Ken Foote Remembers The Road Movies
(CBS 11) - The "Road to" movies were a series of seven motion picture comedies released from 1940-1962 that starred Bing Crosby, Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour. Film historians and critics often refer to them simply as the "Road" pictures or "Road" series.
The theme of the movies were mostly light-hearted: a combination of comedy, adventure, and definitely music and romance. The overall plot of the movies included all of those characteristics but it was the one- liners and gags that Hope and Crosby did during the filming, most of them of which were ad-libbed, not scripted. The films were also satire of what were the most popular film genres of the day and included running gags from movie to movie.
The films in this series include:
· Road To Singapore (1940)
· Road To Zanzibar (1941)
· Road To Morocco (1942)
· Road To Utopia (1946)
· Road To Rio (1947)
· Road To Bali (1952)
· The Road To Hong King (1962)
September 26, 1961: Comedian Bob Hope (1903 - 2003, left), actress Dorothy Lamour and film star and singer Bing Crosby walking arm-in-arm at Shepperton Studios during the filming of 'Road to Hong Kong'. (Photo by Edward Wing/Central Press/Getty Images)
There was an eight-movie on the Road series being planned in 1977, called Road To The Fountain Of Youth, but due to Crosby's death that year, it didn't happen.
When I was programming KXTX Channel 39 in Dallas in the mid-1980's, the station had the local rights to air the "road" pictures. With the exception of The Road To Hong Kong, all of the movies were produced and/or released by Paramount Pictures. Today, their ownership is split between NBC's Universal Studios, Sony Pictures Television, and MGM. I loved scheduling these movies back then!
Today's clip is from Road To Morocco. Produced by Paramount Pictures, it was released on November 10, 1942. Along with Crosby, Hope, and Lamour, other stars included Anthony Quinn and Yvonne DeCarlo. DeCarlo starred in many Hollywood westerns as a tough lady of sorts, but she is probably best known today as Lily Munster in the CBS Television comedy "The Munsters" from 1964-1966. The movie was directed by David Butler, who also directed two notable TV series: Wagon Train and Leave It To Beaver.
The title song, written by James Van Heusen and Johnny Burke, goes like this:
We're off on the road to Morocco
This camel is tough on the spine (hit me with a band-aid, Dad)
Where they're going, why we're going, how can we be sure
I'll lay you eight to five that we'll meet Dorothy Lamour
(Yeah, get in line)
Off on the road to Morocco
Hang on till the end of the line (I like your jockey. Quiet)
I hear this country's where they do the dance of the seven veils
We'd tell you more (uh-ah) but we would have the censor on our tails
(Good boy)
We certainly do get around
Like Webster's Dictionary we're Morocco bound
Bob Hope passed away in 2003 at age 100. Dorothy Lamour passed away in 1996 at age 81.
Enjoy Bing and Bob singing "(We're Off on the) Road to Morocco."
