Ralph Thomas and Betty Box tried their hand at pretty much everything to get a hit - comedies, war films, thrillers, angry young men dramas. This was a late smash for them, a very British sniggering 70s sex comedy about the world's first penis transplant. Just the right amount of naughtiness at the right time plus lots of gifts for the audience: Hywell Bennett's winning performance in the lead; Denholm Elliot's classy support work; a support cast that includes names like Britt Ekland and Elke Sommers; cameos from George Best and Mick Jagger.
The plot involves Percy searching for the identity of the donor, triggering a series of vignettes (easily shot two handers involving Bennett and another actor) - Percy and a trashy nurse, Percy and a gay antique dealer, etc.
There's lots of expected double entendres and cheap gags. More surprisingly there's some poignancy - Percy strikes up a friendship with the man's widow, who was abused, and a lonely single mum.
It's no classic, that barely needs to be said, but it's got more energy and good humour than many other films of this time.
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