En route pour le Maroc

Typical Hope and Crosby nonsense. More of a "big budget home movie" than anything else, but funny and enjoyable anyhow.

By the Time "Morocco" was created, the Road Pictures had been embraced and enjoyed and the formula was set in stone: An exotic locale, Dorothy Lamour, a couple of songs and go easy on the script because Bob and Bing are gonna "jab-lib" their way through it regardless. The result here is a slick and entertaining yarn about absolutely nothing. Don't let the current climate of "Islam/Arab/Terrorism" mindset disturb you about the on screen antics because this was filmed in a different era and has nothing to do with the goings on in our world today.

Bing gets a chance to croon the very lovely Moonlight Becomes You, which to this day is still one of the most touching love songs ever written; Bob gets to do his "screen persona schtick" and it is hilarious; Dorothy has a forgettable song and a funny reprise of Moonlight Becomes You, sung in the desert accompanied by the boys and it is extremely funny. Anthony Quinn (who was a Road Picture Regular) returns in a typical villain role in which he does his best.

A couple of notes. Early in the picture Bob and Bing get involved with a camel who licks them. At the end of this routine as they prepare to ride away on the beast it spits at Bob. This was NOT in the script. The camel ad-libbed and the reactions of both Hope and Crosby are genuine. The director liked the take so much he used it in the final cut. Secondly, it took forever for the boys to sing the theme song, The Road to Morocco. It seems that every time they got to the lyric " . . . like Webster's Dictionary we're Morocco bound. . . " they'd break up over that lyric and would have to re-shoot the song.

It's a breezy, light-weight, fun evening with Der Bingle and Old Slope Nose. Make yourself a bowl of popcorn, grab a large soda and laugh away for 82 minutes. It'll do you good!

The Road to Morocco is the best of Crosby/Hope road movies, in my humble opinion. Yes, the plot is paper thin, but the comedy and self-deprecating humor is there. Much of the comedy is slapstick, but this is a movie that's not afraid to say "It's just a movie, don't take it seriously." In the first song, Crosby and Hope allude to it being just another road movie. Naturally they'll meet Dorothy Lamour, and they have nothing to fear, because Paramount will protect them. This is not a movie to have a serious, philosophical discussion about. This is a movie to pop into the VCR on a Saturday night and forget about your worries.

Bob Hope is a very underappreciated performer. Of course, he was better as a comedian than as a movie actor, but that's just because he resigned himself to making lightweight comedies like this one. This comedy is very funny; yes, it's pretty lightweight, but what did you expect?

I like all the "Road to" pictures, but this is the best that I've seen. Of course, you won't get any great plots or intricate character development with them, but they are highly entertaining. Likewise, "Road to Morocco" is a very funny movie, if not a bit uneven. See this movie for some good laughs.

P.S. This movie is definitely harmless, despite the comment written by someone who seems to think it's homophobic. I'm wondering if he watched the same movie that I did.

Extremely funny third "Road" movie starring Hope, Crosby and Lamour, possibly the best in the series. In what is almost literally a laugh-a-minute, the two stars riff off each other to the manner born, their timing impeccable and seeming ad-libs spontaneous and hilarious.

The classic scenes are more and near between. My favourites include the nodding-heads scene when the boys are hiding from Anthony Quinn's gaze, Hope's hilarious exposition scene, (for the folk who only came in halfway through the movie) and his Oscar grabbing scene at end. There are loads of snappy one-liners too, the stars not too proud to send themselves up - Crosby makes a crack about Hope's nose while Hope spoofs Crosby's crooning. Dorothy Lamour looks suitably exotic and has no problem yet again convincing the viewer of her ability to bewitch her usual three men, Hope Crosby and Anthony Quinn, all as usual. While Bob, unsurprisingly loses Dorothy once again to Bing he surprisingly this time gets a girl of his own by the finish.

The songs are fine too ("Ho-Hum", "Constantly", "Moonlight Becomes You" and the jokey title song) and are much better woven into the flow of the film than on previous journeys.

All in all, one of the funniest comedies from Hollywood's Golden Age, it quite rightly cemented the reputation of the "Road" franchise and kept the threesome on their travels for a road or two yet.

You can't go into a viewing of any Hope and Crosby picture expecting a strong story or plot,nor should you expect the acting to be great.Bob Hope's true strength was stand up comedy,not acting,and I think he knew that.That's why we only saw him in roles where he could be pretty much rely on his stand up skills.Bing Crosby,on the other hand,had a knack for acting even though he was primarily a singer.In fact,his knack won him an Oscar two years after he did this film,so you know he took it seriously.Since Hope's acting skills were not strong,I thing that Bing saw these films they did together as a chance to relax and have a little fun,and to take a break from the seriousness of the acting profession.Despite their contrasting talents,there is no denying the great chemistry that existed between the pair,which makes Road to Morocco fun to watch.Also,if I may add,Dorothy Lamour and Dona Drake are also fun to watch,but for a different reason.I suppose that's just the typical male in me talking. ;-)