Love Thy Neighbor
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Mark Sandrich
Jack Benny
Fred Allen Allen
Mary Martin
Verree Teasdale
Eddie Anderson
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Famous feuding radio comedians Jack Benny and Fred Allen end up in adjoining jail cells on New Year's Eve, 1940, after Allen totals Benny's car. Allen's fanatical vengeance causes his niece Mary to think that he is going mad, so she visits Benny at his office, intending to end the feud. At the office, however, actress Virginia Astor is late for an audition, so Mary assumes her name and, because Benny has never met her, is able to audition. Benny gives Mary the lead in his show, and she goes to Miami for the show's premiere. There, Allen shows up for a rest cure, but when he finds Benny in the same hotel, he chases him with a rifle in a boat. When Allen sees Mary in Benny's boat, he faints and the boats collide, knocking Benny unconscious. After the men regain consciousness, Mary convinces Allen that Benny saved his life, and they are reconciled. Benny later learns, however, that Allen hired Benny's valet, Rochester, whom he had fired when he caught Rochester visiting his girl friend Josephine, Allen's servant, and accused him of being a spy. Benny then accuses Mary of becoming involved with him to make him look foolish, and fires her from the show. Allen then schemes to acquire Rochester's one percent stock in the show and makes a deal with Harrington, the show's producer, whereby Harrington can join the cast if Allen can control the show. Mary, however, swears her love to Benny and acquires Rochester's one percent from Josephine. Until she marries, however, Allen is legally in charge of her finances. To save the show, Benny and Mary decide to marry during intermission, but Allen foils the plan by planting the real Virginia Astor in Benny's shower. When Virginia interrupts the wedding in a bath towel, Mary leaves, but Benny finds Allen's check to Virginia and explains all to Mary. Years later, Mary and her twin boys, who are the spitting image of Allen and Benny, meet Josephine in the park with her baby, who is an infant version of Rochester.
Director
Mark Sandrich
Cast
Jack Benny
Fred Allen Allen
Mary Martin
Verree Teasdale
Eddie Anderson
Virginia Dale
Theresa Harris
Richard Denning
Jack Carson
Barnett Parker
Russell Hicks
Mary Kelley
Chester Clute
Judd Mcmichael
Ted Mcmichael
Joe Mcmichael
Helen Carroll
Merriel Abbott Dancers
Ella Neal
Dick Winslow
Frank Coghlan Jr.
Charles Begole Smith
Eddie Dunn
Robert E. Homans
Wade Boteler
Walter Fenner
Eddie Kane
Buddy Messinger
Frank C. Moran
Edmund Beloin
William Murrow
Jess Lee Brooks
Dudley Dickerson
Madame Sul-te-wan
Harry Baldwin
Eric Alden
James Seay
Don Wilson
Wanda Mckay
Jean Phillips
Kay Stewart
Carol Adams
Gloria Williams
Ethel Clayton
Douglas Kennedy
Crew
Roland Anderson
Edmund Beloin
Johnny Burke
Hans Dreier
Arthur Franklin
Edith Head
William Lebaron
Harry Lindgren
Merriel Abbott Dancers
William Morrow
Z. Myers
Richard Olson
Ernest Pagano
Cole Porter
Leroy Prinz
Mark Sandrich
Andrea Setaro
Leroy Stone
Ted Tetzlaff
James Van Heusen
Hal Walker
Charles Woolstenhulme
Gene Yarborough
Victor Young
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
According to reviews and to studio press releases, this picture was inspired by an actual four-year feud between radio show hosts Jack Benny and Fred Allen. The feud was allegedly caused by a crack that Allen made about Benny's violin playing. In the opening credits of the film, the titles for Benny and Allen become animated and fight each other for top billing. Scriptwriters William Morrow and Edmund Beloin were writers for Benny's radio program. The speedboat sequences were shot off the coast of Santa Catalina, CA.
