Percy's Progress Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.5

Percy's Progress Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov May 4, 2015

Ralph Thomas' comedy "Percy's Progress" a.k.a. "It's Not the Size That Counts" (1974) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Network. The supplemental features on the disc include original trailers for the film and promotional materials. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

The last man standing

Ralph Thomas’ sexy comedy Percy’s Progress begins sometime after his box office hit Percy, but familiarity with the latter isn’t required to enjoy the former. In Percy, the handsome bachelor Edward Anthony undergoes a successful penis transplant. Hugely impressed by his new acquisition, which he names Percy, Edwin decides to locate its former owner. His quest leads him to a flirtatious widow and plenty of the late donor’s insatiable mistresses.

In Percy’s Progress, the handsome lover (Leigh Lawson, Brother Sun, Sister Moon) goes by the name of Percy. His wife, Moira, divorces him and he decides to leave England so that he can recharge his batteries and reevaluate his life. He spends the next year alone on a luxury yacht drinking nothing else but Bollinger ‘69.

Meanwhile, an American aircraft carrying PX-123, a highly toxic, chemical warfare material, explodes over the Pacific Ocean. Soon after, the world’s water supply is contaminated and governments from all corners of the planet panic. During the chaos, suddenly all men become impotent.

But not Percy. Because he has been living alone hundreds of miles away from the nearest port and hasn’t had a drop of fresh water, he has retained his ability to have an erection.

Eventually, at a Spanish brothel Percy discovers that mankind’s future may well be determined by his ability to impregnate as many women as possible. The British Prime Minister (Harry H. Corbett, Nowhere to Go) welcomes him home as a national hero and then the United Nations proposes a program guarantying that Percy is used fairly by everyone. But not everyone is pleased with the program.

The story is silly, but the slightly over-the-top acting is quite charming. Obviously, the intent is to push all sorts of different buttons and in the process ridicule the decency standards the two sexes have created for each other. For the most part it is all done rather well, but this is a film that isn’t determined to impress. If one likes the first fifteen or so minutes, then one will enjoy the rest of the film as it is basically more of the same. If during the same period one finds the humor dull and the acting stiff, then almost certainly one would find the rest of the film equally disappointing.

The film shares some of the same enthusiasm that is present in Martin Campbell’s The Sex Thief and Jim Atkinson’s Can You Keep It Up For A Week?, but there is a lot less of the naughty material that makes these films fun to watch. Still, there are hordes of beautiful women in it that seem very comfortable uttering exactly what most men want to hear.

Many of the secondary characters are played by big actors: Denholm Elliott, Judy Geeson, Elke Sommer, Milo O'Shea, James Booth, and Bernard Lee. Even the great Vincent Price steps in front of the camera to become the world’s richest man, Stavos Mammonian.

The majority of the film is surprisingly beautifully lensed by cinematographer Tony Imi. (TV's The Professionals: MkI, Aimee and Jaguar). The panoramic vistas from Cyprus, in particular, look lovely.

Tony Macaulay created the film’s catchy soundtrack. The theme song, “God Knows I Miss You”, is sung by Carl Wayne.

Percy's Progress Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.75:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Ralph Thomas' Percy's Progress arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Network.

The high-definition transfer has been struck from a pre-existing master (with a somewhat unusual framing producing a few tight close-ups), but the film has a lovely organic appearance. Excluding some minor fluctuations detail and clarity are indeed very good, while image depth is quite pleasing. Most well-lit close-ups, in particular, look wonderful (see screencaptures #2 and 14). A few of the wider panoramic shots from Cyprus also boast decent fluidity (see screencapture #10). Color saturation could be better, but there are no traces of old or recent digital boosting. Shadow definition also could be better, but there are no distracting anomalies (see screencapture #8 where balance could be improved). The best news, however, is that there are no traces of compromising degraining or sharpening adjustments. Finally, overall image stability is very good. A few tiny scratches and dirt specks pop up here and there, but there are no large debris, cuts, or stains to report in this review. To sum it all up, even though the film could look fresher and more vibrant, the current presentation is indeed rather nice. My score is 3.25/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free Blu-ray player in order to access its content).

Percy's Progress Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English LPCM 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature.

The audio has not been remastered, but depth and clarity are quite good. Some minor background hiss is present and easy to detect, but it never becomes distracting. There is some extremely light buzz in the high frequencies which can be heard when Carl Wayne's sings "God Knows I Miss You", but it is also very easy to tolerate. The dialog is stable and easy to follow.

Percy's Progress Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Theatrical Trailer-U - original U theatrical trailer for Percy's Progress. In English, not subtitled. (4 min).

• Theatrical Trailer-X - original X theatrical trailer for Percy's Progress. In English, not subtitled. (4 min).

• Gallery - a collection of original posters and stills from Percy's Progress. (2 min).

• Promotional Material PDF -

Percy's Progress Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Ralph Thomas' sexy comedy Percy's Progress is perfect to see very late at night. It is quite charming and has a lovely retro soundtrack that compliments the visuals very well. Percy's Progress is the sequel to Thomas' hit Percy, which has not yet transitioned to Blu-ray, but familiarity with the latter isn't required to enjoy the former. British distributors Network's technical presentation of the film is good. RECOMMENDED.