John Cleese: More Than a Python Quiz

Answer: Mr Praline

Mr Praline is the man with the dead parrot in one of the most well-known skits from the Monty Python team. I am not going to try to describe it - if you aren't already laughing at the memory, go watch it. Watch it now. And see Cleese produce some of his best outrage.

'And Now for Something Completely Different' (1971) was the team's first movie, a compilation of skits from their television series. John Cleese has a number of characters, including the nameless narrator who provides a loose connection for the sketches using the film's title, the Hungarian gentleman who has been sold a phrase book that leads him to use sexually suggestive phrases when trying to ask routine questions, and the military trainer who drills the recruits on self-defense against an attack utilising fruit. Many of these skits were considerably shortened from the originally televised ones, but the film fulfilled its purpose of introducing an American audience to the group.

Answer: Black Knight

The second film from the Monty Python team, 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail' (1975) was a humorous take on Arthurian legends. In 2005, Eric Idle produced the stage musical 'Spamalot', based on this film. It includes a number of over-the-top scenes, including the Knights Who Say 'Ni!', the Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog, and the Black Knight guarding a bridge over which King Arthur (played by Graham Chapman) and his attendant Patsy (Terry Gilliam) need to cross in their quest. The Black Knight is adamant, refusing to let them pass even as he is being cut to pieces (literally), declaring the confrontation a draw even as they ride on past his limbless torso.

John Cleese was actually one of two actors playing the Black Knight in this scene. Once he was down to a single leg, the role was taken over by a local one-legged man (because, apparently, Cleese's balance wasn't up to it) while Cleese continued to provide the voice, and returned to the part once there were no limbs left.

Again, the various Pythons all had multiple roles. John Cleese also played Sir Lancelot the Brave, Tim the Enchanter, and the French knight who taunted Arthur and his men from the castle walls near the start of the film.

Answer: Arthur Sherlock Holmes

This 1977 spoof of the Sherlock Holmes canon was a low budget production that may have flown under your radar at the time. The storyline is based on international attempts to foil the proposed world domination announced by a mysterious figure who is the descendant of the original Moriarty. Officials ask Arthur Sherlock Holmes (Sherlock's grandson) to take on the case, assisted by the grandson of the original Watson.

The final confrontation involves a number of fictional detectives, and Moriarty turns out to be Watson's doppelganger - which makes it tricky, since Watson himself cannot work out which of them is real (which you wouldn't have thought was all that tricky). Turns out that the current Mrs Hudson is not the grandchild of the original landlady, but of Moriarty, and is out for revenge.

Answer: Grim Reaper

The title should make it clear that this 1983 film is another compilation, following the team's second film based on a single more or less coherent story, 'The Life of Brian', released in 1979. (I didn't include it, despite being a big fan of the movie, because John Cleese's various roles do not have memorable names, and something had to be left out of a ten-question quiz.) This is the last film that involved the entire team, as Graham Chapman died before they got around to any further collaborations.

The Grim Reaper is featured in one of the last sketches, in which the Reaper tries to convince the members of a dinner party that they are all dead. Cleese's other characters include Fish No 2 (in the opening sequence where the fish in a tank see their friend being eaten, and muse on the meaning of life), Dr Spencer (who is more concerned with impressing hospital administrators with his fancy machines than in assisting the woman giving birth), and the waiter who has to deal with the explosive Mr Creosote (Terry Jones).

Answer: Brian Stimpson

John Cleese won the 1987 Peter Sellers Award for Comedy for his portrayal of the compulsively hyper-organised headmaster of a comprehensive school desperately trying to get to the conference where he is scheduled to deliver a speech. Needless to say, things go very wrong, and Stimson gets increasingly agitated. He does finally manage to get there, minus his carefully prepared speech, and delivers an impromptu speech to an increasingly chaotic crowd.

This film was more popular with British audiences than American ones, and was criticised by some critics as going on for too long, so running out of steam rather than reaching a satisfyingly climactic finish. Nevertheless, it provides a chance to see Cleese doing his stuff as nobody else can.

Answer: Archibald 'Archie' Leech

John Cleese's character is a barrister who gets involved with the members of a gang whose successful jewel theft has been followed by a breakdown of trust. George planned things with his stuttering fish-loving friend Ken, and got Wanda and her 'brother' (actually an insanely jealous boyfriend, but she can exert her seductive charms more readily with this cover) in to help. When George is arrested after having hidden the loot, Wanda attempts to seduce his lawyer, Archie, to find out where the safety deposit box is. Of course, Otto makes sure that doesn't happen, but Archie's wife does not remain in the dark about Archie's intentions.

Where does the fish come in? At one point Otto realises that Ken has been informed about the location of the diamonds, and compels him to reveal the location by eating his pet goldfish one at a time, leaving the favorite (named Wanda) for last. After some more argy-bargy, Archie decides to take the diamonds and head for South America with Wanda. Why he wants to go there with someone who has managed to double cross every single person with whom she has had contact is anyone's guess.

Answer: Halfdan the Black

This 1989 fantasy was written and directed by Terry Jones, who appears as King Arnulf. It is about a young Viking who is trying to bring the age of Ragnarök (the end of the world) to a halt. Halfdan the Black, a local warlord, sets out to prevent this, as he has been told that it would bring his dominance to an end. After much action based loosely on bits of Norse legend, Halfdan is defeated, Ragnarök ends, and Eric lives happily ever after.

This is definitely one of Cleese's lesser films, but I included it because the character name facilitated matching it to the movie.

Answer: Rollo Lee

This 1997 film written by John Cleese features a number of the same actors as 'A Fish Called Wanda', and it has something of the same feel. Rollo Lee (born Leach) is the twin brother of Archie Leach, and the director of a zoo facing closure if they do not increase their revenue. To that end, he proposes to eliminate the cute and cuddly animals in the zoo, and raise the profile of the fierce ones he thinks will attract visitors.

Much slapstick chaos ensues, and eventually Rollo ends up, once again, with the character played by Jamie Lee Curtis.

Answer: Nearly Headless Nick

And now for something distinctly different! Nearly Headless Nick, the Gryffindor House ghost, appeared in both of the first two films in the 'Harry Potter' franchise. Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington KG was sentenced to death by beheading, but a blunt axe left his head slightly attached after his death. Sadly, this means he will be unable to fulfill his heart's desire, to join the Headless Hunt. Like the other House ghosts, he is friendly to the students, and (even more so in the books than the movies) helpful when Harry or one of the others has a problem.

While not included in this quiz, Cleese also played R, the assistant to Q, in the James Bond film 'The World is Not Enough' (1999), making him a part of the two biggest-grossing film franchises to that time.

Answer: Chief Inspector Charles Dreyfus

Despite the number, this 2009 film is the eleventh instalment in the 'Pink Panther' series. Steve Martin plays Inspector Clouseau, the character originally portrayed by Peter Sellers; John Cleese is the Inspector who is constantly maddened by Clouseau's bungling, a part originated by Herbert Lom in the second film, 'A Shot in the Dark'.

The character keeps reappearing, despite having been guilty of numerous crimes, with no apparent repercussions. In this film, Clouseau and Dreyfuss are on the trail of The Tornado, an international gem thief. Needless to say, the famous Pink Panther diamond is on the heist list.