So it begins. Bob Hope & Bing Crosby
John Chard
So it begins. Bob Hope & Bing Crosby team up here for what was the start of a musical comedy franchise that would yield seven movies in total. Six of which…
So it begins.
Bob Hope & Bing Crosby team up here for what was the start of a musical comedy franchise that would yield seven movies in total. Six of which would also feature Dorothy Lamour as the leading lady. This first outing finds the boys and Dorothy on the island of Kaigoon, where the lads are escaping from scandal and romantic entanglements and she tied to an abusive partner played by Anthony Quinn. With no money and trouble coming thick and fast, the three of them will do well to survive the week together, especially since love is once again in the air.
It's probably (in a good way) the simplicity of the plotting's that made it such a popular franchise. For the "Road" movies are in truth simple frameworks on which to hang the charming comedy contrasts of Hope & Crosby. Though Crosby is not the straight man as such, he's the more reserved part of the duo, his mannered delivery of the lines and his casual approach to the scrapes they get in blends delightfully with Hope's more crash bang characterisations. And of course they are aided by Lamour who acts as not just as a catalyst for some play off shenanigans, but also as the rose between two spiky hormonal thorns.
Road To Singapore is far from the best of the series and far from being the worst, but it holds up very well and harks back to a time when harmless innuendo, breezy pacing and a willingness to let the actors ad lib situations made for good wholesome comedy. Good songs dot themselves throughout the piece too, with the stand out being "Too Romantic" performed by Crosby & Lamour.
A lovely little piece that serves as a foundation for a much loved series. 6.5/10
★ 8 / 10
The beginning of a great series
Calysta
Bing Crosby, Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour may never have been the Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald of the 1930s and 1940s Hollywood musicals, but anything…
Bing Crosby, Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour may never have been the Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald of the 1930s and 1940s Hollywood musicals, but anything they ever recorded during this period was better than any of the painful operetta stuff of the latter screen duo. Brilliant songs are featured once again, including `Too Romantic' and `The Willow and the Moon'.
ROAD TO SINGAPORE essentially is a romantic comedy with mass complications of playboys with serial patty-pan punching techniques, cheating people with soapsuds cleaner and both falling for Dottie. The slapstick gags featured are not as hilarious as the definitive film of the series, ROAD TO MOROCCO, but due to the enormous success of SINGAPORE, the trio's comedy skills allowed for a continuing series in which the progressing films became zanier. Generally good direction, an agreeably funny script and a supporting cast headed by Charles Coburn only amounts to part of the fun.
However, once again Paramount, and in a more generalised context, Hollywood itself, displays its lack of understanding for foreign culture. Singapore, or the island in question, which isn't actually Singapore, looks like an extremely undeveloped Malaysia. The natives don't actually convince one of being native, nor do any of the ceremonial activities trick for one second.
Dorothy Lamour, although an exquisitely beautiful actress, does not resemble an islander native, although it isn't exactly her fault.In the same manner, some people may find this film offensive, or any of the ROAD films because they are not a true representation for any culture. But most movies made during this period simply didn't have much regard to exact details of foreign lands. And in such a brilliant comedy, it doesn't really matter.Rating: 10/10
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TOMATOMETER
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So good to see a road to movie thank you Freeman