Monday, May 31, 2021

The Statue (1971)

A rather funny farce about a huge phallus. Noted linguist Alex (David Niven) is to be honoured by a statue commissioned by US ambassador Ray (Robert Vaughn) and created by Alex's artist wife Rhonda (Virna Lisi). When Alex has a sneak peek of the statue he is shocked, Rhonda has created a naked statue of himself... though with another man's very large gentleman's sausage.

Rhonda refuses to change the statue, Alex's only legal recourse is to find out who was the model for the... thing thinking Rhonda must have slept with him. Alex starts to make his way through a list of Rhonda's male acquaintances, finding ways to see their genitals...

It does sound a very strange film and it indeed is very odd, and very of it's time. The film is smutty and ridiculous, not everything works but frequently it really does hit the spot. A good cast, which also includes John Cleese and Ann Bell, make the most of it.