In the early seventies, the folks behind Monty Python's Flying Circus did some odd things for money. They hadn't made all that much off the TV show so they grabbed some offers to do industrial-type films. This one is for Harmony Hairspray, it runs seven minutes and I should warn you that the video image is not the best and that much of it is out of sync. I don't create these clips. I just link to them.
Python authority Kim "Howard" Johnson points out to me in an e-mail that these films represent the directorial debut of Terry Jones. The Python TV shows had been directed by John Howard Davies (the first four) and Ian MacNaughton (the rest) and making commercials gave Python the opportunity to bring the director's job into the group and to give Jones some experience. He and Terry Gilliam would soon go on to direct Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
I think that's everything I know about this film…and yes, I know it's for hairspray. But how often do you get to see Python work from this era that you haven't seen before? Heck, I'll settle for just about anything I don't know by heart.
