You may have noticed in the “Movies Under the Stars” ad in recent issues of the Local that at 8 p.m., Friday, Aug. 23, the 1975 cult classic, “Monty Python and the Holy Grail,” will be screened outdoors at the Water Tower Recreation Center in Chestnut Hill.
The irreverent spoof of the King Arthur legend stars the six members of the satirical sketch comedy group Monty Python, which was formed in 1969 and gained fame in the television series, “Monty Python's Flying Circus.” All of the troupe members were English, but the producer of their breakthrough “Holy Grail” film was Mark Forstater, who grew up in East Mt. Airy and graduated in Central High School's 216th class.
Forstater's brother, Art, the high scorer in Central's basketball team in his senior year, sat next to me in many classes at Central, so I got to know Mark and played basketball with him at Upsal Playground. Mark once told me he intended to make movies someday. I replied, “Sure, and I plan to play quarterback for the Eagles.”
Imagine my surprise, then, when I got a call in 1975 from Mark, who was in London at the time, inviting me to a press luncheon with the Monty Python sextet at the Frog restaurant a few weeks later to promote their new “Holy Grail” movie. (Frog, a pioneer in the Philadelphia Restaurant Renaissance at the time, was owned by Chestnut Hill resident Steve Poses.)
I was already a big Monty Python fan as a result of their public TV series, so of course I went to the luncheon, which was unforgettable. I had a great time exchanging bon mots with the Python gang, most of whom went on to greater success in movies and TV including “A Fish Called Wanda,” a hilarious 1988 film with John Cleese and Michael Palin. My favorite Python at the luncheon was Graham Chapman, a tall, craggy pipe smoker with a wicked sense of humor. Chapman, who was also a medical doctor and was openly gay when almost no one had the courage to do so, died of spinal cancer in 1989 at the age of 48.
I learned that Mark had studied at Temple University, City College of New York (CCNY) and the University of Manchester in England. He earned a B.A. at Temple and completed coursework for an M.A. in English Literature at Manchester. He has lived in London since the mid-1960s, and after attending the London Film School, he began making films in 1969.
While in London, by an extraordinary quirk of fate, Mark ran into Terry Gilliam, a Minnesota native who had been his friend and roommate at CCNY. Gilliam had also moved to England, where he was working as an animator and co-director on “Monty Python and the Holy Grail.” Thanks to Gilliam, Mark was able to get a job working on the film, and by another remarkable development (too complicated to go into here), Mark wound up as the film's producer. If you go to see the movie at the Water Tower on Aug. 23, look for Mark's credit at the end. He was thereafter referred to as “The Seventh Python.”
Mark went on to make more than 30 films. He was a pioneer in making films in Africa, including “The Grass is Singing” from the novel by Doris Lessing, made in Zambia, and “Marigolds in August,” by Athol Fugard. In 1981, Forstater produced “Xtro,” which became a cult classic, and he produced a drama series, “Grushko,” and several documentaries for the BBC.
He also wrote six books: “The Seventh Python,” an autobiography; “I Survived a Secret Nazi Extermination Camp,” inspired by family members he never knew who were murdered in the Belzec concentration camp; “The Spiritual Teachings of Marcus Aurelius,” “The Living Wisdom of Socrates,” “The Spiritual Teachings of Seneca” and “The Age of Anxiety: A Guided Meditation for the Financially Stressed.”
“I have spent many years practicing yoga, meditation and Taoist practices,” Mark said in an earlier interview, “so that at the age of 70 I had no ailments other than a slightly heightened blood pressure and cholesterol level. So several years ago I decided to join a gym in order to continue yoga classes and swim in order to bring the blood pressure and cholesterol levels down so that I could carry on producing films.”
Unfortunately, Mark had a bitter split with the Pythons and wound up suing them over royalties he insisted he was owed. The film “Holy Grail” was the inspiration for the 2005 Tony Award-winning musical, “Spamalot.” Like the film, it is a highly irreverent parody of the Arthurian legend.
When Mark was not given any of the proceeds of “Spamalot,” which was a hit on Broadway and internationally, he sued the Pythons, resulting in an eight-year legal battle. In July 2013, a judge in London, Alastair Norris, awarded Forstater, now 80, a judgment of more than 200,000 British pounds plus interest for back royalties.
Mark told me afterwards, “Justice has prevailed, but there is sadness about having to face people in court who were my friends. Our friendship has gone. Terry (Gilliam) and I used to share a flat. We go back 51 years.” Mark still lives in London. He has been married twice, has four daughters and three grandsons.
The Water Tower Recreation Center is at 200 E. Hartwell Lane. For more information about Mark Forstater, visit theageofanxiety.me, where the filmmaker and author has blogged since 2009. Len Lear can be reached at lenlear@chestnuthilllocal.com.
