Well, they can't all be gems. This was probably the weakest of the Road pictures to date, although it does have beautiful Technicolor, elaborate sets, Dorothy Lamour, hilarious banter between Bob Hope and Bing Crosby, and quite a few laughs...not to mention cameos by Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis, Bing's brother Bob, and Jane Russell.
Sadly, the one thing lacking is coherent script. What passes for a script would have been more at home in a 1950s Bob Hope television show. This script...and road...needed a map. Instead, it wanders from gag to gag, laugh to laugh, skit to skit. But there's no continuity. And please, do we really need to stoop to amorous gorillas????? I've always enjoyed Hope and admired Crosby...not to mention some darned good road pictures. And, I'm still glad to have this one. But, despite rather lavish color, this is like driving down a dirt road. I'm only giving this one a weak "7".
Of note, the Kino-Lorber redo on Blu Ray is high quality. Great color, slightly grainy from time to time, but I doubt you'll ever see a better restoration for this pic.
Sadly, the one thing lacking is coherent script. What passes for a script would have been more at home in a 1950s Bob Hope television show. This script...and road...needed a map. Instead, it wanders from gag to gag, laugh to laugh, skit to skit. But there's no continuity. And please, do we really need to stoop to amorous gorillas????? I've always enjoyed Hope and admired Crosby...not to mention some darned good road pictures. And, I'm still glad to have this one. But, despite rather lavish color, this is like driving down a dirt road. I'm only giving this one a weak "7".
Of note, the Kino-Lorber redo on Blu Ray is high quality. Great color, slightly grainy from time to time, but I doubt you'll ever see a better restoration for this pic.