The Road to Hong Kong (1962)

As everyone knows, Bing Crosby and Bob Hope starred in seven "Road to" movies. For no real reason, I started at the end and watched The Road to Hong Kong first! I have nothing to compare this one with, but it felt like a very well-oiled installment, with jokes and references to the previous flicks included in the dialogue, and with chemistry between the two leads that was obviously cultivated through the decades. In this last "Road" movie, Bob and Bing get mixed up in two very dated concepts: a space race with Russia and making fun of the Chinese. There are tons of mimics and offensive gags about the Chinese people and their culture, so if you're going to sit through this one, you'll need to expect and overlook those. With Joan Collins serving as the fodder for the love triangle, and a pretty cute cameo from regular cast member Dorothy Lamour, the rest of the un-offensive script is pretty funny. Bob and Bing have a constant push-and-pull relationship and their jokes are a great mixture of old-school vaudevillian banter and sixties sex comedy gags. While this was my first "Road" movie, I liked it enough to check out another. This one has really funny, unexpected cameos from Peter Sellars, David Niven, Pat O'Brien, Dean Martin, and Frank Sinatra! I can't wait to see what the other movies have in store!

Bob Hope was and remains a phenomenon! And that, not only because he lived a biblical age, 100 years, but because he was a great comic actor, full of charm. Bing Crosby, a warm, pleasant voice, but not such a great actor. Here we have a very young Joan Collins, who looks like a candy, a Robert Morley, who, as usual, looks like a huge potato, a Walter Gotell, training for the upcoming roles in the original Bond series, an older Dorothy Lamour and, in episodic roles, some great names like Dean Martin, David Niven, Frank Sinatra. The best moment in the whole movie, in fact, an absolutely exceptional scene, also in an episodic role, makes the unparalleled, the greatest comic actor of all time, Peter Sellers (probably, training for "The Party"). Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch you too?

After an accident leaves "Chester Babcock" (Bob Hope) with amnesia, his partner "Harry Turner" (Bing Crosby) takes him to a Tibetan lamasery in search of a special herb that will restore his memory. What they don't know is that upon taking this drug certain people develop a photographic memory as well and Chester just happens to be one of them. This comes into great use when Chester is accidentally given a secret formula for rocket fuel which he memorizes prior to Harry haphazardly destroying it. Unfortunately, a secret criminal organization known as the "Third Echelon" desperately wants this formula in their quest for world domination and Chester now becomes their number one target. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that I thought that this film served as a rather fitting ending to a very successful comedy series. I especially liked the scene featuring Chester dressed up to look Chinese and Dorothy Lamour as the songstress. Absolutely hilarious. In any case, I enjoyed this movie and I have rated it accordingly. Above average.

This is actually the first Cosby/Hope "Road" picture I ever saw. I knew it was the last (after a 10 year break) and (for some reason) was in b&w--probably because Cosby and Hope looked better that way. I also heard it was pretty bad. While it's not great, I sort of enjoyed it.The plot was REALLY silly and involves the boys in espionage with Joan Collins along for the ride and a (surprisingly) very bad job by Robert Morley as the lead villain. Dorothy Lamour decided to not costar in this one but she does pop up (playing herself) in an amusing cameo and sings one song (Cosby sings too). There's also a really silly and pointless bit when Cosby and Hope are sent to outer space. And the ending is desperate.Still, it was well-made and Cosby and Hope were a wonderful team--their easy banter is great to watch and they made the worst lines seem funny. Also it's fun to see Collins (who's quite good) so young and full of sex appeal. So, it's enjoyable way to kill 90 minutes. I'm seen better but I've seen worse too.