ROAD TO BALI is the sixth Bob Hope/Bing Crosby "road" musical comedy. It is the only one in colour and is the last they made for Paramount Pictures. Hal Walker directed it, and he also directed ROAD TO UTOPIA (1945).
George Cochran (Bing Crosby) and Harold Gridley (Bob Hope) are vaudeville song and dance performers working in Melbourne, Australia. Forced to leave to avoid a dual shotgun marriage, they sign on as undersea divers for Prince Ken Arok (Murvyn Vye).
They sail to a South Seas island and meet his cousin Princess Lalah (Dorothy Lamour), who looks better in black and white. Lalah's Scottish father lost a treasure chest of jewels when his ship sank. Harold recovers the treasure after an encounter with the squid from REAP THE WIND (1942).
Ken Arok tries to usurp Lalah's throne, and the trio escape with the treasure and head for Bali to sell it. Their boat sinks and they crawl ashore an island. They contend with jungle dangers such as cannibalistic natives, a slapstick gorilla, and an exploding volcano from ALOMA OF THE SOUTH SEAS (1941), which stars Dorothy Lamour. Princess Lalah is attracted to George, but also likes Harold because he reminds her of a pet chimpanzee.
Lalah: "Look!"
George: "The African Queen! Humphrey Bogart?"
Harold: "Boy, is he lost!"
George: "Hey! Hey, Bogie!"
(All three run toward Humphrey Bogart)
Harold: "Hey, jungle fever! That's what we got. That was just a mirage!"
George: "Oh yeah? What about this?"
(Holding up a trophy)
George: "Humphrey Bogart's Academy Award!"
Harold: "An Oscar! Gimme that, you got one. Friends, this is a great occasion, me receiving this Academy Award. And I'd like to say a word..."
ROAD TO BALI is a song-and-dance musical comedy, and the songs are by Johnny Burke (lyrics) and Jimmy Van Heusen (music). Bing Crosby sings "To See You Is To Love You". Crosby and Bob Hope sing "Chicago Style", "Hoot Mon", and "The Merry-Go-Run-Around" (also with Dorothy). The two crooners also dance. Dorothy Lamour sings "Moonflowers". There is also the instrumental "Chorale for Brass, Piano, and Bongo" by Stan Kenton and Pete Rugolo. Most of the music score is string oriented with orchestral arrangements by Van Cleave. The soundtrack is mono.
Crosby's version of "To See You Is to Love You" is in Alfred Hitchcock's REAR WINDOW (1954) without credits to Crosby or the songwriters. On a boat, when Bing Crosby is about to sing, Bob Hope turns to the camera and says, "He's gonna sing folks. Now's the time to go and get your popcorn."
Also in the cast are: Peter Coe (Gung), Ralph Moody (Bhoma Da), Leo Askin (Ramayana), Carolyn Jones (Eunice), Jan Kayne (Verna), Michael Ansara, Herman Cantor, Sue Casey, Larry Chance, Leslie Charles, Jack Claus, Jena Corbett, Harry Cording, Roy Gordon, Berernie Gozier, Richard Keene, Al Kikume, Donald Lawton, Bunny Lewbel, Judith London, Charles Mauu, Patti McKay, Allan Nixon, Betty Onge, Satini Pualoa, Kuka Tuima, and Douglas Yorke, Besmark Auelua, Patricia Dane, Devi Dja, Mary Kanae, and many others. Writing credits are Frank Butler, Hal Kanter, William Morrow and Harry Tugend. Original music is by Johnny Burke and Joseph J. Lilley. Hal Walker directed.
Cameos include: Humphrey Bogart, Jane Russel, Carolyn Jones, Bob Crosby, Jerry Lewis, and Dean Martin. The special effects are good.
ROAD TO BALI is my favorite "road" movie because it's in colour. All seven are great: SINGAPORE (1940), ZANZIBAR (1941), MOROCCO (1942), UTOPIA (1945), RIO (1947), BALI (1952), and HONG KONG (1962). ROAD TO HONG KONG, distrubuted by United Artists, is my second favorite "road" movie. I first saw it in a movie theatre, and it's reminiscent of DR. NO (1962), with espionage and space rockets. Robert Morley is an excellent villain and the cameos are great. Too bad it's not in colour. ROAD TO MOROCCO has the best music.
The camaraderie and chemistry between Bob and Bing is always terrific. Con man Bing is smarter than cowardly Bob and usually dominates and takes advantage of him. There are constant wisecracks, sight gags, inside jokes and a love triangle with Dorothy Lamour, who is the "straight man". It seems there is a homosexual sub-text in all the road movies. In this film Bob and Bing kiss, marry each other, and sleep together. What always puzzles me is Bob Hope's pro-Republican jokes. It is completely out of character for him to be a Republican and the "jokes" aren't funny. He should be apolitical, or at least a Democrat in the "road" movies.
They don't make films like this anymore. It's an innocent, harmless, entertaining and very pleasant diversion. Interestingly, ROAD TO BALI is the only road movie to lapse into the public domain, so over a dozen companies have released DVDs of the film.
