Road to Morocco (1942)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

David Butler

Writers:

Frank Butler (original screenplay) and
Don Hartman (original screenplay)

Release Date:

22 April 1943 (Australia)

Genre:

Adventure | Comedy | Family | Romance

Tagline:

You'll Shriek At These Shieks! . . . trying the double - Oh! on Sheikess Dorothy Lamour!

Plot:

Two carefree castaways on a desert shore find an Arabian Nights city, where they compete for the luscious Princess Shalmar.

Plot Keywords:

Princess | Desert | Castaway | Rescue | Camel

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 1 win

Cast

Bing Crosby	...	Jeff Peters
Bob Hope	...	Orville 'Turkey' Jackson / Aunt Lucy
Dorothy Lamour	...	Princess Shalmar
Anthony Quinn	...	Mullay Kasim
Dona Drake	...	Mihirmah
Vladimir Sokoloff	...	Hyder Khan
Mikhail Rasumny	...	Ahmed Fey
George Givot	...	Neb Jolla

Runtime:

82 min (DVD) | 81 min (copyright length)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #8255) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | USA:TV-G (TV rating) | Finland:S | Sweden:15 | UK:U | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Imperial County, California, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

Paramount shot two endings for the film. The one not used had Bob Hope and Bing Crosby enlisting in the Marines and ended with the line "See you on the road to Tokyo."

Goofs:

Continuity: After Orville and Jeff emerge from splashing in the oasis, they are dry.

Quotes:

Princess Shalmar: [about Jeff] Now, Orville, I want you to tell me the truth. Do you know him?
Turkey Jackson: Well I used to but I kinda outgrew him, I don't dally much with riff-raff these days and he's a pretty raffy kind of a riff.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in History of the World: Part I (1981)

Soundtrack:

Moonlight Becomes You

very funny

Bob Hope is a very underappreciated performer. Of course, he was better as a comedian than as a movie actor, but that's just because he resigned himself to making lightweight comedies like this one. This comedy is very funny; yes, it's pretty lightweight, but what did you expect?

I like all the "Road to" pictures, but this is the best that I've seen. Of course, you won't get any great plots or intricate character development with them, but they are highly entertaining. Likewise, "Road to Morocco" is a very funny movie, if not a bit uneven. See this movie for some good laughs.

P.S. This movie is definitely harmless, despite the comment written by someone who seems to think it's homophobic. I'm wondering if he watched the same movie that I did.