Road to Singapore *** (1940, Bing Crosby, Dorothy Lamour, Bob Hope, Charles Coburn, Anthony Quinn, Jerry Colonna) – Classic Movie Review 6606

Director Victor Schertzinger’s happy 1940 Paramount comedy Road to Singapore is the first of the memorable series of Road movies starring Bob Hope, Bing Crosby and Dorothy Lamour.

Hope and Crosby star as playboys Ace Lannigan and Josh Mallon, who are hiding out in Singapore to forget women (so where else would they go?).

Naturally however, once there, they encounter a most beguiling woman – the entrancing Mima (Lamour in her tademark sarong) – and they are soon on the road to rack and ruin.

This series curtain-raiser is good entertainment even if it misses being the pick of the franchise bunch because it is a regulation romantic situation comedy with only a hint of the irrepressible zany wackiness that eventually made the series so popular.

Dorothy Lamour and Bing Crosby in the trailer for Road to Singapore.

But the ideally teamed stars twinkle and tease very nicely in the most likeable and amusing of performances, Charles Coburn (as rich shipping magnate Joshua Mallon IV) and Anthony Quinn (as Caesar) beef up the support cast, and there is easily enough laid-back wit in Don Hartman and Frank Butler’s screenplay (based on a story by Harry Hervey) to fill the short running time of just 85 minutes.

Also in the cast are Judith Barrett as Gloria Wycott, Jerry Colonna as Achilles Bombanassa, Monte Blue, Arthur Q Bryan, Johnny Arthur, Pierre Watkin, Gaylord Pendleton, Miles Mander, Don Brodie, Edward Gargan and Robert Emmet O’Connor.

Road to Singapore is shot in black and white by William C Mellor, produced by Harlan Thompson and scored by Victor Young.

Charles Coburn plays Crosby’s dad, rich shipping magnate Joshua Mallon IV.

Crosby’s recording of ‘Too Romantic’ was a big hit reaching number three in the US charts during a 12-week stay and ‘Sweet Potato Piper’ also reached the top 20.

The script, then called Road to Mandalay, was rejected by Fred MacMurray and Jack Oakie, and then (now re-titled Beach of Dreams) by George Burns and Gracie Allen. Burns said Allen thought the whole thing was silly.

The long-running, highly popular Road to … series of movies spotlighting the trio amounted to seven in all. Hope and Crosby were planning yet another Road film when Crosby died in 1977.

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 6606

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com

Jerry Colonna plays the piano and plays Achilles Bombanassa.