On the Road With Bob Hope and Bing Crosby Collection (Road to Singapore/Road to Zanzibar/Road to Morocco/Road to Utopia)

Rating:
Summary: bob and bing are hilarious
Review: bob hope and bing crosby are great together. their antics in these movie are so funny i had to laugh. i have seen these four movies and one other of the "on the road to" movies. they are comical. any classic movie love should love these. it is definately worth the $20.00 i spent on the 4 pack of moives.

Rating:
Summary: bob and bing are hilarious
Review: bob hope and bing crosby are great together. their antics in these movie are so funny i had to laugh. i have seen these four movies and one other of the "on the road to" movies. they are comical. any classic movie love should love these. it is definately worth the $20.00 i spent on the 4 pack of moives.

Rating:
Summary: A Great Set
Review: If you don't like classic comedy, you're not going to like this either. But for me, this is my first stop when I need to take a break from the Marx Brothers (who I watch way too much). These films are exhibit A for Bob Hope's comedic talents, and Bing's cooler than you or I will ever be. Plus with Bing around, I'm actually happy to listen when the songs come, which is not the case for most 30's and 40's Hollywood films. Morocco is my favorite, but any of these four films can brighten a dark day. There are a few decent extras on this set, and for $20 it's a steal. If you're willing to watch a comedy made before "Animal House," you should go ahead and take the plunge into Hope and Crosby's world.

Rating:
Summary: bob and bing are hilarious
Review: Reviewing Bing and Bob's "Road to" pictures is like saying of ice cream, "tastes good." We would no sooner think deeply about Rocky Road than "Road to Singapore." But I'm going to make a few observations anyway.

The spontaneity of Hope and Crosby in these films is legendary-- the way they turn to the camera from time to time and talk to the audience, and how they insert their own lines (each paying his own group of writers on the side to outdo the other in the laugh department).

Another aspect of these first four "Road" pictures (the best of the seven total) is their idealization of adolescent bachelorhood. These boys do their best to get away from their adult responsibilities-- wife, job, ashtrays for cigarettes.

With "patty cake, patty cake" and "pow!" they're off to far away places with strange sounding names, as much a male fantasy as the 007 pictures. Only they're not out to save the world, oh no. They're out to save themselves from a nasty, moustached Anthony Quinn, or a chanting pack of be-boned and painted cannibals.

The only fighting they do is over the beautiful Dorothy Lamour. Try to imagine any other actress in her role, and I'll lay you eight to five you won't find another. She's as essential to these pictures as Bing and Bob-- and she can sing!

Zany and chaotic these adventures may be, but there's a certain class to them too, including the costumes and the sets, and most notably the timeless songs, many by Van Heusen and Burke: the ballads "Too Romantic," "It's Always You," "Moonlight Becomes You" and fun numbers of the I-don't-care-if-I'm-poor variety such as "Ain't Got A Dime to My Name." Hopefully younger audiences won't go "ho hum" to these old-fashioned tunes and press fast forward.

Each successive picture is funnier than the one before, culminating in the hilarious "Utopia" (which could have been "Alaska"). Yet "Morocco" is the best all-around, having a certain magic and polish, and some of the best one-liners. "Singapore" has a unique freshness to it because they still didn't know what they were on to-- maybe not as funny but it captures the essence of the single man who wants to be nothing but a nobody.

To say that the treatment of non-whites is "un-P.C." isn't doing justice to how badly they are portrayed. It seems that anybody with slightly dark skin can pass for the inhabitant of one of these "uncivilized" countries. And the two white dudes feel they are entitled to anything they want among the "savages." Young kids might need to be told that these portrayals are sort of stupid and mean.

Still, let's not get carried away-- the whole thing is *supposed* to be ridiculous and that's one reason it's so funny. Think of Apu in "The Simpsons." The people who are making the movies are laughing at their own ignorance.

It would be impossible to recapture the chemistry of Bing, Bob and Dorothy, to make movies that are so funny yet so musical, with humor that is safe enough for young kids but edgy enough for adults. And here they are-- the top four on *one* DVD.

Rating:
Summary: Nothing like it before or since.
Review: Reviewing Bing and Bob's "Road to" pictures is like saying of ice cream, "tastes good." We would no sooner think deeply about Rocky Road than "Road to Singapore." But I'm going to make a few observations anyway.

The spontaneity of Hope and Crosby in these films is legendary-- the way they turn to the camera from time to time and talk to the audience, and how they insert their own lines (each paying his own group of writers on the side to outdo the other in the laugh department).

Another aspect of these first four "Road" pictures (the best of the seven total) is their idealization of adolescent bachelorhood. These boys do their best to get away from their adult responsibilities-- wife, job, ashtrays for cigarettes.

With "patty cake, patty cake" and "pow!" they're off to far away places with strange sounding names, as much a male fantasy as the 007 pictures. Only they're not out to save the world, oh no. They're out to save themselves from a nasty, moustached Anthony Quinn, or a chanting pack of be-boned and painted cannibals.

The only fighting they do is over the beautiful Dorothy Lamour. Try to imagine any other actress in her role, and I'll lay you eight to five you won't find another. She's as essential to these pictures as Bing and Bob-- and she can sing!

Zany and chaotic these adventures may be, but there's a certain class to them too, including the costumes and the sets, and most notably the timeless songs, many by Van Heusen and Burke: the ballads "Too Romantic," "It's Always You," "Moonlight Becomes You" and fun numbers of the I-don't-care-if-I'm-poor variety such as "Ain't Got A Dime to My Name." Hopefully younger audiences won't go "ho hum" to these old-fashioned tunes and press fast forward.

Each successive picture is funnier than the one before, culminating in the hilarious "Utopia" (which could have been "Alaska"). Yet "Morocco" is the best all-around, having a certain magic and polish, and some of the best one-liners. "Singapore" has a unique freshness to it because they still didn't know what they were on to-- maybe not as funny but it captures the essence of the single man who wants to be nothing but a nobody.

To say that the treatment of non-whites is "un-P.C." isn't doing justice to how badly they are portrayed. It seems that anybody with slightly dark skin can pass for the inhabitant of one of these "uncivilized" countries. And the two white dudes feel they are entitled to anything they want among the "savages." Young kids might need to be told that these portrayals are sort of stupid and mean.

Still, let's not get carried away-- the whole thing is *supposed* to be ridiculous and that's one reason it's so funny. Think of Apu in "The Simpsons." The people who are making the movies are laughing at their own ignorance.

It would be impossible to recapture the chemistry of Bing, Bob and Dorothy, to make movies that are so funny yet so musical, with humor that is safe enough for young kids but edgy enough for adults. And here they are-- the top four on *one* DVD.

Rating:
Summary: Great Collection, But Where Are the Other Three?
Review: This collection of the first four Road pictures is well worth having. The picture quality is excellent and all four films are loaded on one double-sided disc. But where are the remaining three Road pictures? This would have made the ultimate Road collection. Disappointing.

Rating:
Summary: Great Collection, But Where Are the Other Three?
Review: This collection of the first four Road pictures is well worth having. The picture quality is excellent and all four films are loaded on one double-sided disc. But where are the remaining three Road pictures? This would have made the ultimate Road collection. Disappointing.

Rating:
Summary: Patty-Cake, Patty-Cake, Baker's Man...
Review: Wow! The first four Hope and Crosby road pics on one DVD! What can you say? The first two, ROAD TO SINGAPORE and ROAD TO ZANZIBAR (though still funny) are still trying to flesh out the chemistry of the duo and the two actors adhere to the scripts. Then, they hit their stride of hilarity and break out in ROAD TO MORROCCO and continues in ROAD TO UTOPIA. However, in ROAD TO ZANZIBAR evidence of what is to come in Hope and Crosby's future pairings comes near the end of the film. The two are captured by cannibals in Africa and are tested to see if they are gods (sort of a variation of THE MAN WHO WOULD BE KING). Hope's character is forced to wrestle a gorilla in a caged match. This is very funny as Hope shows his ability for physical comedy. Then, the climax is when they are about to be literally cooked for dinner. They use their patented "patty-cake" routine to escape from the cannibals. This is even more hilarious than the gorilla scene. Then, in ROAD TO MOROCCO, the famous ad-libbing and rapid fire delivery of dialogue is apparent and the film is zany from beginning to end as the duo are involved with a Moroccan Princess (Dorothy Lamour) and an angry Shiek (Anthony Quinn). Then, in ROAD TO UTOPIA the two go to Alaska for the gold rush and get involved in a case of mistaken identity. Overall, the four films showcase one of the great pairings in the history of entertainment and some of the funniest and successful film franchises. The DVD package has little extras except for a couple of sing-along features and liner notes, but having the four films on one disc at a price lower than some other collection discs is worth it.