The history of cinema arthuriana begins with a search for the Holy Grail. In 1904, Thomas Edison attempted to capitalize on the popularity of a 1903 Christmas production of Wagner' Parsifal at New York' Metropolitan Opera. The resulting film under the direction of Edwin J. Porter proved an artistic failure and eventually had to be withdrawn from circulation because of issues related to copyright infringement. Nonetheless, the Porter–Edison Parsifal inaugurated a rich tradition of cinematic searches for the Holy Grail.

The following filmography lists only narrative films about the Holy Grail. Details about documentaries, films of staged opera productions and individual episodes of television series that present versions of the Grail story can be found in Olton' Arthurian Legends on Film and Television, which is listed below under general studies.

General Studies

The following studies offer more general discussions either of cinema arthuriana or of cinema medievalia that also include discussions of film versions of the legend of the Holy Grail.

Aronstein, Susan. Hollywood Knights: Arthurian Cinema and the Politics of Nostalgia. New York, 2005.

Attolini, Vito. Immagini del medioevo nel cinema. Bari, 1993.

de la Bretèque, François Amy. L'Imaginaire médiéval dans le cinéma occidental. Paris, 2004.

Dover, Carol. ‘Towards a Modern Reception of the Lancelot-Grail Cycle’. In Carol Dover, ed. A Companion to the Lancelot-Grail Cycle. Cambridge, 2003, pp. 237–53.

Harty, Kevin J. ed. King Arthur on Film, New Essays on Arthurian Cinema. Jefferson, NC, 1999.

—.The Reel Middle Ages: American, Western European, Middle Eastern and Asian Films About Medieval Europe. Jefferson, NC, 1999.