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Road to Zanzibar
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by Universal Studios
Sales Rank: 41341
Price: $9.98
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The second <I>Road</I> movie from Paramount Pictures finds barnstorming con artists Chuck Reardon (Bing Crosby) and Hubert "Fearless" Frazier (Bob Hope) at liberty after their act goes haywire. (In these movies, Crosby generally lures the suckers into the tent, while Hope is always stuck getting shot out of the cannon.) A phony map to a diamond mine brings our boys into the middle of Africa, which means there's a good chance they'll end up sitting in a cauldron while natives perform a cannibal dance around them. These stereotypes would be offensive if the movie wasn't actively parodying the kind of jungle movie popular in 1941 (just as <I>Road to Morocco</I> would satirize the Arabian nights picture). Dorothy Lamour is along for the ride, of course, and her scene in a tight clinch with Hope established a tradition of steamy comic exchanges through the series (as she croons a love song to him, he checks to see if his wallet is still in his pocket). This is the first <I>Road</I> movie to actively wink at the audience; in one scene, Lamour mocks the way movies always have characters break out into song in the middle of nowhere with a full orchestra backing--which is exactly what happens next. The chatter between Crosby and Hope already feels improvised, and it should be noted that the secret of their chemistry is not a sentimental friendship but a cheerfully hostile rivalry between the two characters, a cheeky approach that must've delighted audiences used to the Andy Hardy niceness of most Hollywood movies of that era. Oh, and they do their patty-cake routine, too. <I>--Robert Horton</I>
Viewer Reviews
Bing and Bob's second outing is about as much fun as you can have at the movies. Bing's "Rhythm on the River" director of the previous year, Victor Schertzinger, allowed the boys to ad-lib so much screenwriters Don Hartman and Frank Butler must have been frantically turning pages trying to see where that line came from! The end result of Bing and Bob's great chemistry was a delightfully funny film with a couple of nice songs and a formula that lovely Dorothy Lamour and the boys would make legendary.
The film has a hilarious opening as Fearless Frazier (Bob) is about to be shot out of a cannon at a carnival by his pal Chuck (Bing). When things go south and the carnival burns to the ground, they take the show on the road. Chuck always has the ideas, as usual, which have "Fearless" doing everything from wrestling an octopus to becoming the human bat. One of Chuck's greatest ideas is to put Fearless in a lead coffin and submerge it in water. As for how Fearless is to escape, well Chuck hasn't quite worked out all the details yet!
And so it goes. There is some usual nonsense about a diamond mine the boys get hoodwinked into buying and in turn snooker someone else into buying, but it's only an excuse for the boys to end up in darkest Africa with the gorgeous Lamour. Donna Latour (Lamour) and her pal Julia (Una Merkel) are running a con pretending to be captured by slave traders when Julia discovers all that dough Chuck and Hubert (Fearless!) made off their diamond mine map and the girls decide to take them on safari, and take them for a ride!
Lamour is sexy and mischievous in her knee high socks and gorgeous hats but begins to worry her pal Julia when she starts to fall for one of the boys. Fearless thinks it's him, of course, when she gets his motor going singing "You're Dangerous" on a moonlit night. But the audience knows it's Chuck, even if there is a complication involving the rich guy named J. Theodore Bradley she's suppose to marry.
Some of the best moments come when the boys get lost and discover some drums in an old cave and begin to have fun. You can guess the rest! Will the boys be supper for the natives in the interior of darkest Africa? Will Lamour go with her heart and go for Chuck? It's certainly fun finding out as Bing and Bob throw the script out the window, filling Zanzibar with their easygoing charm and funny one-liners.
Dorothy Lamour is really pretty here and was the perfect choice to partner with the boys. They just seem like they belong together, both then and now. Victor Young does the music score and Bing gets to sing to Lamour while they're rowing on the river. Watching this one is a fun way to remeber Bing and Bob, who are no longer with us. But as long as great films like this one are available, their memories will remain forever.
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Road to Zanzibar
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