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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 4, 1982)
Monty Pythons MICHAEL PALIN TURNS MISSIONARY But only in his new film ... hy Shelley Turner If you already blow telx> Michael I’aliti is, yon can skip this /xirt If yon don't, he's the Mont) Python with tlx knotted hankie on his head, and perhaps more immortally, the pel shop owner who Dies to persuade an exploding John (Jee.se’ that the’ patrol is nett really dead, just pining fen the fjords Although lye would demy it, he is described by others as the eery backbone of the Python team —wry, tersatile, tolerant and horn funny with tlx• sort of rubbery anonymous face tlxit lends itself let infinite roles He Ixis been Pythoninp since the groups incarnation in 1969 (he was 26 then), which means he's written and performed on all the TV series, tlx’ 10 I.Ps and tlx• threw multimil liemdollargrossing feature films (including Monty Python and the Holy Grail and Monty Python's Life of Brian/ With fellow Python Terry lows lx- wrote and apfx'ared in the TV series llxm book Ripping Yarns, and with other fellow PyOxyn Terry Gilliam, tlx■ nifty 1981 mopie Time Bandits. Finally, he decided to take a vacation from collaboration, trim h is why he pets a whole article about himself Ix’re And note for something, completely Pee!in On a typical London summer's day — wind driving a chill rain sideways into parts of the anatomy one rarely contemplates — Michael Palin, wear ing most (hut, alas, not all) of his costume stands in his stocking feet and sneezes The cold he already has is escalating He does not complain. He has a stiff upper lip, thanks to the glue holding on his false moustache, and a heavenly disposition This place is a forlorn but remarkably in tact street of Victorian warehouses running parallel to the Thames just below Tower Bridge. A jetlagged New Yorker is making a teensy weensy promotional film for distri bution to local American TV stations which describes something about Pa lin's first big solo project, a feature set in Edwardian Britain called The Missionary Michael wrote it alone, co-produced and plays the title role. Today’s location is the same used in the film for the pub and brothel se quences. The idea is to have him play two roles — both reporter and performer — interviewing himself Only hitch is that the brand-new looking, custard colored Kickers (his sole footwear da jour ) are not what a man of the cloth sported in 1906; he'll have to busk it with the dark socks and hope no-one notices. This whole episode, which should have taken a couple of hours, max, to shoot, is sprawling tediously and in exorably over the entire, im,scrable, sodden day Knowing 'he draught in the double bind of The Missionary in post production and the next Monty Python film The Meaning of life going full steam ahead, one shud ders for his stamina with every sneeze, but this is show biz Shelter ing in doorways and dank stairwells he gamely manages to field qucs tions in moments snatched between shots The external motivation to write The Missionary came from George Harrison, a charter Pythonophile who sent a congratulatory tele ^ gram after the debut broadcast ft 13 years ago and has re n mained involved ever since lie was the financial _ savior of Life of Hrian and was sin h a ipl^F "• die hall hour TV series dipping [ Yarns he encouraged f Michael to expand some thing in that vein lo feature ■ length He would back it on V faith For his own part, Palin ■ was ready to go boldly where " he hadn't exactly been before I did it for the satisfaction of try ing to prove to myself that I could write more than just a five or (en minute sketch on my own — that i could sustain a story and characters." Before he could sustain them, the first obstacle was to come up with them. The Muse seemed terminally in a meeting. Finally, in spiration came, not out of the blue, but out of a fiendish gale through which he ran the likes running) over Hampstead Heath near his home in North London. I decided that the film should be called The Missionary and should be about a heroic Edwardian idealist whose liberated approach to sexual matters is both his success and downfall I liked the idea of a period movie; this is set in 1906, the heyday of eccentric characters, respected misfits, against whom you can play a sympathetic half comedy In this film I would be happy if in certain areas it just got quieter laughs because people were listening to the story. I'm most concerned with writing something that arises out of charac ter. I'm not a gag writer; I like eccen trics and odd bits of behavior." Our hero, then, is Charles Fortes cue (Palin) who is returning to En gland after 10 years missionary work in Africa to carry his childhood sweetheart Deborah (Phoebe Nicolls, who was Cordelia in tirideshead Re visited). However, since the course of smooth love never did run true, he is waylaid on shipboard by the glamorous, passionate, exotic and filthy rich Lady Ames (Maggie Smith) who shares his interest in fertility symbols. He tries to dismiss her from his mind, but fate intervenes when the sportsmad Bishop of Lon don (Denholm Elliot) obliges him to establish a mission for fallen women Fortescue's fund-raising efforts lead him back to Lady Ames' vast country seat (portrayed eloquently by two of England's most spectacular stately homes) and her vastly crotchety, v.is tly wealthy old husband Lord Ames (Trevor Howard). Out noble Charles becomes just a de facto gigolo in order to support the 28 fallen women with whom he is on intimate terms Complications, including ran dom death (nothing too serious, though), ensue. Palin was extremely gratified with the caliber of players who agreed to appear 'To me it’s important to go for people like that -actors who can do comedy, rather than just come dians In Ripping i'ams and //*■ Mis sionary I'm more the straight, central character around which I can put odder characters Vety often I come out as Ix'ing far more straight than I d like to Sometimes I'd like some - one to write me something really silly, but 1 feel that what I want to put over here is a comedy with an an thcntic, realistic center to it, which is quite a difficult thing I'm arrogant enough to feel there's the right bal ance in the Mhsskmary, and I'm In control Control is what writing It was all about, while still being able to work with a director (Richard Loncraine) and crew, giving them full rein Artistic control is important, but beyond that I'm not interested in being a fuhrer." He is plainly smitten with the sheer beauty of the production I think that we’ve got nearly every scene as richly as posible — superb art direction, cinematography and lighting. Apart from the comedy, it’s the prettiest film. I can’t say which is my favorite bit, but I think undoub tedly Michael Hordern, as the am nesiac butler Slatterthwaite continu ally getting lost in his own corridors is one of the things I'm most happy with as a piece of performing. In fact, the first day on location, he really did get lost. When asked what made him laugh more than anything else in his life, Palin replied, I just can’t remember all those moments when I fell about, but I do recall one particular episode of Hancock's Half Hour (a British Fifties TV series starring Tony Hancock) where I couldn’t stay in my chair. I slid all over the floor; I clutched myself; I howled. I was 13 or 14 It was just a very silly thing, really — about this sort of sad bloke who lived in a little suburb of Lon don and got a bunch of friends to gether to do a remake of Tlx Vikings on the local common, like a home movie. It was daft. Buses would pull up and Vikings would run off to catch the bus to go shopping with people pursuing them It had me rolling around quite vigorously. I don’t usually get off on jokes, as such I need something more than just a man up there saying gags Re ally, it’s situations, incongruous situa lions, like Princess Margaret shooting her breakfast with a harpoon, which she did on the Pythons i think the best humor just comes out of obser vation of the human race We are a truly very silly species the absurd things we get ourselves into. And that doesn't have to In' gleaned from jokelxwiks Read Kafka Is it sometimes agonizing having to lx funny for a living? I find no problem waiting these silly things and standing up in front of cameras I love It It’s harder when you're at home or It s yom evening oil ot you're at a party anil people come up and e\|xvt you to be funny that’s what’s difficult At the end ol the day, I prefer to read serious novels or watch serious plavs ot se rious things on the television People lend to think that all the time you're just laughing and gagging and tailing over " How did his upbringing lieat on his caiver? "M\ lather (an engineer) was tunny In a broad way, my mother wasn’t that humorous, but she was a good Itstenei. which is good if you're making jokes But we didn’t have wacky, raucous meals lull ol people throwing then heads hack lust thinking ahyut the Pultons, we all i ame from a very, very similar home background the tnothei was more dominant and none of the families were specially noted for being humorous or being in the en tertainment world, or being academic in any w'ay They wrere just hard-working people try ing to make do through a difficult pre-to-postwar period with little money, but having to live up to established upper middleclass standards. We were reacting to our parents being stuck in a bit of a rut We used humor to get out of that. We also came at an easier time; >'ou could lx* more flip pant without appearing to Ire just de structiv ■. My father, to give him his due, was happy with whatever I did so long as I wasn't asking him for money. He was quite pleased that 1 was doing a television show of my own within six months of leaving Oxford. I mean, a history degree from Oxford seems wonderful, but in the end, what does it do for you? So I ended up co-hosting a pop music show called Now. That was in 66. At least 1 was self-sufficient. By then David Frost had come along and going into television comedy was quite respectable as an occupa tion for lads leaving university. There'd been The Cambridge Too/ lights (a satirical revue), beyond the Fringe (which launched Peter Cook and Dudley Moore), The Goon Show (with Peter Sellers and Spike Milli gan). Suddenly it was acceptable to be educated and funny—not that I'm claiming I was -—but collegiate humor found an audience wider than just the colleges. Before that, comedy tended to lx' the province of the old school, stand-up, working class comedians like Max Miller who followed the music hall traditions Michael Palin claims to have been attracted to comedy because. "People used to laugh at me It was the only thing I could do." In fact, he iConlintted on /xig>‘ IJ) Michael Valin f Hat tiers bis oversized humor gland. Fortunately, be has a handle on it.
