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Love Thy Neighbour

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Love Thy Neighbour - 1973 | 85 mins | Comedy | Colour

The Production Team

Director: John Robins.
Producer: Roy Skeggs.
Script: Harry Driver and Vince Powell.
Cinematography: Moray Grant.
Film Editing: James Needs.
Art Direction: Lionel Couch.
Makeup Department: George Blackler and Maude Onslow.
Sound Department: Claude Hitchcock, Roy Hyde and Dennis Whitlock.
Costume and Wardrobe Department: Laura Nightingale.
Original Music: Albert Elms.

The Cast

Jack Smethurst - Eddie Booth
Rudolph Walker - Bill Reynolds
Nina Baden-Semper - Barbie Reynolds
Kate Williams - Joan Booth
Bill Fraser - Mr. Granger
Charles Hyatt - Joe Reynolds
Patricia Hayes - Annie Booth
Melvyn Hayes - Terry
Keith Marsh - Jacko
Tommy Godfrey - Arthur

Plot Synopsis

Big screen spin-off of the infamous ITV comedy about racial prejudices which ran for four years. 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.

White Labour-voting union leader Eddie Booth (Jack Smethurst) hates his Conservative-voting Jamaican neighbour Bill Reynolds (Rudolph Walker) with a fun-loving vengeance. Despite their wives being close friends, and Eddie and Bill being co-workers, daily life is a game of one-upmanship and traded insults; ranging from “great black ponce” and “Sabu” from Eddie, to “loudmouthed pale-skin poof” and “honky” from Bill. The unhappy family interaction comes to a head when their wives enter the 'Love Thy Neighbour' competition in the local Gazette newspaper. Relations sour further when Bill’s father arrives from Trinidad, and strikes up a mutual friendship with Eddie’s mother. Further complications ensue when Eddie calls the workers out on strike and Bill forms an alternative ‘black union’.