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Road to BaliRating:
Release Date: 30 July, 2002 Retail Price: $7.98 OUR Price: $7.98 You SAVE: $0.00! Cast: Complete Cast (11 total) |
Road to Bali Reviews
The Only Color Road Movie
The ROAD TO BALI was technically the last of Hope and Crosby's Paramount Road movies. Though THE ROAD TO HONG KONG followed almost ten years later, ROAD TO BALI is the last film to capture the chemistry between Hope and Crosby.
In the early 1950s, Bob Hope was a very bankable Hollywood star. His successful color motion pictures, such as THE PALEFACE and SON OF PALEFACE, led to his reteaming with Bing Crosby for another Road picture. The Road movies reached their peak with ROAD TO MOROCCO, though ROAD TO UTOPIA was also a lot of fun. The boys reteamed for ROAD TO RIO, but the story became lost in what clearly could have been a movie scripted for Bob Hope alone.
In BALI we once again we find Hope and Crosby trying to make ends meet by remote vaudeville appearances. Both escape an Australian shotgun wedding and find themselves employed as part of a deep sea diving crew for a wealthy group of Indonesians. Along the way they meet Dorothy Lamour and escape from the bad guys in typical Hope and Crosby fashion.
ROAD TO BALI is unique in that it was the only Road picture to be photographed in color. By 1952, Bob Hope movies were chock full of special effects. This carried over into ROAD TO BALI complete with jungles, aquatic leviathans, magic acts, and volcanic eruptions. Crosby had a much stronger role in BALI than he did in RIO, but you can easily imagine Bob Hope and Jane Russell filling the lead roles in another PALEFACE sequel. In fact, the final scene of the movie -- complete with cameo appearance by Jane Russell -- is a direct reference to SON OF PALEFACE.
BALI's storyline is a little weak, but you don't watch a Hope and Crosby movie for Shakespeare. There are several cameo appearances in this film. Also look for Leon Askin, who 13 years later would play General Burkhalter in the television series HOGAN'S HEROES.
There are numerous outlets issuing legitimate copies of the ROAD TO BALI. That is why there are several different listings -- and different DVD covers -- for the DVD. The DVD copy is very affordable and the quality is good. In a previous VHS version of this movie, the sound was awful and sounded as if the soundtrack was played through an aluminum can. The DVD release is an improvement. Still, the picture could have been sharper. When compared to the crisp black and white re-release of ROAD TO MOROCCO, ROAD TO BALI is lacking digital restoration. The image is intact, but the picture could be sharper and color more vivid. Paramount or Universal (Universal re-released the earlier Road pictures) need to regain control of the rights to BALI and complete some digital remastering.
However, until the film is completely remastered, this DVD is a good substitute.
Hope when he was good!
It's a shame that we don't get to see much of Bob Hope's earlier movies on free TV or cable, because they're 99% of the reason the man is so venerated today! For some reason, after 1963, Hope couldn't make a genuinely funny movie to save his life. I guess he just wasn't hungry anymore. The first REAL dog was "I'll Take Sweden", a travesty he did with Frankie Avalon and Tuesday Weld. The wisecracking machine had wound down, and the jokes were lame, but here, in one of his legendary "Road" movies with Bing Crosby and Dorothy Lamour, he was in full fetter, tossing them off like M-80s along with Crosby, who still manages to surprise me with how adept HE is with one-liners in these movies.
The plot involves H & C playing two vaudevillians in Melbourne, Australia who have both proposed to the same girl, hence starting a chase that has them hoping a train to nowhere, where they find jobs as deep sea divers that take them to the south seas where they meet Lamour through her cousin that hires them. The usual rivalry for her affections ensues and then a whole farce involving treasure, forced marriage and animals develops. There are guest appearances by Humphrey Bogart and Martin and Lewis in this little gem, along with Jane Russell and it's all done to a comic turn. Hope is in great form here and the production itself pretty much follows his lead.
During this period, (the late forties and early fifties,) Paramount and Columbia were THE houses for comedies and farces, and this is among Paramount's best!
You can't go wrong getting this gem along with the other "Road" and pre-"Call Me Bwana" Bob Hope movies...
Now to find "Casanova's Big Night"! (g)
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