Percy

"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.

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)

I agree with all who describe this film as poorly marketed. I'm not however sure what the correct marketing would be! The movie begins as a bawdy comedy and eventually becomes a rather sweet tale of people in pursuit of love, or a least a respite from loneliness or simple boredom. Some nice characters played by British stalwarts including Graham Crowden and Sheila Steafal. Cyd Hayman is stunning and charming in equal degree. Hywel Bennet is as reliable as always. Seems to be one of those films where a slightly confused script just seems to work. However my real weakness for this movie is that it captures London at the time beautifully. Like a swinging sixties movies (though released 1971 so presumably filmed 70 or 71) it catches the mood. Catch it if you can.

When antiques dealer Edwin (Hywel Bennett) loses his tally-whacker in a freak accident, he becomes the first ever patient to undergo a penis transplant.

The permissive society of the swinging sixties and early seventies gave rise to the great British sex comedy, bawdy farces that offered cheap titillation to the masses in the form of ribald innuendo, silly sexual situations, and gratuitous nudity.

Percy looks set to be a classic example of the genre, it's penis transplant subject matter lending itself perfectly to such bawdy treatment, and sure enough, viewers are quickly treated to some suggestive dialogue, unsubtle phallic imagery and curvaceous beauties in skimpy outfits. The lowbrow laughs don't last long, however, soon giving way to a much more sober approach, the film focusing instead on Edwin's confusion and emotional turmoil following his operation.

This shift to a more ponderous tone serves to make Percy a more respectable movie than it could otherwise have been—a shame, 'cos I'd been looking forward to a huge helping of shameless smut and seriously saucy giggles and what I actually got was that guy from Shelley looking downright miserable (yet again) even when faced with a series of sexy 70s babes desperate for a seeing to.

One thing's for sure, Robin Askwith wouldn't have wasted time deliberating his dilemma when he could've been testing out his new todger!

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.