Wensley Pithey, born in 1914 in South Africa, carved a niche as a character actor in the 1950s and 1960s. He appears in The Dark Avenger (1955), where his performance adds depth to the film's exploration of justice and vengeance. Pithey's role in The Knack... and How to Get It (1965) further highlights his ability to navigate the quirky, comedic elements of British cinema. His contributions to these cult films reflect a distinctive charm that resonates within the realms of exploitation and grindhouse cinema.
The Knack... and How to Get It
In England, the times are a changing: it's mods and rockers. On the day Nancy gets off the London train, cases in hand, looking for the YWCA, Colin has had enough of missing out on the sexual revolution. He begs his smooth (and misogynistic) pal Tolen to teach him 'the knack' - how to score with women. Serendipitously, Colin and his new lodger Tom meet up with Nancy while Colin's buying a bed larger than Tolen's. The three hit it off, but their simple fun ends when Tolen meets Nancy. Colin is jealous but impotent, and Tolen both attracts and repels her. She swoons, wonders what happened, and cries 'rape.' Impish serendipity rubs against unsettling ambiguity. Cool, sophisticated Tolen (Ray Brooks) has a monopoly on womanizing - with a long like of conquests to prove it - while the naïve, awkward Colin (Michael Crawford) desperately wants a piece of it. But when Colin falls for an innocent country girl (Rita Tushingham), it's not long before the self-assured Tolen moves in for the kill. Is all fair in love and war, or can Colin get the the knack and beat Tolen at his own game?
