The Love Ban (1973)

In a devoutly Catholic household, after six children, a wife (Nanette Newman) refuses to have sex with her husband (Hywel Bennett) because he does not believe in contraception. Based on the play IT'S A 2' 6" ABOVE THE GROUND WORLD by Kevin Laffan and directed by Ralph Thomas (DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE). In the 1970s, sex comedies were quite popular in Great Britain. Films like NO SEX PLEASE WE'RE BRITISH and PERCY to name just two and this sex farce based on a hit play. It's really rather silly and mundane though I suspect it was considered quite naughty in 1973. I suppose if you find the idea of a sexually repressed Catholic husband visually undressing women on the street or discreetly trying to buy condoms without anyone noticing amusing then you may get a few laughs out of this. The most remarkable thing about the movie considering it's a smirking sex comedy for most of its length is a tirade near the end by Nanette Newman attacking the Catholic church as patriarchal and misogynistic toward women that still (unfortunately) resonates today. With Milo O'Shea as a meddling priest, John Cleese, Georgina Hale, Nicky Henson, Angharad Rees and Antonia Ellis.