''The Seventh Python'' is a 2008

musical Musical is the adjective of music Music is generally defined as the The arts, art of arranging sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Exact def ...

documentary film about the career, music and philosophy of pop satirist and songwriter

Neil Innes Neil James Innes (; 9 December 1944 – 29 December 2019) was an English writer, comedian and musician. He first came to prominence in the pioneering comedy rock group Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band and later became a frequent collaborator with the M ...

, who has been known as the "seventh" member of the six-man

Monty Python Monty Python (also collectively known as the Pythons) were a British comedy troupe who created the sketch comedy television show '' Monty Python's Flying Circus'', which first aired on the BBC in 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over fo ...

comedy troupe. The film, however, shows how Innes' influence and experience goes far beyond that chapter, to include his work with the

Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band (also known as The Bonzo Dog Band or The Bonzos) was created by a group of British art-school students in the 1960s. Combining elements of music hall, trad jazz and psychedelia with surreal humour and avant-garde ar ...

The Rutles The Rutles () were a rock band that performed visual and aural pastiches and parodies of the Beatles. This originally fictional band, created by Eric Idle and Neil Innes for a sketch in Idle's mid-1970s BBC television comedy series '' Rutland ...

and other work. The

Frozen Pictures Frozen Pictures was a motion picture, television and multimedia production company founded and operated by veteran producers and writers Brett Hudson and Burt Kearns, and is affiliated with Frozen Television. It closed in 2012. Kearns now runs hi ...

film had its premiere at the

American Cinematheque The American Cinematheque is an independent, nonprofit cultural organization in Los Angeles, California, United States dedicated exclusively to the public presentation of the moving image in all its forms. The Cinematheque was created in 1981 a ...

's Mods & Rockers Film Festival at the

Egyptian Theatre Egyptian-style theatres are based on the traditional and historic design elements of Ancient Egypt. The first Egyptian Theatre to be constructed in the US – which inspired many of the identically-named theatres that followed it – was Graum ...

in Hollywood in June 2008. The film was directed by

Burt Kearns Burt Kearns is an American author, television and film producer, writer and director, and journalist, known for his work in reality television and his controversial 1999 tabloid television memoir, '' Tabloid Baby''. His latest book, a biography o ...

, and written and produced by Kearns and

Brett Hudson Brett Stuart Patrick Hudson (born January 18, 1953) is an American musician and singer-songwriter. He was the youngest member of the musical group the Hudson Brothers, which was formed by his older brothers, Mark and Bill, in 1965. He is now ...

. The film features Innes in performance in Los Angeles, Sussex, England and Melbourne, Australia and features Pythons

John Cleese John Marwood Cleese ( ; born 27 October 1939) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. Emerging from the Cambridge Footlights in the 1960s, he first achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter and ...

Eric Idle Eric Idle (born 29 March 1943) is an English actor, comedian, musician and writer. Idle was a member of the British surreal comedy group Monty Python and the parody rock band The Rutles, and is the writer of the music and lyrics for the Broadway ...

Terry Jones Terence Graham Parry Jones (1 February 1942 – 21 January 2020) was a Welsh comedian, director, historian, actor, writer and member of the Monty Python comedy team. After graduating from Oxford University with a degree in English, Jones and ...

and

Michael Palin Sir Michael Edward Palin (; born 5 May 1943) is an English actor, comedian, writer, television presenter, and public speaker. He was a member of the Monty Python comedy group. Since 1980, he has made a number of travel documentaries. Palin ...

, as well as singer-songwriter

Aimee Mann Aimee Elizabeth Mann (born September 8, 1960) is an American singer-songwriter. Over the course of four decades, she has released more than a dozen albums as a solo artist and with other musicians. She is noted for her sardonic and literate lyr ...

Matt Groening Matthew Abram Groening ( ; born February 15, 1954) is an American cartoonist, writer, producer, and animator. He is the creator of the comic strip '' Life in Hell'' (1977–2012) and the television series ''The Simpsons'' (1989–present), '' F ...

(creator of ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer Simpson, Homer, Marge ...

''), and composer/arranger John Altman, among others. On 12 April 2009, the director and producer of ''The Seventh Python'' received the Las Vegas Film Festival's Golden Ace Award for "superior and standout filmmaking." Three days later, the film was chosen as the Opening Selection of the 2009 Pacific Palisades Film Festival.

References

External links

*
''The Seventh Python'' movie website

Reviews

The LAist

2008 films Documentary films about music and musicians Documentary films about entertainers Monty Python Documentary films about comedy and comedians 2008 documentary films {{bio-documentary-film-stub