Love Thy Neighbour (1973 film)

Love Thy Neighbour is a 1973 British comedy film directed by John Robins and starring Jack Smethurst, Rudolph Walker, Kate Williams and Nina Baden-Semper. It was a spin off from the television series Love Thy Neighbour (1972–76). ^[1]

Love Thy Neighbour
Directed by	John Robins
Written by	Harry Driver Vince Powell
Produced by	Roy Skeggs
Starring	Jack Smethurst Rudolph Walker Nina Baden-Semper Kate Williams
Cinematography	Moray Grant
Edited by	James Needs
Music by	Albert Elms
Production company	Hammer Films
Distributed by	Anglo-EMI
Release date	4 July 1973 (1973-07-04)
Running time	85 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

It included the last film appearance of James Beck.

Plot

Eddie and Joan Booth, a white couple, live next door to Bill and Barbie Reynolds, who are black. Although Joan and Barbie are best friends, Bill and Eddie are complete opposites. Without their husbands' knowledge, Joan and Barbie enter a "Love Thy Neighbour" competition to win a cruise, but must contend with the problem of their antagonistic husbands. To add to the problems, Joan's mother-in-law is coming to stay, and Barbie's father-in-law is coming from Trinidad.

Cast

• Jack Smethurst as Eddie Booth
• Rudolph Walker as Bill Reynolds
• Nina Baden-Semper as Barbie Reynolds
• Kate Williams as Joan Booth
• Bill Fraser as Mr. Granger
• Charles Hyatt as Joe Reynolds
• Patricia Hayes as Annie Booth
• Melvyn Hayes as Terry
• Keith Marsh as Jacko
• Tommy Godfrey as Arthur
• Azad Ali as Winston
• Arthur English as Carter
• Andria Lawrence as Norma
• Clifford Mollison as registrar
• Lincoln Webb as Charlie
• Norman Chappell as Indian conductor
• Anna Dawson as Betty
• Bill Pertwee as postman
• Pamela Cundell as Dolly
• Annie Leake as Lil
• Damaris Hayman as woman on bus
• Siobhan Quinlan as Carol
• James Beck as Cyril
• Dan Jackson as black groom
• John Bindon as white groom
• Lesley Goldie as white bride
• Nosher Powell as bus driver
• Michael Sharvell-Martin as police constable
• Fred Griffiths as taxi driver

Reception

Box office

The film was popular at the box office and ranked as the 15th-most-popular of the year in the U.K.^[2][3][4]

Critical

David McGillivray wrote in The Monthly Film Bulletin: "Another example of domestic farce every bit as asinine and harmless as the TV series from which it derives. The staging, pacing and vaudevillian caricatures appear to be of roughly the same vintage as the jokes."^[5]

The Manchester Evening News called it "the most successful case I have seen yet of a television comedy series transferring to the big screen."^[6]

Britmovie wrote: "This dated, politically incorrect tale of bigotries and one-upmanship is sprinkled with ignorant comments and insults that are frequently more laughable than offensive when viewed today."^[7]