The Love Ban 1973 Based on the 1969 play It's A 2'6" Above The Ground World by Kevin Laffan, there's no credit given for the screenplay writer, the director is Ralph Thomas, the producer is Betty E Box. Ralph directed 42 films in his 30 year career. He directed 6 of the Doctor film series, two of the Carry On film series, and a favorite of mine, the 1959 version of The 39 Steps with Kenneth More.
The movie is part of The British Film series from Network. The movie uses the It's A 2'6" Above The Ground World title. I find The Love Ban title less cumbersome. It's also been retitled Anyone For Sex?
The movie opens up with animated credits and a really poor pop song. Hywel Bennett and Nanette Newman are a couple with 6 children. She's tired of being pregnant and has gone on strike until her strict Catholic husband lets them get some contraception. Milo O'Shea is Hywel's priest and a friend. Seems he's always popping by.
Poor Hywel is desperate for a bit of action, it's been 10 months, and his mind is imagining many of the local young ladies are running about naked. Luckily for some of us the young ladies appear on the screen.
Everywhere he goes he's reminded of sex, sadly for Hywel he's working at a bra company and he's got to be hands on with the merchandise. Hywel slowly gets swayed to buying some condoms but he's too sad and wimpy to succeed at a drug store. Hywel stops in at a barber that sells Durex (?) and all he winds up with is a bad haircut.
Nanette and her friend stop in at a contraception lecture given by John Cleese. Nannette decides to buy some birth control pills at the drug store and heads home. Nanette and her friend's trip has a series of vague comedy bits that involve their lack of driving skills. There's also another subplot with the family au-pair getting pregnant. Eventually things get sorted out, the reconciled couple head to bed, only to interrupted by their small fry.
Mildly amusing, nothing made me laugh out loud, glad to have seen it.
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