Friends and Neighbours explained

Friends and Neighbours is a 1959 British comedy film directed by Gordon Parry and starring Arthur Askey, Megs Jenkins and Peter Illing.^{[1] [2]} It was written by Talboth Rothwell and Val Valentine based on the play of the same title by Austin Steele.

Plot

At the height of the Cold War, a working-class British family have to entertain two visitors from Russia.

Cast

• Arthur Askey as Albert Grimshaw
• Megs Jenkins as Lily Grimshaw
• Peter Illing as Nukita
• Tilda Thamar as Olga
• Reginald Beckwith as Wilf Holmes
• June Whitfield as Doris Holmes
• Danny Ross as Sebastian Green
• Catherine Feller as Susan Grimshaw
• Jess Conrad as Buddy Fisher
• George A. Cooper as Wheeler, George
• Max Robertson as TV announcer
• Arthur Howard as Rev. Dobson
• Eynon Evans as Shopkeeper
• Linda Castle as Gloria Stockwell
• Ken Parry as Sid
• Steven Scott as Bus superintendent
• Richard Walter as bus inspector
• Donald Bisset as porter
• Anatole Smirnoff as Russian embassy official
• Laurence Herder as 1st Russian
• Paul Bogdan as 2nd Russian
• Alan Scott as 3rd Russian
• Dudley Jones as Sam
• Robert Checksfield as policeman
• Ruth Kettlewell as woman in club
• Camilla Hasse as 1st girl
• Julia Sutton as 2nd girl
• Pauline Shepherd as 3rd girl
• Judy Cornwell as 4th girl

Reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "Arthur Askey's improvisation atones somewhat for the paucity of wit and ideas in this ingenuous piece of broad knockabout; the targets – pubs and shop hours Act anomalies and cricket – are attacked with zest rather than originality."^[3]

References

1. Web site: Friends and Neighbours . 15 July 2024 . British Film Institute Collections Search.
2. https://web.archive.org/web/20090114183411/http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/34013 BFI.org
3. 1 January 1959 . Friends and Neighbours . . 26 . 300 . 158 . ProQuest.