Percy - Der Spatz in der Hand

For a movie centering around the world's first successful penis transplant, "Percy" turns out to be considerably less raunchy than one might expect; in fact, it's downright melancholy at times. The hero spends half the movie trying to discover the identity of the (deceased) donor of his new "member", and the other half meeting the donor's past conquests; in the end he realizes that going to bed with a woman only gives him pleasure when he really cares about her. The film is meandering and short on big laughs, but Hywel Bennett gives a likable, low-key performance, as do most of the women, who are quite lovely to boot (be aware, however, that the biggest names, Elke Sommer and Britt Ekland, appear only for a couple of minutes each). So "Percy" does not rise to any great heights (ha!), but it is not completely limp either (ha!) (**1/2)

This film begins with an antique dealer by the name of "Edwin Anthony" (Hywel Bennett) on his way to deliver a chandelier on a busy city street. All at once, a man falls to his death from a skyrise building resulting in a piece of glass from the chandelier severing Hywel's male organ. In yet another strange twist of fate, there just happens to be a noted physician by the name of "Dr. Emmanuel Whitbread" (Denholm Elliott) waiting for the opportunity to be the first surgeon to ever successfully transplant a male organ onto another person. To his credit, the operation turns out to be a huge success--in more ways than one. Things change, however, when news of this event is released to the public and Edwin becomes obsessed with finding out the identities of everyone his unlucky donor ever slept with. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that I was somewhat skeptical at first about this film but decided to give it a look just to satisfy my curiosity. Having said that, I must admit that my skepticism was justified to a certain degree as the humor wasn't nearly as sharp as it could have been. To its credit, there were a number of attractive female actresses cast in this movie with Cyd Hayman (as "Moira Warrington"), Adrienne Posta ("Maggie Hyde"), Elke Sommer ("Helga"), Janet Key ("Hazel Anthony") and Tracey Crisp ("Miss Elder") who certainly brightened the overall scenery. Unfortunately, their presence wasn't enough to lift this rather lackluster comedy, and I have rated it accordingly. Slightly below average.

"Percy" has taken such a battering down the years i felt it was time to write something in its defence. The most dubious content occurs early on, but for the most part Percy is surprisingly thoughtful, with the organ recipient coming to realise that he can only enjoy a meaningful sexual relationship with someone he really loves. The late actor Hywel Bennett bitterly regretted his involvement with the film but at least he gives his character a sensitive side; in lesser hands, eg Robin Asquith's, it would indeed have been 90 minutes of terrible kn*b gags.

Also going for it is a brief cameo by George Best, a rather fine soundtrack by the Kinks, and some nice glimpses of late era swinging London. Unusually for its time, Percy also treats a gay character with respect rather than making him a figure of fun.

Sadly upon its release Percy got lumped in with the dire Confessions/Carry On films, but having watched it a couple of times on Channel 4 i can vouch that it's better than those, and Hywel Bennett had nothing to be ashamed of.

You might think that a movie concerning itself with a man getting a penis transplant and his adventures trying to find out about the donor would be a really raunchy affair. Surprisingly, the movie is extremely tame - there's almost no nudity, sex, or foul language. In fact, I am surprised this got an "R" rating even in 1971. Another surprise is that the movie doesn't try for as many attempts at humor as you might think. The second half of the movie is serious for the most part. As you might have guessed, this movie is not that much fun, and you'll get tired from it long before the end. The most curious thing about it is the score from The Kinks. It doesn't fit the movie for the most part, like how they play an instrumental of "Lola" when a woman is stripteasing for the main male character! Somehow this movie was successful enough to inspire a sequel several years later. Thanks, but I think I'll pass.

Percy (the transplant) is obviously not a very intellectual movie, but somehow funny and harmless. A friendly guy gets a penis transplant and starts looking for the original owner, because he suffers from identity problems. Along the way are sixties' sex kittens Elke Sommer (Shot in the dark '64) and Britt Ekland (Wickerman '73, Get Carter '71). In a way it is actually a very friendly SF without violence and with funny situations and (ironically) sincere human emotions underneath. It's not even bad acted; maybe a little shaky directed. The problem with this flick is that the technicalities aren't convincing and there isn't excessive lavatorial humour, so that kids will probably not enjoy it: the film falls between two stools, because the subject might not be appealing enough for adults (apart from Britt Ekland completists). See for yourself: it's a meaningless little piece with a certain level of medical discretion and appropriate music too. And it's not even the only flick on that subject matter either. Not that I ever want to see it again though.