Gorge of Eternal Peril

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The Gorge of Eternal Peril was featured in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, past which King Arthur and his knights would supposedly reach the Holy Grail.

To cross the bridge, one had to answer an old man (The Bridgekeeper, also the old man from Scene 24; played by Terry Gilliam) three questions. He usually asked the person's name, their quest, and either a ludicrously simple question, such as the person's favorite colour, or a ludicrously hard question, such as the capital of Assyria or the running gag about the "airspeed velocity" of an unladen swallow. If any of the questions are answered incorrectly, they would be cast into the gorge.

In fact, when the old man asks King Arthur about the airspeed velocity to weight ration of an unladen swallow, Arthur asks for clarification: “What do you mean? An African or European swallow?” When the old man replies “Huh? I— I don't know that!”, he himself is cast into the gorge, allowing Arthur to cross.

[edit] Trivia

In the published version of the Grail script, Arthur and Bedevere's scene at the Gorge is followed by a similar encounter on a seashore. Another old man, this one with a boat, says that the knights must answer 28 questions before being allowed to cross the sea. They throw him in the water and take the boat.

When any knight that got the last question wrong was catapulted into the gorge, the effect was incredibly simple to film. The actor simply had to kneel down in front of the camera, say his line and then suddenly jump upwards. The scene then cuts away to a doll of the actor flying upwards and then a slow motion view of it toppling into the gorge. This resulted in the cut together scene looking surprisingly like the actor was actually catapulted upwards (Despite the obviousness that the doll was not the real actor when cut away).

Graham Chapman was physically incapable of doing much of this scene, due largely to his drinking.

This was the first scene shot for the film.

It is also interesting to note that Sir Galahad, who is cast into the gorge, asked earlier in the film for "just a little bit of peril."

[edit] Influence

This scene was parodied in the computer games Fallout 2. and Quest for Glory I: So You Want To Be A Hero.

[edit] External links

• Transcription of the Bridge of Death scene, including portions deleted from the film
• PDF form with Gorge theme
• Scientific attempt at answering the sparrow question