Bio[]
Rudy Doppleganger is a British citizen whose honeymoon with his wife is interrupted by a United States/Russian border dispute going through his hotel room. Literally seconds after preparing for bed, a Russian guard (David Battley) enters their room through a door in their bathroom, and a painter (Ken Parry) paints a line down the room between the two beds in the room. The guard then sets up an American flag on Rudy's side and a Russian flag on Greta's side along with a table used as a checkpoint. Rudy and the guard soon get into a verbal detente as he tries to join his wife on the Russian side or move his bed closer to her. To join her, he must apply for a Visitor's Visa and answer a few questions. Unfortunately, Rudy soon has to use the bathroom which the Russians have seized, and he's stuck using the one in the hallway. In his absence, the guard talks Russian propaganda to Greta, getting her to embrace Russian philosophy. When Rudy returns and finds the guard has departed, he tries to join Greta surreptitiously, but she rebukes his Western philosophy and sends him away. However, a female guard (Barbara Lindley) arrives and notices the flags in the wrong places, correcting them. Greta is now stranded on the American side as Rudy flirts with the attractive Russian guard.
Trivia[]
- Rudy was played by Benny Hill. His wife, Greta, was played by Eira Heath. The Russian Guards were played by David Battley and Barbara Lindley.
- Battley is possibly best known for playing the muddled teacher Mr. Turkentine in the 1971 motion picture, "Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory." In the 1980s, an urban legend claimed his Wonka co-star, Julie Dawn Cole, was one of Benny's Hill's Angels. That Angel has since been identified as Erica Lynley.
- Dialogue in the sketch suggests Rudy and Greta were previously married before getting married to each other.
- This sketch possibly ranks as one of Benny's best remembered and ingenious sketches.
