Can Heironymus Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humppe and Find True Happiness?
19/03/1969
2h
Heironymus Merkin is an internationally successful singer approaching middle age who retells his life story in a series of production numbers on a seashore in front of his two toddlers and aged mother. Merkin's promiscuous relationships with women are explored, particularly Polyester Poontang and the adolescent Mercy Humppe. Merkin is constantly surrounded by a Satan-like procurer, Goodtime Eddie Filth, and an angelic 'Presence' who interrupts Merkin's biography with cryptic Borscht Belt-level jokes to denote births and deaths in Merkin's life. Newley periodically steps out of character to complain about his 'Merkin' role with an unseen director, two screenwriters, the film's producers and a trio of blasé movie critics who are turned off by the story's eroticism and lack of plot.
Cast
Anthony Newley
Heironymous Merkin
Joan Collins
Polyester Poontang
Bruce Forsyth
Uncle Limelight
Milton Berle
Goodtime Eddie Filth
Stubby Kaye
Fat Writer
George Jessel
The Presence
Connie Kreski
Mercy Humppe
Alexander Newley
Thaxted
Tara Newley
Thumbelina
Patricia Hayes
Grandma
Ronald Rubin
Skinny Writer
Louis Negin
Producer Peter
Tom Stern
Producer Ron
Judy Cornwell
Filigree Fondle
Margaret Nolan
Little Assistance
Yolanda
Trampolena Whambang
Lynda Baron
Salesgirl
Ronald Radd
Critic Bentley
Rosalind Knight
Critic Bentley
Victor Spinetti
Critic Sharpnose
Julian Orchard
Red Cardinal
Desmond Walter-Ellis
Philip Bluster
Bernard Stone
Icicle Ike
Sally Douglas
Automation Bunny
Roy Desmond
The Mask
Joyce Blair
Oat-O-Rinos Girl
Bruce Boa
Car Salesman
Berry Cornish
Fran
Mike Higgins
The Prompter (uncredited)
Robert Hutton
Insurance Agent
Laurie Leigh
Toothpaste Mother
Aleta Morrison
Harriet
Eve Pearce
Floor Wax Housewife
Muriel Young
Liz Harper
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