Jabberwocky – 1977
Before “Time Bandits”… Before “The Missionary”… But not before breakfast…

Director(s)
Terry Gilliam

Writer(s)
Lewis Carroll (poem) (as Rev. Charles Dodgson)
Charles Alverson (screenplay) and
Terry Gilliam (screenplay)

Producer(s)
Julián Doyle associate producer (as Julian Doyle)
John Goldstone executive producer
Sanford Lieberson producer

Cast
Michael Palin – Dennis Cooper
Harry H. Corbett – Squire (Ethel)
John Le Mesurier – Passelewe
Warren Mitchell – Mr. Fishfinger
Max Wall – King Bruno the Questionable
Rodney Bewes – Other Squire
John Bird – First herald
Bernard Bresslaw – Landlord
Antony Carrick – Third merchant (as Anthony Carrick)
Peter Cellier – First merchant
Deborah Fallender – Princess
Derek Francis – Bishop
Terry Gilliam – Man with Rock
Neil Innes – Second herald
Terry Jones – Poacher
Bryan Pringle – Second gate guard
Frank Williams – Second merchant
Glenn Williams – Second Guard at Gate
Simon Williams – Prince
Annette Badland – Griselda Fishfinger
Kenneth Colley – First Fanatic
Brenda Cowling – Mrs. Fishfinger
Graham Crowden – Fanatics leader
Paul Curran – Mr. Cooper Senior
Alexandra Dane – Betsy
Brian Glover – Armourer
Jerold Wells – Wat Dabney
Tony Aitken – Flagellant
Peter Casillas – Third Square
Derrick O’Connor – Flying Hogfish Peasant
Derek Deadman – Apprentice Armourer
Janine Duvitski – Fanatic
Roy Evans – Ratman
Bill Gavin – Old Man with Petition
Harold Goodwin – Third peasant
John Gorman – Second Peasant
Julian Hough – Fourth Peasant and Fanatic
Des Jones – Door Opener
Gorden Kaye – Sister Jessica
Christopher Logue – Spaghetti-eating Fanatic
Dan Muir – Crescent and Red Dog Knights
David Prowse – Red Herring and Black Knights (as Dave Prowse)
Gordon Rollings – King’s taster (as Gordon Rawlings)
Sheridan Earl Russell – Kevin Fishfinger
Peter Salmon – The Monster
Hilary Sesta – Scrubber
John Sharp – Sergeant at Gate
George Silver – Bandit Leader
Tony Sympson – Fourth peasant
Terry English – Bandit (uncredited)
Roger Pratt – Man Living in Barrel (uncredited)
Anita Sharp-Bolster – (uncredited)

Review by Jack Gatanella

Jabberwocky (1977)
Not one of the great solo-directing debuts of all time, but as a self-consciously stupid (dark) fantasy-comedy, it’s mostly inspired,

Terry Gilliam, in 1976, did something similar to a member of a rock band going off (while the ‘band’ not having yet broken up but on hiatus) and recording a solo album with his film adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s poem Jabberwocky. However, like a solo effort, one expecting a full-on presentation of how the actual band plays together, might be disappointed. As it is with Jabberwocky, as Gilliam has said of it on the commentary on the DVD, “(Jabberwocky) was a transitional film, from Holy Grail to the other projects.” This comes with pros and cons for certain viewers, some with more cons than pros.

The story is expanded upon from the original, surreal battle hymn of sorts from Carroll. The naturally funny Michael Palin stars (in only one role, following the narrative structure instead of the episodes of Python) as a son of a barrel-maker, who has to live on his own, wandering around for food. Meanwhile, a monster of demented, horrible proportions terrifies and slays the citizens, and the King (running his minions in a shamble), gets a tournament to decide who will kill the beast and marry the Princess. These two stories go side by side until the inevitable climax, when the silliness builds up to something very, very bizarre, but fun.

The thing about Jabberwocky is that there are so many jokes going on, visual puns, basic physical gags, trademark ‘British’ innuendo and irony, and the awesome, brash, curious style of Terry Gilliam (director, co-writer, and bit-player). Sometimes the biggest laughs come from unexpected places, sometimes not. And, unfortunately, a good number of jokes either fall flat or are not exactly laugh-out-loud funny. But one thing that is pulled-off well is a sort of cartoon-like approach to the film as a whole; one could imagine this same material, more or less, being translated to the kind of animation that came in The Hobbit. For its low budget, Gilliam and his cinematographer (who also implied a similar visual look on Holy Grail) make this world seem extremely real, and go for being appropriately stylish with many of the moves. In fact, it’s a very serious-looking film, and that it’s a comedy is almost an after-thought.

Jabberwocky at times is a mess, some of the story gets un-even in parts, and if you have any real taste in films it holds a facet akin to Monty Python in that it doesn’t hold any real value intellectually. But it is also a medieval-fantasy-comedy, and it’s also a display of a director testing the waters on his own. However, on some sort of gut level one was really struck by how the film moves, how it goes through its gags to the next best one even when a dud comes by or when Dennis is completely aloof. Even the monster is an inspired feat. And like Gilliam’s other films, one may find more comic worth on a repeat viewing. B+