Road to Singapore (1940)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Victor Schertzinger

Writers:

Frank Butler (screenplay)
Don Hartman (screenplay)

Release Date:

22 March 1940 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Musical | Romance

Tagline:

Ready For Fun . . Fight . . or a South Seas Romance . . . ! They find them all on the . . .

Plot:

Bing Crosby an Bob Hope star in the first of the 'Road to' movies as two playboys trying to forget previous romances in Singapore...

Plot Keywords:

Playboy | Family Business | South Sea Islands | Whip | Socialite

Cast

Bing Crosby	...	Joshua 'Josh' Mallon V
Dorothy Lamour	...	Mima
Bob Hope	...	Ace Lannigan
Charles Coburn	...	Joshua Mallon IV
Judith Barrett	...	Gloria Wycott
Anthony Quinn	...	Caesar
Jerry Colonna	...	Achilles Bombanassa

Also Known As:

Beach of Dreams (USA) (working title)
Road to Mandalay (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

France:U | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl | UK:U | USA:Approved (PCA #5839)

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden - 301 N. Baldwin Avenue, Arcadia, California, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

The first of the seven Bob Hope, Bing Crosby and Dorothy Lamour "Road" films.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: In one of the opening shots of the ship coming into port, the smoke from factories along the shore is moving backwards into the smokestacks.

Quotes:

Joshua Mallon IV: You seem to think the world is just some sort of a three-ring circus, and all you've got to do is to run around and have fun.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in 100 Years of Comedy (1997) (V)

Soundtrack:

Kaigoon

Extremely little to recommend it beyond the fact that it was the first of the "Road" film series.

Unlike the later "Road" films, (especially the whacky "Road to Morocco", which has stayed as fresh as when it first came out of the can), this has very little to commend it to a modern audience. It lacks pace and a good plot, seeming very episodic and "flat" in places. The songs are instantly forgettable and the "exotic" settings and scenes, such as the 'native feast', must have seemed phoney and second-rate even at the time of production. Watching them today produces a cold chill of embarassment. About the only thing the film has going for it is the obvious chemistry between Hope and Crosby, (which only really begins to shine during the "cabaret" scene they put on at Crosby's intended "engagement party" and lets you realise what they could produce and would go on to do in the later films). It was presumably this which audiences responded to when the film had its first outing. We should thus be grateful for the film providing the launch pad for one of the best screen partnerships to emerge. Otherwise, try as hard as I could, I really could find little to like in it and gave it 4/10.