Sexual Astrology - DVD : The Road to Morocco

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Rating: - My Favorite Blooper
I'm not going to go into why the Hope & Crosby ROAD films were so much fun--enough folks have done that already.

I will say that ROAD TO MOROCCO features one of my favorite bloopers:
It's right at the beginning. Bing and Bob are stuck in the Sahara desert when a camel takes turns licking their faces. When they see the camel, they're thrilled at their good fortune, exchanging lines while the wary camel keeps leaning back--

Then--PTOOEY! The camel spits right in Bob Hope's face. Unscripted. Right in the middle of his line. And Bing laughs out loud.
And they left it in the film!
Priceless!

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Rating: - Another Fun Romp With The Boys
I've never been a big Anthony Quinn fan for some reason, and, for me, his presence in Singapore and here, in Morocco, hampers the fun a bit.

Another fun-to-watch rollicking beginning ... and then the pace slows down when they hook up with Dorothy Lamour ... and make the rounds in the palace.

Both Bing and Bob are in good form. Bing looks like he dropped a few pounds for the part, and he has a nice little song and dance ("Ho Hum"). Bob is his usual zany self ... especially when he learns Bing has sold him for $200. And having Bob act like an idiot so they can get free food ("Such ones are sacred to us") is a classic bit.

It seems like the farther the movie gets away from Bing and Bob, the duller it gets ... and there's a lull here at about the three-quarter mark.

But a good road picture ... with plenty of laughs.

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Rating: - A hilarious adventure with Crosby, Hope, and Lamour
This was my first "Road to" film, and I can only hope the other three are as funny as this one. Of course, you can hardly go wrong with the terrific tandem of Bing Crosby and Bob Hope (and Dorothy Lamour certainly doesn't hurt, either). I have never really thought about Bing Crosby as a comedic actor, but he and Hope have an incredible chemistry that leads to constant hilarity. They really ham it up, sometimes playing directly to the audience, and Hope's facial expressions never seem to stop. This is a movie that does not take itself at all seriously; it's a refreshing breath of fresh air blowing through today's climate of over-produced Hollywood extravaganzas.

Jeffrey Peters (Crosby) and Orville "Turkey" Jackson (Hope) are a couple of swells who find themselves shipwrecked (thanks to Orville). Soon they are off (singing) on the Road to Morocco with nothing but food on their minds. Since they have no money, they are in a bit of a pickle about how to pay for their meal - that's when Peters solves their money problems by selling Orville to an Arab. After dead Aunt Lucy (yes, it's Hope in drag) appears to him and makes him feel guilty, Jeffrey decides to rescue his friend. Orville, though, doesn't want rescuing because he is being primped and pampered in the palace of Princess Shalmar (Dorothy Lamour). The idea of Orville marrying the beautiful princess doesn't set right with Jeffrey, and he starts crooning in her ear himself. The princess is supposed to marry Mullay Kassim (Anthony Quinn), and he (and his party of gunmen) has something to say about what goes on here. Naturally, Jeffrey and Orville end up in hot water, but they are surprisingly resourceful (they also obviously sent off for all the nifty gadgets listed on the back of old comic books as kids). Need I say it? Hilarity ensues.

Almost every joke and one-liner lands solidly in this film, and a good many of them are laugh-out-loud funny. You also get the treat of hearing Bing Crosby, the ultimate crooner, sing a few numbers (actually, Hope's singing isn't that bad, either). In what is probably the most famous scene from the movie, Hope, Crosby, and Lamour sing Moonlight Becomes You in each others' voices - it's a priceless bit. The Road to Morocco is classic slap-stick comedy at its very best. Thank goodness we have all these old movies available to us because they certainly don't make 'em like this anymore.

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Rating: - "Overwrought intellectual analysis" notwithstanding
This movie is brilliantly quick-witted fun and is thoroughly unpretentious. It's about as serious as a jelly bean and only a fatuous, pseudo-intellectual would use a review of it as an opportunity to spout post-modernist drivel such as interpreting the audience inclusive familiarity in which the movie undeniably and hilariously indulges as an example of that sorry philosophy. Then again, though this movie would have to be warped to illustrate the point, there may be some validity to the claim "postmodernism has its roots in vaudevillian comedy", because there is no doubt that from its foundation up post-modernism is a joke. Nonetheless, to those of you who haven't seen this film, please don't let the backhanded compliments of some keep you from enjoying this wonderful movie. It is what it is - irreverent, joyful goofiness - and it will hopefully outlive the largely bankrupt ideas which have currency among contemporary Western intelligentsia.

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Rating: - Light-hearted, Dim-witted Fun
This film offers a bizarre opportunity to see unsophisticated humor of an innocent age meld with cutting-edge postmodernism. Crosby and Hope demonstrate that postmodernism has its roots in vaudevillian comedy! Film has plenty of what postmodernists love to call the self reflexive: mugging at camera, inside jokes, and unabashed self parody.

In other words, if you appreciate the humor of The Simpsons, you will probably laugh a lot during the Road to Morocco.

Silly jokes and gags come often enough that pace never lags, levity never lets up.

Now that the world's roads are easier for the rest of us clowns to travel, the film does reveal America's ignorance and insularity that is hopefully becoming a thing of the past. But the silly jokes and physical comedy stand the test of time.

Bonus appearance by a rather handsome young Anthony Quinn as desert chieftain / rival for the affections of Dorothy Lamour.