It is one of the best loved films in British history, despite the efforts of some to get it banned on the grounds of blasphemy.
Monty Python’s Life of Brian and its Always Look on the Bright Side of Life song proved a mega hit and continues to resonate.
But a new exhibition of late Python star Terry Jones’s memorabilia shows how the iconic tune from the 1979 film could have been very different.
Among the objects on display at the Oriel Colwyn gallery in North Wales is an original handwritten version of the song with alternative lyrics.
Also revealed are unseen images of Jones and fellow Pythons John Cleese, Michael Palin, Graham Chapman, Eric Idle and Terry Gilliam relaxing while making their films.
Other images show stills of Jones in costume as ‘Mr Creosote’ for 1983 film The Meaning of Life.
The comically obese diner ends up exploding after eating everything on the menu.
Jones’s daughter Sally, 50, told that her father’s trove of objects was kept for years in around 40 boxes in her mother’s loft.
‘I love all the photographs. Lots of them are from before my time. They are so evocative, showing them sitting down in a silly costume reading a book,’ she said.
‘To see people standing around having a cigarette behind the camera, those are the ones I really like.’
The boxes remarkably survived a flood several years ago and are now being displayed to fund the creation of a statue of Jones that will stand on the promenade at Colwyn Bay, where the star spent his early life.
Jones, who died aged 77 in 2020 after suffering from dementia, formed Monty Python with his fellow stars in 1969 after meeting Palin at Oxford University.
The group initially discussed working together at a tandoori restaurant in north London in 1969.
Their first on screen production was TV show Monty Python’s Flying Circus. The 45 episodes began broadcasting on the BBC in 1969 and ended in 1974.
The show proved hugely popular and led to the series of films, which began with Monty Python and the Holy Grail in 1975. The film was directed by Jones and Gilliam.
The Life of Brian, which was released in 1979, was written and directed by Jones.
The film was made in Tunisia using sets produced for Franco Zeffirelli’s epic Life Of Jesus.
Despite being lapped up by viewers, religious spokesmen were furious and accused Jones of blasphemy.
Chapman portrays lead character Brian Cohen, who lives next door to Jesus and gets mistaken for the Messiah.
Morality campaigner Mary Whitehouse failed in a bid to refuse the film a certificate and the Church of England encouraged members to pray for its downfall.
Original posters and other memorabilia collected by Jones during his long career also feature in the new exhibition.
Ms Jones, who works as a furniture maker, added: ‘Dad was born in Colwyn Bay but then was taken away aged four and lived in Surrey.
‘He felt like a Welshman but didn’t sound like one. It was an endless frustration for him.
‘We spent many cold, wet Christmases, in unheated farmhouses in the middle of nowhere.’
When she was a child, Ms Jones featured as an uncredited extra in Jones’s 1989 film Erik the Viking.
She said the ‘whole point’ of the exhibition is to raise money for the statue of her father. So far, an online campaign has raised £108,000 of a £120,000 target.
Paul Sampson, the curator at the Oriel Colwyn Photography Gallery, said: ‘It’s so exciting.
‘I popped down to Sally’s home and went through some of the archives with her, we decided what to show.’
He added: ‘What really stands out for me are the contact sheets from the Meaning of Life.
‘There are folders of contact sheets and stills from the filming. There’s not really any finished, finalised photography, it’s just the contact sheets.’
The Life of Brian was followed by The Meaning of Life in 1983.
After the Pythons went their separate ways, Jones directed 1987 film Personal Services, a biopic starring Julie Walters and inspired by real-life madam Cynthia Payne.
He also went behind the camera for 1989 production Erik The Viking, which was based on his own children’s book.
His other credits include The Wind In The Willows (1996), with performances from Idle, Palin, and Cleese, and 2015 comedy Absolutely Anything, as well as presenting documentaries.
He had his daughter Sally and son Bill in 1976 with first wife Alison. The couple split in 2009 and Jones subsequently married Anna Söderström.
The couple had a daughter together.
Chapman was the first of the Pythons to die. He passed away aged just 48 in 1989 after a cancer battle.
The exhibition runs from December 10 to February 1, 2025. Exhibition tickets are priced at £5. They can be purchased at orielcolwyn.org.
First draft
I’m……..
Looking on the bright side.
I’m…….
Sure that that’s the right side
for me…
to see…
Everything seems to go so wrong
But then all of a sudden something comes along
Though everything in the world seems grey
You got to keep your peckers and then one day
You’ll find everything has turned out ok
So
I’m….
I…
know I can’t be gloomy
Although
I’ve got it coming to me
for when I see how the world goes wrong
I’m just amazed how I get along
So I’m…
looking on the bright side
Oh!
Say!
Final version
Some things in life are bad
They can really make you mad
Other things just make you swear and curse
When you’re chewing on life’s gristle
Don’t grumble, give a whistle
And this’ll help things turn out for the best
And
Always look on the bright side of life
Always look on the light side of life
If life seems jolly rotten
There’s something you’ve forgotten
And that’s to laugh and smile and dance and sing
When you’re feeling in the dumps
Don’t be silly chumps
Just purse your lips and whistle, that’s the thing
And
Always look on the bright side of life
(Come on)
Always look on the right side of life
For life is quite absurd
And death’s the final word
You must always face the curtain with a bow
Forget about your sin
Give the audience a grin
Enjoy it, it’s your last chance anyhow
So always look on the bright side of death
A just before you draw your terminal breath
Life’s a piece of s***
When you look at it
Life’s a laugh and death’s a joke, it’s true
You’ll see it’s all a show
Keep ’em laughin’ as you go
Just remember that the last laugh is on you
And
Always look on the bright side of life
Always look on the right side of life
(C’mon Brian, cheer up)
Always look on the bright side of life
Always look on the bright side of life
Always look on the bright side of life
I mean, what have you got to lose?
You know, you come from nothing
You’re going back to nothing
What have you lost? Nothing
Always look on the right side of life
Nothing will come from nothing, ya know what they say
Cheer up ya old bugga c’mon give us a grin (Always look on the right side of life)
There ya are, see
It’s the end of the film
Incidentally this record’s available in the foyer (Always look on the right side of life)
Some of us got to live as well, you know
(Always look on the right side of life)
Who do you think pays for all this rubbish
(Always look on the right side of life)
They’re not gonna make their money back, you know
I told them, I said to him, Bernie, I said they’ll never make their money back
(Always look on the right side of life)