Friday, November 18, 2011

Hywel Bennett in Percy


Percy (1971) was the first ever film about having a penis transplant. It starred Welsh actor Hywel Bennett as Edwin Antony the recipient of a new, generously proportioned, todger. In the film Bennett’s character sets out to road test his new member and discover all he can about his dead donor, who turns out to have been an outrageous philanderer. If you think this sounds like a ridiculous idea for a movie you’d be absolutely right. The flick was made during the early ‘70s – the so-called golden age of the British sex comedy and the result is not much better than your average Carry On film. Percy also starred Elke Sommer and Britt Ekland. The most curious (and interesting) thing about the film for the modern viewer is the specially penned Ray Davies soundtrack, performed by The Kinks. At one point a woman does a striptease to an instrumental version of Lola. The soundtrack also included the hit God’s Children. As for Bennett’s performance, he did his best to add a bit of existential gravitas to the role but ultimately floundered in a quagmire of sexual innuendo.