somewhere.  I think so anyway...  I have a very vague memory of it, particularly when compared to something like the Oink flexi.  ("Poo poo tinkle tinkle parp parp oink" is still just about living with me.)

[geeef]

The first time I discovered that Bill Owen had anything to do with songwriting was when I read in a book about Freewheelers (Southern television's late '60s - '70s children's adventure series that Tom Owen was in for a while) that he wrote lyrics to go to the theme music, 'Teenage Carnival' by Keith Mansfield. I'm not sure that they were ever recorded, but there was some notion to put out a record, I think, hence him bothering to do such a thing. I'll have to dig the book out and have a sing-along.
Yes, anyway, Python: the Tiny Black Round thing would have been my first experience of them, my older brother got the relevant NME in 1974, when I was 3-ish, and it became a regular on my Fidelity HF45.

[DJ Bob Hoskins]

Wow Terry Jones is pretty good at doing those pipes!

He really did know his beer:

https://londondrinker.camra.org.uk/wordpress/index.php/2020/03/23/tribute-terry-jones/

[Pranet]

I recently downloaded Hastily Cobbled Together For a Fast Buck (a proposed album of odds and sods which they didn't end up releasing).

It was fine.

However at the end is Michael Palin pissing on about Motorhead.

Turns out (this I did not know) he is on a Motorhead album. The story goes that they were recording in a studio he owned and asked him to come down and do a bit.

This is what appears on the Motorhead album:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqWPtftLHxM

But on the version of HCTFAFB I downloaded it has an extended version of him pissing about, trying out things. I quite liked it, hearing how he worked. It is also here:

https://soundcloud.com/studebaker/michael-palin-motorhead-sermon-outtakes

Sorry if this is old news to everyone, but it was new to me.

[Ant Farm Keyboard]

Among the half-forgotten works by Python, Palin and Idle penned the liner notes to the two albums by The Traveling Wilburys. Palin posed as Hugh Hampton, E.F. Norti-Bitz Reader in Applied Jacket, University of Krakatoa (East of Java), and Eric Idle was Professor Tiny Hampton, currently leading the "search for intelligent life amongst rock journalism" at a Californian university

[bgmnts]

Finally reading through Palin's diaries, and it seems Idle has always been skint despite coining it. He makes a note that Eric came to him about doing the fourth series sans John because he's living off nothing.

This is as Python has just started to take off in 1973/4, and he's doing loads of ads for great big wads of cash. Was he Nic Cage spending or did he have lots of greedy hangers on or poor investments or what?

(As an aside, Graham Chapman doesn't come across very well in the diary!)

[Jerzy Bondov]

(As an aside, Graham Chapman doesn't come across very well in the diary!)

This changes as the book goes on and he starts to clean up his act. When I read it recently I was struck by how often Gilliam will phone up Palin after a meeting to bitch about the other Pythons, or because he's feeling hurt by some comment or other.

[bgmnts]

It's less about him being pissed up and aggressive and weird and having an act to clean up (although it's hinted at a lot), it's more about how he seemingly perhaps contributed very little to the overall body of material, making him quite the beneficiary to the Python ethic of sharing all the material in terms of credits.

All whilst he was simultaneously writing for Ronnie Corbett and the like. Bit cheeky.

[Maureen Brontë]

Among the half-forgotten works by Python, Palin and Idle penned the liner notes to the two albums by The Traveling Wilburys. Palin posed as Hugh Hampton, E.F. Norti-Bitz Reader in Applied Jacket, University of Krakatoa (East of Java), and Eric Idle was Professor Tiny Hampton, currently leading the "search for intelligent life amongst rock journalism" at a Californian university

Palin wrote liner notes for Do They Hurt?, a 1979 album by Phil Collins's jazz-fusion band Brand X.

I have been asked by my lawyers to write some warm and spontaneous remarks about Brand X for use on their latest record album "Melanie Sings Songs For First-Time Kitchen Buyers". Well first of all, I don't like the title, and I don't think Melanie will either. Still it's better than "Long Nights and Old Goats" which was to have been the title before the Khashoggi scandal broke. I personally think they'd be better ripping off a title from an old film soundtrack where most of the actors are either dead or too senile to remember anyway. Like Monty Python And The Holy Grail. They could call the album "Go Boil Your Bottom Son Of A Silly Person" or "Tis But A Scratch". Still they'd never think of anything as imaginative as that. Those of you who still buy Brand X records may be interested to know where the name Brand X came from. But I don't think there's quite enough of you to make it worthwhile taking up valuable space on this sleeve note. So to the group. I first got to know them when they were called just before me in a paternity case at the South London Magistrates Court. Not a great name for a group but it _was_ different. Their manager, "Lefty" Shawcross was then one of the most legendary characters in a business renowned for its legendary characters.
"Lefty" had fought in three World Wars, though to his dying day he refused to tell anyone what the third one was. He'd lost both his legs and two of somebody else's as well. As Major "Mad Maurice" Shawcross of the Royal Agents Managers and Roadies Regiment he had been a charismatic leader, fiercely defending those he liked and shooting those he didn't like. But although he could be brutal, unforgiving, cruel, heartless, vindictive and viciously sadistic, he had a soft side. He loved children - because they were so light. He estimated that a fully-laden 5 year old child could carry 4 times as much equipment up a mountain side a strong half-pissed 31 year old, and his Toddlers Expedition up Anapurna in 1946, though a failure at the time, taught scientists a great deal. He had a magnetic effect on women - especially if they were wearing any metal rings or bracelets. He loved being married. Though his first two marriages broke down after only a few months his third, fourth, fifth and sixth marriages lasted, and friends say he was a model husband, never striking his wife except in anger, and continually buying them little gifts - exploding cigars, artificial birdlime and cars with deficient braking systems. But above all he was a natural leader, and those he hadn't killed admired him enormously. After the war he set up the "Lefty" Shawcross Talent Agency and looked around for regiments to manage. His dearest wish was to get the Royal Armoured Corps on the same bill as Rolf Harris, but Rolf was always too busy. In the 1960's "Lefty" saw that the way ahead lay in the pop world. At a club in Oldham he discovered an ordinary Lancashire trainee fishmonger called Neil Diamond, changed his name to Kevin Mackintosh and plunged him into obscurity within six weeks. It was "Lefty" who brought together Hamish Squegg, Norman St. John Oliphant and Diana Parles to form Squegg, Oliphant and Parles - the only firm of estate agents to play at the Marquee. But above all "Lefty" will be remembered for rescuing Brand X from a Glasgow Convent and turning them into one of the most sought after bands in the Metropolitan Police Area.
Will this be enough?
(Yes, more than enough, Mr. Palin. We probably won't use all of it. Well certainly not this bit anyway. Well, not _that_ bit.)
MICHAEL PALIN

P.S. The high pitched squawking sound that listeners with very good equipment pick up on side 2 is on their equipment and _not_ on the record.

Keyboard player Robin Lumley, who was friends with Palin and Terry Jones, asked Palin to write the sleeve notes. Palin said he'd do it for 25p. Charisma Records never paid him and he jokingly threatened to sue.

[daf]

Continuing my At Last the 1948 Show first-watch :

Episode 2 is apparently the one with the most missing - it has about 5 minutes of film footage - which happily includes all of . . .

• 'Four Sydney Lotterbies' sketch - all identical holidaymakers with the same nerd-voice. Not sure if they recycled this one for Python - but could easily work with Idle, Palin (or Jones) instead of Tim and Marty. 7/10
• The Court sketch (known, according to wikipedia as 'Judge Not') worked fine just in audio - particularly as you got about a minute in vision at the start, which helped to establish the "mise en scène"). Definitely the highlight so far - I particularly enjoyed Tim's turn as the unseen usher who wouldn't stop shouting "Calliiiiiing . . ." interrupting Cleese's flow until Tim is suddenly silenced by an offscreen "Bonk". A peach! 10/10

Episode 3 :

• The Bookshop with Feldman as "annoying man" asking for obscure titles and Cleese getting more exasperated was something I could see used in Python with Jones (or Idle) as the customer. The ending was "very silly". 8/10
• The Hospital Sketch, following a brief bit by Cleese at the start, this turned out to be a taste of proto-Goodies - Timbo as a clockwork visitor and a beardless Bill Oddie as the patient. Oddie is credited with additional material - which was probably this one. Didn't work for me. 3/10
• 'Sheepdog Trials' with Tim as an interviewer and Chapman as a rustic shepherd - sounded like it started off as a radio sketch - as all the action was happening 'offscreen'. Best bit was Chapman breaking the fourth wall to explain why that bit was a funny "shepherd's joke". OK. 5/10
• This weeks long end sketch - titled bafflingly 'Mice Laugh Softly, Charlotte' was an absolute hoot, and another that could have been transferred unchanged into a Python episode. Cleese is a Master of disguise Bond-ish villan (although it feels closer to the Bulldog Drummond stories than Bond). Tim the hero. It descends into an early version of "The Goes Wrong Show" with punches not connecting and a gutbusting section where Cleese is unable to extract his gun, so the 'escapers' have to reverse and jog on the spot three or four times. Another appearance by Bill Oddie as Cleese's second banana and non-driving chauffeur. Masterpiece! 10/10
• Peppered throughout was the three 'hostesses'. Having only seen tiny scraps of the show before, I'd got the mistaken idea Aimi MacDonald alone was featured in the between sketch bits, but watching them in order you can see they're adding one per week - last week we had the Joan Bakewell-esque Mary Maude, and this week Christine Rodgers - who nicely undercuts Aimi's 'peppyness' with the occasional withering glance. An essential element to the show. 6/10

[famethrowa]

Episode 3 :

• The Bookshop with Feldman as "annoying man" asking for obscure titles and Cleese getting more exasperated was something I could see used in Python with Jones (or Idle) as the customer. The ending was "very silly". 8/10

Is that the Dickens/Ethel The Aardvark sketch? Python did a cover version in 1980. TJ as the customer?

or maybe it's Palin! Or Chapman? I dunno now