Road to Bali: Paramount Pictures
Rating: Unrated

For those of you who’ve been reading my film reviews for some time, today’s piece might seem like an incredibly odd departure from the norm—I’m sure some of you read the title and immediately thought ‘hey! Who is this pod person masquerading as Mike_Bracken?’ Well, rest assured dear readers—I’ve not been kidnapped by aliens and replaced by a clone…I just really love Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, and Dorothy Lamour’s Road movies. I know…how can a guy who writes about gory horror, mondo death tapes, and sleazy exploitation flicks like a series of lighthearted musical comedies from the ‘40s and ‘50s? I don’t know the answer to that one—but no one ever told you that everything in the world would make sense.

Hope, Crosby, and Lamour would first work together in 1940’s Road to Singapore, the first of what would eventually grow into a series of seven films spanning a period of over two decades. The chemistry between the three actors grew stronger with each subsequent film (Lamour had some difficulty in the keeping up in the first film since much of the comedy was ad-libbed right on the set) and by the time Road to Bali was released in 1952, all three were completely at ease with each other in front of the camera.

The story in Road to Bali is typical of most of the series. Hope and Crosby play good friends who’re almost always involved in some kind of scam. They wind up in an exotic locale and meet Dorothy Lamour. Soon, both of the boys are in love with Dorothy and competing for her affections. Of course, there are always complications, a bunch of scenes where Hope and Crosby break down the fourth wall and talk directly to the audience, and lots of songs and comedy along the way before we reach the inevitable climax.

Road to Bali is no exception to this rule. Hope and Crosby start out the film as musical performers in Australia. When each is confronted by a father expecting them to marry their daughters, the boys hightail it out of town. Needing money to get home, they take the only jobs available—a position as deep-sea divers on a tropical island. Bob and Bing sign on for the job (which involves retrieving sunken treasure) and meet Princess Lala (Dorothy Lamour). Lamour falls for both men, and informs them of her cousin’s plot to kill them. They recover the treasure, but must set sail for Bali after Lala is betrayed by her evil cousin.

What follows from there is just what you’d expect—lots of crooning from Bing, lots of jokes from Hope, and a constant series of attempts on each man’s part to one-up the other and gain Lamour’s hand in marriage, all before the standard ending where one man gets the girl.

This was the sixth installment in the series overall, and while the formula of the films is very predictable at this point, the movie still works—largely because of the performances from the three leads. There’s no denying the chemistry between these three actors—it literally jumps off the screen at you. While watching these films, one rarely gets the impression that these are actors working—they often come across more like friends having a good time goofing around on some elaborately decorated sets.

Hope and Crosby compliment each other perfectly—Crosby sets up the jokes, Hope fires them off (although, Crosby does get his fair share of one liners in as well). This becomes even more impressive when you consider that a lot of the stuff in these films was ad-libbed on the fly—if you don’t have chemistry, ad-libbing doesn’t work…and it works flawlessly in these films.

Lamour has less to do in the movies—she mainly sings a few songs and stands around looking pretty, but she does it well. And, of course, even Lamour manages to fire off a zinger or two in each of the films—which is why this team is regarded as one of the best cinematic comedy trios of all time.

Interestingly enough, this was the first of the Road films to be shot in color. The ‘exotic locales’ (which were really just nicely decorated sets) look splendid in Technicolor, as do the actors. And while many of the visual effects are incredibly hokey by today’s standards (particularly the shots of the ocean in the backgrounds of scenes—it’s painfully obvious that it’s just a projected image) they do add a certain amount of charm to film overall. Face it, you’re not watching a film made in 1952 for cutting edge FX work anyway.

Not only was this the first Road film to utilize color, it was also the first one to feature cameos from famous actors as part of the film’s gags. There are quite a few famous faces turning up during Road to Bali’s roughly ninety-minute running time, including Jane Seymour, Dean Martin, and Humphrey Bogart. Younger audiences might not recognize these guys, but I did—and I thought the cameos were excellent.

The music is just what you’d expect from viewing previous installments of the series. Bing gets to croon a song to Lamour, Lamour belts out a tune of her own, and all three actors combine for a number as well. The songs themselves are a bit of a mixed bag—they’re all good, but none of them quite compare to the tracks in Road to Morocco.

Despite being another solid entry in the series, the film does have a few flaws. First off, the editing is really bad in spots—the cuts are rough and abrupt and keep the film from flowing from one scene to the next. They’re at their most jarring when they cut off the last syllable of a word, or music in mid-note. Smoother transitions between the scenes would have made the film even more enjoyable overall.

The other minor problem deals with the film’s opening. This is one of the weaker openings in the series, and I can’t help but wonder if it was based mostly on the fact that Hope, Crosby, and the writers were running low on ideas. Much of the early comedy seems forced or painfully obvious (and while most of the comedy in these films is sort of cheesy by today’s standards, it rarely seemed forced in the earlier movies) and it tends to bog the film down a bit. Don’t worry, though—after that first twenty-minutes, things get back on track and the film finds its groove.

Overall, Road to Bali is another solid entry in Hope, Crosby, and Lamour’s series of Road films—no small feat when you consider it was the sixth time they’d done this. It’s not the high water mark for the series, but it follows the formula faithfully, and works primarily because of the chemistry between the three leads. Personally, I like to think of this as the last of the Road films (thereby forgetting about the uninspired Road to Hong Kong from 1962) and let the series end on a relatively high note. If you’re in the mood for an old-fashioned romantic comedy musical, then Road to Bali (or any of the Road films, for that matter) is worthy of your consideration. They just don’t make ‘em like this anymore…


Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: VHS
Video Occasion: Good for a Rainy Day
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children up Ages 8