When the annals of comedy are written, somewhere after pie-in-face will be an entry for Python, Monty.

Each of the sextet of comedians, best known for its legendary television series and classic comedy films, will be forever linked with one another. But while the name Python is still whispered with reverence, the five surviving Pythons (Graham Chapman died in 1989) haven't worked as a unit since the early 1980s. But that has not stopped them. Here's a look at some of the cinematic stuff they have put out separate from the comedy troupe.

CLOCKWISE (1986): One of the few times the enormously talented John Cleese was offered the opportunity to carry a movie, this one cashes in on his ability to precisely portray middle-class panic. Mr. Cleese plays an educator racing the clock and battling fate as he attempts to make an important appointment.

A FISH CALLED WANDA (1988): This one stars Mr. Cleese as a love-struck barrister and fellow Python Michael Palin as a stuttering crook with a thing for fish, along with Jamie Lee Curtis and Kevin Kline. An absolutely brilliant comedy.

BRAZIL (1985): After retiring from the Pythons, lone American Terry Gilliam became a film director of note. This black comedy might be his masterwork. Funny and sad and very smart, it's a movie far ahead of its time. Mr. Gilliam also found a spot for former cohort Mr. Palin in the cast.

NUNS ON THE RUN (1990): Enormously underrated, this slapstick comedy about two small-time gangsters (Robbie Coltrane and former Python Eric Idle) hiding out in a convent is often written off as fluff. You know what, it is. But it is also very, very funny, and shame on audiences if there is no place for that.

THE MISSIONARY (1982): More subdued than the surrealist style of the Pythons, The Missionary is a character driven comedy starring Mr. Palin as a missionary who returns after 10 years spreading the faith in Africa to discover that the members of his new flock are London prostitutes. A little film lost, worthy of rediscovery.

Reach Steven Uhles at (706) 823-3626 or steven.uhles@augustachronicle.com.

SPECIAL