Percy * (1971, Hywel Bennett, Denholm Elliott, Elke Sommer) – Classic Movie Review 9330

Director Ralph Thomas’s desperate 1971 British sleaze comedy Percy is about a pioneering penis transplant, in which frenzied recipient Edwin Anthony (Hywel Bennett) looks for the perfect donor. It could have been worse — just like the 1974 sequel Percy’s Progress, in fact, but it is plenty bad enough.

A complete lack of sophistication and wit sinks it, and though the actors (a typically eager-to-please Seventies British comedy cast of stalwarts) try hard, being risqué just isn’t enough. Needless to say, it was a hit.

The script by Hugh Leonard (screenplay), Michael Palin (key writer, uncredited) and Terence Feely (additional material) is based on the novel by Raymond Hitchcock.

Also in the cast are Elke Sommer, Denholm Elliott, Britt Ekland, Cyd Hayman, Janet Key, Tracey Crisp, Antonia Ellis, Tracy Reed, Patrick Mower, Adrienne Posta, Julie Foster, Sheila Steafel, Pauline Delaney, Arthur English, Sue Lloyd, Graham Crowden, T.P. McKenna, Tony Haygarth, Rita Webb, Denise Coffey, Margaretta Scott, Charles Hodgson, and Ronnie Brody.

Hywel Bennett (1944–2017).

RIP Hywel Bennett, who died on 25 July 2017 in Deal, Kent, aged 73. He appeared in three films with Hayley Mills: The Family Way (1966), Twisted Nerve (1968) and Endless Night (1972).

His London stage debut was as Ophelia in Hamlet at the opening of the Queen’s Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue. He retired from acting in 2007 after being diagnosed with a congenital heart defect and rumours of a high alcohol intake.

© Derek Winnert 2020 Classic Movie Review 9330

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