Ralph Thomas, Betty Box and Hywel Bennett had a big hit with Percy but this re-teaming was a flop - and deservedly so, because it's dreadful. It needn't have been - there's no reason you couldn't make a comedy about birth control, and the source material was a popular play. But the result it witless, dumb and miscast.
The plot has Nanette Newman refuse to sleep with husband Bennett because he won't let her go on the pill. I'm sure that was/is a genuine issue for Catholics but the pressure never seems real - not in a swinging 70s sex comedy. Maybe if this had been set in a Catholic country like Ireland where a priest played by Milo O'Shea would have real pull. Or maybe if the lead duo had been played by actors who seemed middle aged. But Bennett seems too young for his part, he doesn't come across as a morally strict middle aged man, he's like a young actor playing a middle aged man with the help of glasses and a moustache but he's never convincing. Newman is sensible and girl-next-door pretty but not a lot of fun. You never get the sense why she and Bennett would marry.
There is an interesting support cast including an early performance from John Cleese as a birth control expert. (Interestingly, Thomas cast another Python alumni, Graham Chapman, in Doctor in Trouble.) His scene is towards the beginning of the film so die hard Python fans might want to check it out then switch off; all others are best off avoiding.
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