Love Thy Neighbor (1940) User Reviews (10)

Share it with your neighbor

[hte-trasme · 7/10 · 15 April 2010]

Jack Benny and Fred Allen, in their respective popular and long-running shows in the golden age of radio, carried on probably the most famous and well-loved comedy mock-feud in history. The battle, carried on in snide remarks and guest appearances on the two series, was at its height around 1940, and "Love Thy Neighbor" capitalized by extending it to the movie screen.

The result is a slightly strange-feeling but enjoyable musical that seems torn between being an extension of the Benny and Allen radio series and being a standard-issue Hollywood musical. The two leads carry over their characters, but in spots seem to be playing toned-down versions of them. Jack Benny is still the butt of countless jokes for his vanity and cheapness, but he also, uncharacteristically, is the romantic lead who get the girl.

The girl, incidentally, is called Mary, and Jack's saying of that name reminds us that while this sometimes may seem like "The Jack Benny Program" with pictures (and a decade before it appeared on television), we do miss Mary Livingston, Don Wilson, Dennis Day, Phil Harris, and the other regulars. The one who is here is Rochester, who gets a very substantial subplot to himself. Eddie Anderson runs with this and proves if proof were needed that's he's an enchanting performer. His song-and-dance number is a delight, and he actually gets more introspection and character than Jack and Fred do. His subplot does wrap him up in gambling, womanizing, and partying, though -- aspects of his radio character that were phased out after World War II for being too stereotypical and which don't play too well today. It also involves him losing a lot of money at dice to his girlfriend; they have an odd relationship.

the movie is at its best and funniest when Jack and Rochester get to play off each other -- or when he and Fred Allen simply go at each other (the scenes with the car at the beginning, or backstage of Jack's show). These are very wittily written and it's great fun to watch the chemistry between the two. However, it must be admitted that without the Benny-Allen feud element, there would not be much to this movie besides an old hidden-identity plot and a few songs.

It's a little unbelievable for Jack Benny to be falling for Fred Allen's niece, but the niece is very engagingly played by Mary Martin. As a musical, though, this suffers from the fact that the soundtrack seems to be pushing one not-to-special song, "Isn't That Just Like Love," a little too hard to be a hit.

There are some off moments of humor here as well. Fred Allen absurd and witty barbs are just as funny as ever (I would be surprised if he did not contribute heavily to his part of the script), but he also seems to be a trigger-happy madman. He shoots the neon sign for Jack's upcoming show through out through his bedroom window (helps him get to sleep). Then later he seems to get on a motorboat and chase Jack's boat around while firing a gun and trying to shoot him dead. All this is played off breezily and they then briefly even make up, but having Fred try to kill Jack in cold blood seems a little over the top. We also have him taking about 60 sleeping pills in an attempt to alleviate the insomnia Jack has given him. He survives, and I suppose the filmmakers missed the suicidal implications.

Sometimes-out-of-character schizophrenia, this film is great fun for fans of Jack Benny and/or Fred Allen -- and it's essentially fun because of them and Rochester. When this film is fun, it is a triumph over the material, which veers from glorious film meeting of two of the funniest radio series ever, to mediocre standard musical.

Best if you know some of the background on the characters and old time radio...

[AlsExGal · 7/10 · 9 February 2016]

This film is funny even if you don't know anything about the characters other than Jack Benny, perennially portrayed as a skinflint, and Rochester (Eddie Rochester Anderson), his long-suffering on-air butler. Benny and Fred Allen were radio personalities during the 20 years preceding television, and had a running faux feud with each putting the other down in their own trademark style. This film makes a feature length joke out of that long-running act.

Mary Martin plays Fred's niece, Mary, who attempts to patch up a feud between her uncle and Benny, ends up being confused with a dancer with a completely different name, and ultimately ends up romantically entangled with Jack, here portrayed as a bachelor. Benny was actually married to Mary Livingston from 1927 until his death in 1974.

The film is virtually without a plot, yet hilarious and punctuated by interesting if not tuneful musical numbers. Keep a lookout for Benny's chambermaid. She is played by Mary Kelley, and is always calling Jack "kid" in the film. Before Jack married Mary Livingston he almost married Mary Kelley, which he said would have been a huge mistake because they were always arguing. He said the almost marriage happened because when George Burns and Gracie Allen got married (both longtime friends) their love was so contagious that he caught it too! At any rate, years later, she wound up working for Jack at various times, and this was one of those times.

Highly recommended for fans of Jack Benny, Fred Allen, and old time radio.

Delightful screwball work

[jhboswell · 8/10 · 14 November 2006]

As previous reviewers have said, this film was a cinematic capitalization of the very famous feud between radio icons Fred Allen, the star of Allen's Alley, and the immortal Jack Benny. The film shows them at their fussy best, with Allen in fact becoming manic and homicidal! He was also a master comedian, and became known as the greatest wit of the old time radio era. This feud was so famous that one of the first requests of the Command Performance listening audience was that these two gentlemen would "make up." As those listeners were strictly World War II GI's, this wish was granted--but only briefly! The two were actually great friends, and very appreciate of each others' gifts. The best element of this film, then, are their wonderful scenes together: they are funnier together than apart.

Another true, valuable talent here is Eddie Anderson. This Negro entertainment pioneer was associated with Jack Benny since the mid-30's, when he began as a bit part on a radio program, until the end of his life. He was so funny as a train porter on that first program that Benny, never jealous of real talent, created a permanent role for him as Rochester, the rascally butler/chauffeur/cook/man Friday, and he became wealthy and famous.

The film is charming, unpretentious, fun, musical, and hilarious. The jokes are great; and Benny, though somewhat out of character, was never better. It was post-depression and pre-war, but its audiences didn't know that: escapism was what movie audiences of the day got. If you like the Hope and Crosby "Road" pictures, you will like this one. It's also a great treat to hear a luminous young Mary Martin render "My Heart Belongs to Daddy." It was America ofthe day at its happiest. And it showcases the funniest man we have ever produced.

Nostalgic look at entertainment of the past

[SimonJack · 7/10 · 12 June 2015]

"Love Thy Neighbor" captures something of a bygone era. In the first half of the 20th century, radio had many "shows" that made stars out of performers. Some were comedies, others were musicals with singing, and others were plays. The latter included drama, mystery, comedies, sci-fi and horror – just about anything that the movies offered that could be portrayed with sound alone. There also were some early game or contest shows. Commercial television developed after World War II, and had many of the same types of programs. Some of the best radio programs segued to TV and continued to be hits. But, many more soon died out as radio programming changed. Radio acting shows were becoming obsolete.

Jack Benny was one of the most successful entertainers to make the transition. His 24-year radio show gave way to one of the longest running TV programs. The Jack Benny Program was on the air from 1950 through 1965. His was a combination sitcom, revue, and stage show with jokes and songs. Benny also was one of the entertainers who succeeded in movies.

The plot of this movie develops around a fake feud that Benny and Fred Allen concocted. Allen had his own radio show, and the two comedians constantly lambasted one another on the air. They exchanged guest appearances a number of times. Their feud was so overblown that all the radio audience knew it wasn't real. But it was a constant and sure source of much laughter week after week.

The plot being what it is in this film, the main characters play their real lives. Besides Benny and Allen, Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson is in in a fine role and performance. Marty Martin, Virginia Dale and Jack Carson have good roles. It's too bad the plot couldn't have been written to include at least cameos of the other mainstay people on Jack's show. Those would include his wife, Mary Livingstone, singer Dennis Day, and comedy sidekicks Don Wilson, Phil Harris and Mel Blanc. Most of these moved with Benny from radio to TV, at least for a few years.

I think the feud begins to wear thin in this film, although the humor otherwise is very good. Mary Martin is a delight in her song, "My Heart Belongs to Daddy." No doubt older people will enjoy this film more than younger viewers. It is a nostalgic look at some of the good entertainment of years gone bye.

A screamingly funny Jack Benny musical.

[opsbooks · 10/10 · 8 April 2003]

Though I've not seen this movie since the 1960s, I do have the musical numbers on an audio cassette (somewhere ...) and can attest to the great soundtrack. Jack Benny was one of a kind, a comedian who could have you in fits of laughter simply by lifting an eyebrow, or gazing at the camera as if to say: "I told you so." If this ever appears on dvd, I'll be at the front of the queue!

Only Benny Could Save This Film - Love Thy Neighbor

[arthur_tafero · 5/10 · 4 April 2022]

This is one of the lesser efforts of the Pre-TV Show Jack Benny episodes that passed for B movies in the 1940s. This is the fault of the very poor screenplay/script that was created during one of the lunch hours on the studio lot. It is trite and silly. Make sure you see this Benny film AFTER exhausting all the other ones by the entertaining star.

Didn't reach my expectations

[preacha93 · 3/10 · 3 June 2004]

Warning--Contains minor SPOILERS.

First of all, let me say that I've been wanting to see this movie for over 10 years. Although I'm still in my 20s, Jack Benny has been my favorite comedian for a little over 13 years. I loved hearing him and Fred Allen together on radio, so I was very excited when I found a VHS tape of this movie for sale on ebay at a good price, so I bought it without reservation.

To be very honest, I just plain didn't like it. In fact, I liked The Horn Blows at Midnight much better than Love Thy Neighbor. Maybe this was partly due to the fact that I'm not a fan of musicals, but I prefer plot and humor.

For me, this movie had way too many songs in it, which was just filler for a pretty weak story. Yes, Jack and Fred had their scenes where they fought well and insulted each other, but that was the only thing this movie had going for it. Also, considering that they were both playing "themselves" (their radio personalities), why is Jack falling in love with and marrying Fred Allen's attractive niece? On radio, all the beautiful women hated Jack, and the only women who would go out with him were plumbers, telephone operators, waitresses. Besides, Mary Livingstone was the closest thing to a "girlfriend" that Jack had on radio. I understand that Mary had severe stage fright, hence only appearing in one film ever, but she could have at least been mentioned in this movie.

All in all, I was very disappointed with it, because it didn't come close to being what I had hoped for. The best thing about it was at least having a chance to see Jack and Fred arguing rather than just hearing them.

Mary Martin shines up the dross

[malcolmgsw · 4/10 · 1 December 2007]

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.

Love thy neighbor, hate thy rival.

[mark.waltz · 4/10 · 17 August 2018]

Back when there was a little contraption called radio (long before that big box with a picture came out), the gossip columnists had their share of urban legends that aided the stars in gaining an image, and for Jack Benny, it was very clear. Tightwad, somewhat prissy, cynical, and a lifelong enemy of fellow radio star Fred Allen. What wouldn't work on TV or in the movies today is a similarly made up rivalry (that obviously didn't exist) between TV or movie stars, as well as an attempt to pair them up to cash in on that publicity. You had to be in on the gag, and even though Jack Benny might still be slightly known today (because his series still runs somewhere in re-runs), nobody really recalls Fred Allen outside occasional references by Jack on his show. But this Paramount movie musical is simply an excuse to glue a bunch of jokes together under that publicity gag and toss in Paramount's newest ingenue, a Broadway baby named Mary Martin whose heart belonged to daddy.

Yes, just two years after singing that song on Broadway in the Cole Porter musical comedy "Leave It to Me", Mary got to sing it once again on screen, although it sort of comes out of nowhere and leads into a reprise of dancers doing a ballet to its music. Martin plays Fred's niece, staying with him and his wife (Verree Teasdale), who pretends to be a singer named Virginia Astor to get a job in Benny's newest show. However, the real Virginia Astor (Virginia Vale) shows up, creating all sorts of confusion, and adding more tension to the already contemptuous relationship between Benny and Allen who gets the upper hand on his enemy by taking control of the show. Then, of course, there is Rochester, betraying Mr. Benny who fires him by going to work for Mr. Allen, creating some comical moments, as well as a few musical numbers for the very talented Eddie "Rochester" Allen who gets to sing and dance with the beautifully clad Theresa Harris. It's one of the few times on screen to see a black actor looking like someone from society, so that is one memorable moment from this otherwise forgettable film.

Benny and Allen square off on screen

[ksdilauri · 16 November 2017]

As a comedy with music, this is standard 1940 B-picture fare, complete with an out-of-left- field ending---but it's worth at least one viewing, especially for Jack Benny and Fred Allen fans who enjoy their radio spats. The 'feud' is really the main theme of the picture, despite the charms of a young Mary Martin and a reliable supporting cast. Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson is fun to watch, and he gets some screen time---and a musical number---with a lovely black actress, Theresa Harris, as his girlfriend. She could have easily played a lead role, but this picture is Benny and Allen's baby. It won't make AFI's top ten list, but give it a watch.