Percy (1971 film)

Last updated

Percy
Percy VideoCover.jpeg
DVD Cover
Directed by Ralph Thomas
Written by
Based on Percy by Raymond Hitchcock
Produced by
Starring
Cinematography Ernest Steward
Edited by Roy Watts
Music by Ray Davies
Production
company
Distributed by Anglo-EMI Film Distributors
Release date
  • 11 February 1971 (1971-02-11)
Running time
103 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Budget£300,000 [1] [2]

Percy is a 1971 British comedy film directed by Ralph Thomas starring Hywel Bennett, Denholm Elliott, Elke Sommer and Britt Ekland. [3]

Contents

The film is based on the 1969 novel of the same name by Raymond Hitchcock, and features a soundtrack by The Kinks. It was followed by a 1974 sequel, Percy's Progress .

Plot

Edwin Anthony is an innocent and shy young man who is hit by a nude man falling from a high-rise building while carrying a chandelier. Edwin's penis is mutilated in the accident and has to be amputated; the falling man is killed.

Edwin becomes the recipient of the world's first penis transplant: he receives the very large penis of the womanizer killed in the same accident. With his new bit of anatomy (which he names "Percy"), Edwin follows the womanizer's footsteps, meeting all his women friends, before settling happily with the donor's mistreated widow.

Cast

Production

Producer Betty E. Box discovered the novel when she and director Ralph Thomas were meeting a publisher about optioning the film rights for another book. They were not available at the time, but the publisher gave them a manuscript by Raymond Hitchcock about a penis transplant. Box took it back to the office to read. "I zipped through it, laughing aloud as I read", she wrote. "Very unusual. I might sometimes smile at a book, but I hadn't laughed like this since I read Richard Gordon's Doctor in the House." [4]

Ralph Thomas enjoyed the book too so they decided to option the rights. These ended up costing four times more than Box originally thought after Hichcock had his own agent, as opposed to the publisher, do the negotiations. Box and Thomas paid for the rights themselves "not without a fair amount of heart-searching", Box wrote, "as we didn't expect it to be a straightforward financing operation – with the amount required to make a film it seldom is – but this was certainly not a subject I expected Rank, our traditional partners, to finance. They very soon turned it down without even reading it." [5]

Finance was obtained from Nat Cohen at EMI Films - they provided the entire budget. [6] The poster was designed by John Troke, a publicist who had introduced Box to the book of Doctor in the House 15 years earlier. [5] A script was prepared by Hugh Leonard while Thomas and Box filmed Doctor in Trouble . The film was shot at Elstree Studios and on location in London. The film's sets were designed by the art director Robert Jones. Ray Davies of The Kinks wrote the film's soundtrack Percy .

During the making of the film, another comedy about a penis was being shot, The Statue . Box always regarded this as a rip off. [7]

Box says that Raymond Hitchcock was delighted with the film and thought Hywel Bennett was very close to his original James Anthony. [7]

Thomas and Box agreed to make a sequel provided Nat Cohen finance a film they wanted to make about the Byron-Shelley story, The Reckless Years. However Cohen reneged on the deal and only made the sequel. [8]

Release

The film was not screened in Australia until the "R" certificate was introduced. [9]

Reception

Critical

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "The advertising campaign which paved the way for Percy by inviting us to guess its length seemed reprehensible enough but was still inadequate preparation for the unadulterated salacity of the film itself. Edwin's first waking vision of the Post Office Tower sets the tone for a fusillade of barrack-room humour that repeats and twists practically every joke ever made about male genitalia, then caps this by having comedian Arthur English stand up and recite what would appear to be an anthology of the gags that didn't make the grade for the scenario. Depressing enough when it forms the mainstay of the hospital situation comedy, this monotonous level of wit becomes still more wearying as an attempt to enliven Edwin's apparently pointless quest for his donor. Director Ralph Thomas never misses an opportunity to leer at an undraped statue or the phallic objects that litter the sets and tower from the hoardings, though he does find time to make reproving digs at the amorality of television and the tabloid press. In the face of such banality, accomplished performers like Denholm Elliott and Adrienne Posta just fall by the wayside, although Cyd Hayman as the melancholy widow manages to make the best of things." [10]

Box office

Percy was the 8th most popular film at the British box office in 1971. [11] By June 1972, it had earned EMI a profit of £43,000. [12] Eventually, according to Nat Cohen, it made a profit of £500,000. [1]

Related Research Articles

<i>The Tales of Beatrix Potter</i> 1971 British film

The Tales of Beatrix Potter is a 1971 ballet film based on the children's stories of English author and illustrator Beatrix Potter. The film was directed by Reginald Mills, choreographed by Sir Frederick Ashton, and featured dancers from The Royal Ballet. The musical score was arranged by John Lanchbery from various sources, such as the operas of Michael Balfe and of Sir Arthur Sullivan, and performed by the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House conducted by Lanchbery. It was produced by Richard Goodwin with John Brabourne as executive producer. The stories were adapted by Goodwin and his wife designer Christine Edzard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hywel Bennett</span> Welsh actor (1944–2017)

Hywel Thomas Bennett was a Welsh film and television actor. He had a lead role in The Family Way (1966) and played the titular "thinking man's layabout" James Shelley in the television sitcom Shelley (1979–1992).

Canal+ Image International was a British-French film, television, animation studio and distributor. A former subsidiary of the EMI conglomerate, the corporate name was not used throughout the entire period of EMI's involvement in the film industry, from 1969 to 1986, but the company's brief connection with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Anglo-EMI, the division under Nat Cohen, and the later company as part of the Thorn EMI conglomerate are outlined here.

<i>The 39 Steps</i> (1959 film) 1959 British thriller by Ralph Thomas

The 39 Steps is a 1959 British thriller film directed by Ralph Thomas and starring Kenneth More and Taina Elg. Produced by Betty Box, it is a remake of the 1935 Alfred Hitchcock film, loosely based on the 1915 novel The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan.

<i>The Horror of Frankenstein</i> 1970 British film by Jimmy Sangster

The Horror of Frankenstein is a 1970 British horror film by Hammer Film Productions that is both a semi-parody and semi-remake of the 1957 film The Curse of Frankenstein, of Hammer's Frankenstein series. It was produced and directed by Jimmy Sangster, starring Ralph Bates, Kate O'Mara, Veronica Carlson, and David Prowse as the monster. It was the only film in the Frankenstein series which did not star Peter Cushing. The original music score was composed by Malcolm Williamson.

Nat Cohen was a British film producer and executive. For over four decades he was one of the most significant figures in the British film industry, particularly in his capacity as head of Anglo-Amalgamated and EMI Films; he helped finance the first Carry On movies and early work of filmmakers such as Ken Loach, John Schlesinger, Alan Parker and David Puttnam. In the early 1970s while head of EMI Films he was called the most powerful man in the British film industry. He's been called "an unsung giant of British film who never got his due from the establishment in part because of anti-Semitism... the ability to be a successful studio head is very rare and most only last a few years. Cohen did it successfully at various companies for over two decades."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ralph Thomas</span> English film director (1915–2001)

Ralph Philip Thomas MC was an English film director. He is perhaps best remembered for directing the Doctor series of films.

Sex comedy, erotic comedy or more broadly sexual comedy is a genre in which comedy is motivated by sexual situations and love affairs. Although "sex comedy" is primarily a description of dramatic forms such as theatre and film, literary works such as those of Ovid and Giovanni Boccaccio may be considered sex comedies.

<i>The Go-Between</i> (1971 film) 1971 British film directed by Joseph Losey

The Go-Between is a 1971 British historical drama film directed by Joseph Losey. Its screenplay by Harold Pinter is an adaptation of the 1953 novel The Go-Between by L. P. Hartley. The film stars Julie Christie, Alan Bates, Margaret Leighton, Michael Redgrave and Dominic Guard. It won the Palme d'Or at the 1971 Cannes Film Festival.

<i>Percys Progress</i> 1974 British comedy film by Ralph Thomas

Percy's Progress is a 1974 British comedy film directed by Ralph Thomas and starring Leigh Lawson, Elke Sommer, Denholm Elliott, Judy Geeson and Harry H. Corbett. It was written by Sid Colin, Harry H. Corbett and Ian La Frenais. The film is a sequel to Percy (1971).

<i>Entertaining Mr Sloane</i> (film) 1970 British film

Entertaining Mr Sloane is a 1970 British black comedy film directed by Douglas Hickox. The screenplay by Clive Exton is based on the 1964 play of the same title by Joe Orton. This was the second adaptation of the play, the first having been developed for British television and broadcast by ITV on 15 July 1968.

<i>Up the Chastity Belt</i> 1971 British comedy film by Bob Kellett

Up the Chastity Belt is a 1971 British comedy film directed by Bob Kellett and starring Frankie Howerd. It was written by Sid Colin, Ray Galton and Alan Simpson.

<i>Some Will, Some Wont</i> 1970 British film by Duncan Wood

Some Will, Some Won't is a 1970 British comedy film directed by Duncan Wood, starring an ensemble British cast including Michael Hordern, Ronnie Corbett, Dennis Price, Leslie Phillips and Arthur Lowe. It is a remake of Laughter in Paradise (1951).

<i>All the Way Up</i> (film) 1970 British film by James MacTaggart

All The Way Up is a 1970 British comedy film directed by James MacTaggart and starring Warren Mitchell, Pat Heywood, Kenneth Cranham, Richard Briers, Adrienne Posta and Elaine Taylor. It is based on the 1962 play Semi-Detached by David Turner.

<i>Up Pompeii</i> (film) 1971 British comedy film by Bob Kellett

Up Pompeii is a 1971 British sex comedy film directed by Bob Kellett and starring Frankie Howerd and Michael Hordern. It was written by Sid Colin based on an idea by Talbot Rothwell.

<i>Eyewitness</i> (1970 film) 1970 British film by John Hough

Eyewitness is a 1970 British thriller film directed by John Hough and starring Mark Lester, Susan George and Lionel Jeffries. Its plot follows a young English boy who, while staying with his grandfather and adult sister in Malta, witnesses a political assassination, and is subsequently pursued by the killers—however, due to his habitual lying, those around him are hesitant to believe his claims. It is an adaptation of the novel by Mark Hebden, the pen name for John Harris, and bears similarity to Cornell Woolrich's novelette "The Boy Cried Murder", originally adapted for film as The Window.

<i>Maroc 7</i> 1967 film by Gerry OHara

Maroc 7 is a 1967 British thriller film directed by Gerry O'Hara, starring Gene Barry, Cyd Charisse, Elsa Martinelli, Leslie Phillips and Denholm Elliott.

<i>The Body</i> (1970 film) 1970 British documentary film by Roy Battersby

The Body is a 1970 British scientific documentary film directed and produced by Roy Battersby. In the film, external and internal cameras are used to showcase the human body.

<i>Percy</i> (novel) 1969 novel by Raymond Hitchcock

Percy is a 1969 comedy novel by the British writer Raymond Hitchcock. It recounts the story of a British man who has the world's first penis transplant, following an accident.

<i>Spring and Port Wine</i> (film) 1970 British film

Spring and Port Wine is a 1970 British film starring James Mason based on the play of the same name.

References

  1. 1 2 Blundy, David. "Ooh, you are awful, film men tell Tories." Sunday Times [London, England] 16 Dec. 1973: 5. The Sunday Times Digital Archive. Web. 29 Mar. 2014.
  2. ↑ Moody, Paul (19 October 2018). EMI Films and the Limits of British Cinema. Springer. p. 102. ISBN   9783319948034.
  3. ↑ "Percy". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 10 August 2024.
  4. ↑ Box p 270
  5. 1 2 Box p 272
  6. ↑ Moody, Paul (19 October 2018). EMI Films and the Limits of British Cinema. Springer. p. 85. ISBN   9783319948034.
  7. 1 2 Box p 276
  8. ↑ Box p 281
  9. ↑ "Comedy film awaits the 'R'". The Canberra Times . 14 July 1971. p. 3. Retrieved 17 December 2015– via National Library of Australia.
  10. ↑ "Percy". The Monthly Film Bulletin . 38 (444): 56. 1 January 1971 – via ProQuest.
  11. ↑ Peter Waymark. "Richard Burton top draw in British cinemas." Times [London, England] 30 Dec. 1971: 2. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 11 July 2012.
  12. ↑ Moody, Paul (19 October 2018). EMI Films and the Limits of British Cinema. Springer. p. 83. ISBN   9783319948034.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.