Love Thy Neighbour

Love Thy Neighbour is the film based on the British TV sitcom of the same name. The film came out in 1973 and is about two couples, one black, one white who are neighbours on the same street in London and is about both the mens attempts at one-upmanship based on their mutual dislike of each others races. Its a piece of cinematic history from a decade before pc and its not a racist film per see as the biggest bigot is the white man and usually comes off worst in both this film and the TV series it is based on. I doubt very much that today's younger audiences will fund it acceptable, let alone funny due to its subject matter and script but for those of a certain age it can be very funny in a very British early 70s way and well worth a watch as both a comedy and as a study of how Britain used to be 50 years ago.

Another Hammer film adaptation of a popular TV show, this time around the controversial race comedy LOVE THY NEIGHBOUR. I've never watched the TV series so I can't comment on that, but this is about what you'd expect from the early 1970s. I was pleased to see that the racist protagonist is the butt of the joke but even so the endless playground insults and racist taunts become quickly wearying. A shame, as the union storyline is promising and some of the acting pretty decent, particularly Rudolph Walker in what must have been a difficult role. The opening sequence, a sort of running street riot between white and black neighbours, is quite startling.

The name Hammer will always be synonymous with horror, however the studio also very successfully produced comedies and Love Thy Neighbour is one of the best known. Based on the TV series about a black and a white couple living next door to each other in early 1970's London, constantly bickering but when they enter a "Love Thy Neighbour" competition they need to get along. The language here is incredibly racist, thankfully now seen as unacceptable in modern TV/movie making. HOWEVER , when watching LTN it must be realised that back in the 1970's society was far less politically correct. This is a comedy, dated yes but also well made and very, very funny.

Good comedy of a popular television series that ran in England in the 1970's. a Somewhat controversial in its day,kept the British viewers glued to their television sets. This popular series is now available on DVD in the United Kingdom. Individuals who have region-free DVD players can order these DVD episodes from the video on-line shops in the U.K. People whishing to watch clean violent free entertainment will probably enjoy these DVD episodes. Video tapes of Love thy neighbour are also available. Jack Smethurst,Rudolph Walker,Nina Baden-Semper,and Kate Williams are the main actors in this series. Rudolph Walker appeared in the popular series,The blue thin line about 25 years later. He has also appeared in several episodes of the popular British police series,The Bill. After this series began in England,the U.S.A.and Australia produced their own versions. After a few episodes in the U.S.A. the series was cancelled. The Australia version was quite popular in Australia.

This is a great comedy, highlighting what it was like to live next door to racist bigot. But also shows that both main characters are actually as bad as each other. Based on the hit ITV comedy, this is very politically incorrect. And its all the better for it, comedy after all is to entertain. The movies only real drawback is there isnt much of a plot. However the cast are as great as usual. Jack Smethurst and Rudolph Walker make one hell of a team, playing off each other in a oneupmanship kind of way.It's been many years since i saw this movie and last week was finally able to buy it on dvd. The fact that the movie still contains genuine laugh out loud moments, means that i can recommend this movie, just like i would of back in the 1970's.