The Road to Morocco

Rating:
Summary: A hilarious adventure with Crosby, Hope, and Lamour
Review: This was my first "Road to" film, and I can only hope the other three are as funny as this one. Of course, you can hardly go wrong with the terrific tandem of Bing Crosby and Bob Hope (and Dorothy Lamour certainly doesn't hurt, either). I have never really thought about Bing Crosby as a comedic actor, but he and Hope have an incredible chemistry that leads to constant hilarity. They really ham it up, sometimes playing directly to the audience, and Hope's facial expressions never seem to stop. This is a movie that does not take itself at all seriously; it's a refreshing breath of fresh air blowing through today's climate of over-produced Hollywood extravaganzas.

Jeffrey Peters (Crosby) and Orville "Turkey" Jackson (Hope) are a couple of swells who find themselves shipwrecked (thanks to Orville). Soon they are off (singing) on the Road to Morocco with nothing but food on their minds. Since they have no money, they are in a bit of a pickle about how to pay for their meal - that's when Peters solves their money problems by selling Orville to an Arab. After dead Aunt Lucy (yes, it's Hope in drag) appears to him and makes him feel guilty, Jeffrey decides to rescue his friend. Orville, though, doesn't want rescuing because he is being primped and pampered in the palace of Princess Shalmar (Dorothy Lamour). The idea of Orville marrying the beautiful princess doesn't set right with Jeffrey, and he starts crooning in her ear himself. The princess is supposed to marry Mullay Kassim (Anthony Quinn), and he (and his party of gunmen) has something to say about what goes on here. Naturally, Jeffrey and Orville end up in hot water, but they are surprisingly resourceful (they also obviously sent off for all the nifty gadgets listed on the back of old comic books as kids). Need I say it? Hilarity ensues.

Almost every joke and one-liner lands solidly in this film, and a good many of them are laugh-out-loud funny. You also get the treat of hearing Bing Crosby, the ultimate crooner, sing a few numbers (actually, Hope's singing isn't that bad, either). In what is probably the most famous scene from the movie, Hope, Crosby, and Lamour sing Moonlight Becomes You in each others' voices - it's a priceless bit. The Road to Morocco is classic slap-stick comedy at its very best. Thank goodness we have all these old movies available to us because they certainly don't make 'em like this anymore.