Der Weg nach Bali

From the very first Road picture Hope and Crosby were known for their ad-libbing. In fact when they guested on each other's shows the two of them would take the script and insert some of their own lines to try and catch the other off-guard.

In this Road picture I will swear that the moment the boys and Dotty Lamour were washed ashore on the proverbial south sea island, the picture is one long ad-lib. I am sure the director said, here's the plot situation just make it up as you go. It's got that kind of spontaneity.

Look for 'guest' appearances by Jane Russell, Humphrey Bogart, Martin and Lewis and Bob Crosby in this wacky romp.

Says Dotty: "I love you Bob, I love you Bing, my heart's in a real wing ding." So do we all.

ROAD TO BALI (Paramount, 1952), directed by Hal Walker, reunites the famous trio of Bing Crosby, Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour in another wild and crazy adventure for their sixth "Road" outing. Having traveled through "Singapore" (1940), "Zanzibar" (1941), "Morocco" (1942), "Utopia" (1945) and finally "Rio" (1947), with a lot of other territories to explore such as Borneo, Venice or even outer space, the writers came up with "Bali" as their next stop. With newfound surroundings, added Technicolor and surprise guest stars along the way, the material supplied, though hardly original, was no doubt quite popular in its day.

Opening with a commentary and visual over the map of Australia leading to the city in Melbourne, the story gets underway in a vaudeville house where American entertainers, George Cochran (Bing Crosby) and Harold Gridley (Bob Hope), longtime pals, are performing. Back stage are a couple of angry fathers with their daughters to whom these guys proposed, but each having no intention of marrying. Making their getaway, they soon end up on a train from which they jump out to avoid another angry father, ending up in a far away place surrounded by sheep. Arriving in another city as part of a cargo of sheep, the bearded George and Harold agree to accept jobs from Ken Ahok (Mervyn Vye) working as deep sea divers (with Harold doing the underwater job) to help locate buried treasure. Upon their arrival on an island paradise, the boys encounter Ahok's cousin, Lalah (Dorothy Lamour), a princess of Scottish descent. Because Ken Ahok happens to be responsible for the deaths of his previous divers, with intention of doing the same for these Americans, Lalah warns them that their mission means certain death. After Harold dives for and acquires the buried jewels, the trio break away from Ahok's murderous cutthroats and set sail out for Bali. While on the tropical island, further danger and numerous surprises awaits.

A movie being more fantasy than its intended South Seas island spoof, the film's best moments are its opening 20 minutes. In spite of every effort made turning out a great 91 minute comedy in the tradition of ROAD TO MOROCCO or ROAD TO UTOPIA, this latest "Road" installment grows tiresome long before it's all over. Crosby the con man, Hope the stooge, and Lamour the sarong girl in the middle, revive their past "Road" adventures with much familiarity, continue acting like over-age kids with their one "paddy cake" routine along with an assortment of ad-libs. In-jokes are put to the maximum this time around, some at a total loss for viewers today. Best bits however, are Hope and Crosby surrounded by beautiful maiden girls. An agonizing groan is heard off screen: Crosby: "What was that?" Hope: "It's Errol Flynn. He can't stand it." Or a clip insertion of Humphrey Bogart hauling The African Queen. (I thought Bali is in Indonesia!) Then there's Bing Crosby's brother Bob doing his bit with a "shot in the picture," along with Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, as well as Jane Russell in some amusing bits. There's also a running gag throughout the film where the boys play a flute to see what slowly grows out of the basket. Murvyn Vye makes a fine villain, but it would have been nice having Anthony Quinn ("Singapore" and "Morocco") back for old times sake.

Musical interludes are a tradition in the series, with new score by Johnny Burke and James Van Heusen, including: "Chicago Style" (sung by Bing Crosby and Bob Hope); "Moonflowers" (sung by Dorothy Lamour); "Hoot-Mon" (sung by Hope and Crosby in kilts, performed by handmaidens and warriors); "To See You" (sung by Crosby); "The Merry-Go-Round Around" (sung by Bob Hope, Dorothy Lamour and Bing Crosby); "Moonflowers" (reprize by Lamour); and "Wedding Chant" (natives). For Crosby's solo, Hope faces the camera addressing the theater audience that it's time for them to step out and get some popcorn.

Having fallen to public domain, poor quality prints of ROAD TO BALI have turned up on home video and DVD over the years. Better prints available happen to come from cable channels American Movie Classics and Turner Classic Movies. Being a Paramount film, notice the TCM print with both Columbia and Paramount studio logos for its introduction.

ROAD TO BALI almost became the final "Road" adventure. Ten years later, an attempt was made to revive the formula, being THE ROAD TO HONG KONG (United Artists, 1962), starring Crosby and Hope with Lamour strangely reduced to cameo appearance. Overall, any movie that can make a "monkey" out of Bob Hope, can't be all bad. (***)

One of the actors making a cameo in Road to Bali is missing from the credit list--Humphrey Bogart! Bogie is seen pulling "The African Queen" through the marsh just as he did in the movie "The African Queen"! This film is full of site gags like the earlier Road pics, including Martin and Lewis in a dream and Bing's brother Bob shooting wild game! There have been various versions of this film released on video. TCM just showed a great copy in its original form with the Paramount logo. Earlier versions had cut the logo. This film must have fallen into public domain since it was produced by Bing (and Bob?) and only released by Paramount. The interesting thing about the new TCM version is that it has an early-'50s Columbia logo at the start! They must have gained access to it as the did Road to Rio years earlier.

And, it was the only one of the "Road to..." movies that he and Bing Crosby ever did in Technicolor. The ad-libbed asides to the audience were something I had never seen or heard of before! Even more of a delightful surprise was the cameo appearance by General Burkhalter as a South Sea island chief!! The songs weren't bad, either. * "The Merry-Go-Run-Around" is probably my second-favorite song of Bob's. "Silver Bells" and "Thanks for the Memories" naturally tie for first-place.* With Bob having died this past Sunday, nostalgia channels like AMC and TCM will no doubt include this, and all his other films, in some kind of marathon movie memorial. *Which they really should have done BACK ON HIS CENTENNIAL!* Oh, well. Thanks to you, Bob, for all my merry, mirth-filled memories.

I'm 14, and I'm a huge fan of Bob Hope. I got this movie for Christmas and I loved it. It was so darn funny. Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, and Dorothy Lamour all did a tremendous job. I was laughing my butt off throughout the movie. It was also great seeing Humphery Bogart, Dean Martin, and Jane Russell in cameos. Bob Hope is most funny when performing with Bing. They're a great comedy team. He has delivered lots of funny lines in this movie. It was funny how he made references to being in a movie or how Bing already had an Oscar. Bob Hope is one of the greatest comedians who ever lived and you all know it. Here's to Bob Hope!