Love Thy Neighbor (1940)

Jack Benny is preparing his New Year's Eve radio broadcast but takes time out to take his valet Rochester to meet his girlfriend Josephine arriving on a steamer. Fred Allen and his sister ... See full summary »

Director:

Mark Sandrich

Writers:

Edmund Beloin, William Morrow,

Stars:

Jack Benny, Fred Allen, Mary Martin

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jack Benny	...	Jack Benny
Fred Allen	...	Fred Allen
Mary Martin	...	Mary Allen
Verree Teasdale	...	Barbara Allen
Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson	...	Rochester Van Jones (as Eddie Anderson)
Virginia Dale	...	Virginia Astor
Theresa Harris	...	Josephine
Richard Denning	...	Joe
Jack Carson	...	Policeman
Barnett Parker	...	George - Fred's Chauffeur
Russell Hicks	...	Mr. Harrington
Mary Kelley	...	Chambermaid
Chester Clute	...	Judge
Judd McMichael	...	Merry Mac
Ted McMichael	...	Merry Mac

Storyline

Jack Benny is preparing his New Year's Eve radio broadcast but takes time out to take his valet Rochester to meet his girlfriend Josephine arriving on a steamer. Fred Allen and his sister Barbara are also en route to the dock to meet Barbara's daughter Mary, returning from a personal appearance tour in South America. Josephine is her maid. Their cars get involved in an accident and, in a bumping contest, Fred reduces Jack's old Maxwell to junk, and is taken to jail. Mary loses her dress in an accident and Jack offers to get her another one, but winds up being arrested for stealing. Barbara tells Mary that Fred is a nervous wreck because of Jack's continual slander of him on Jack's radio program. Jack hires the Merry Macs away from Fred and Fred decides to go to Miami for a rest. Jack decides to open his radio program from Miami. They meet, have another brawl, and end up in jail again. The two are in a motorboat accident where both are knocked unconscious and Mary, in an effort to end ...

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Plot Keywords:

title from bible

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Genres:

Comedy | Musical

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

27 December 1940 (USA)

Also Known As:

Ama o Teu Vizinho

Filming Locations:

Santa Catalina Island, Channel Islands, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

82 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

One of over 700 Paramount Productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by Universal ever since.

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Connections

Referenced in Fashion Horizons (1940)

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Soundtracks

"My Heart Belongs To Daddy"
Music and Lyrics by Cole Porter
Sung by Mary Martin

User Reviews

Mary Martin shines up the dross

I was very keen,as a longtime fan of both Jack Benny and Fred Allen to see how they would work together in a film.What a disappointment.The script was feeble and devoid of any wit at all.It has to be said that Jack Benny was far better in films where he actually played a character than when he played his radio character.Maybe he was a far better actor than anyone realised at the time.Maybe if you took his character out of the radio situation it just did not work.The least you would expect from 2 great comedians together is a few laughs but believe me this film is a chuckle free zone.There are a couple of good songs sung very well by Mary Martin who made far too few films.The production numbers are likeliest and seem to have been done almost as an afterthought.So if you have fond radio memories of these two comedians avoid this woeful effort.