Road to Singapore (1940)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

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:

During a lunch break, 'Bob Hope' threw a handful of the soap suds at Dorothy Lamour and soon Bing Crosby became involved. The fight ended when Lamour cornered Hope and Crosby and threw all she had at them. The director was not particularly pleased because it would take hours to repair their hair, makeup, and clothing.

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:

Ace Lannigan: I just want you to stand there and admire me for a while. I just got an idea that's gonna make us a fortune. I don't know how I do it.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in "Duckman: Private Dick/Family Man: Duckman and Cornfed in 'Haunted Society Plumbers' (#4.14)" (1997)

Soundtrack:

Too Romantic

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.