Jabberwocky

Jabberwocky. 1977 Cinema 5 Distributing, Python Films, Umbrella Films.
Starring: Michael Palin, Harry H. Corbett, John Le Mesurier, Warren Mitchell
Director: Terry Gilliam
Jabberwocky at Amazon (discontinued).

Michael Palin (the nicest Python) plays Dennis Cooper, a failed cooper who is disowned by his dying father, moves from his village to the city hoping to change his fortunes. Things in the city aren't much better, as the top merchants in town are profiting nicely from the fear that the Jabberwock dragon is causing the local residents. In time, Cooper finds himself on a quest along with King Bruno the Questionable's "champion" to slay the Jabberwock. Dennis unwittingly slays the beast and gets everything he could possibly want as a reward...the problem is, it's not what he was looking for to make him happy.

This is Gilliam's first motion picture as a solo director, and there are some Pythonesque touches with Palin in the lead role, along with appearances by Terry Jones and Neil Innes.

Jabberwocky has its moments, but it really isn't a movie I'm going to go out of my way to see, despite the presence of Michael Palin. Maybe next time, I'll watch the film with the commentary from Palin and Gilliam turned on.