Bob Hope Double Feature [HD] DVD

Road to Bali
This sixth entry in the Crosby-Hope-Lamour "Road" series was the first (and last) in Technicolor. This time, Bing Crosby and Bob Hope play George Cochran and Harold Gridley, American vaudevillians stranded in Australia. To avoid a dual shotgun wedding, George and Harold sign on as deep-sea divers for sinister South-Sea-island prince Ken Arok (Murvyn Vye). After a contretemps with an octopus (courtesy of stock footage from Reap the Wild Wind), our heroes sail to the prince's Balinese homeland, where they meet and fall in love with gorgeous Princess Lalah (Dorothy Lamour). Though Lalah favors George, she feels obligated to Harold, because he resembles her childhood best friend -- a chimpanzee (this must be seen to be believed). When Ken Arok attempts to usurp Lalah's throne, she and the boys escape to a tropical island, where they meet the inevitable slapstick-comedy gorilla. More adventures await the intrepid trio on another island, this one dominated by an active volcano. Who gets the girl in this one? A hint: the loser tries to physically prevent the "The End" title from flashing on the screen during the final fadeout. Though not as fresh and spontaneous as earlier "Road" endeavors, Road to Bali has its fair share of non sequitur gags, inside jokes and unbilled guest appearances (including Martin and Lewis, Bing's brother Bob Crosby, Humphrey Bogart and Jane Russell). Best bit: when Crosby feels a song coming on, Hope turns to the camera and hisses "He's gonna sing, folks. Now's the time to go and get your popcorn." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Road to Rio
Road to Rio was the first of three "Road" pictures jointly produced by stars Bing Crosby and Bob Hope. On the run from the law again, musicians Bob and Bing stow away on an ocean liner. They try to come to the rescue of heiress Dorothy Lamour, who is doomed to an arranged marriage to caddish George Meeker. All gratitude and effusions for their assistance, Dorothy surprises Bob and Bing on their next meeting by slapping them in their faces and declaring "I hate you! I loathe you! I despise you!" The explanation? Dorothy is being hypnotized by her scheming aunt Gale Sondergaard, who has set up the marriage for mysterious mercenary reasons of her own. When Dorothy is "herself" again, Bob and Bing smuggle her off the ship and into their Rio de Janeiro hotel room. The boys plan to save Dorothy from her unwanted marriage by passing her off as a nightclub singer, and themselves as band leaders. Trouble is, they have no band. Enter the Wiere Brothers, three Rio street entertainers. Bob and Bing hire the threesome on the spot, unmindful that they have booked themselves into Nestor Paiva's nightclub on the promise that they're delivering an American band. Since the Wieres speak only Portuguese, Bing teaches each brother an American phrase by rote: "You're in the groove, Jackson", "You're Telling Me," and "This is Murder." Naturally, it isn't long before the boys' ruse is discovered, and this coupled with the newly hypnotized Lamour's threats to have Bob and Bing arrested, leaves our heroes broke and stranded once more. Still, they pose a menace to Sondergaard, thus she contrives a method of disposing of them. Hypnotizing them both, Sondergaard orders Bob and Bing to kill each other. They snap out of the spell just in time, but still there's the problem of rescuing Dorothy. And now there's a new angle: mysterious stranger Frank Puglia informs the boys that the only way to stop the wedding is to retrieve (pause; a furtive glance left; a furtive glance right) "The Papers." Said papers are in the possession of Sondergaard, obliging Bob and Bing to show up at the pre-nuptial festival in disguise (with Bob in drag). Managing to hypnotize Sondergaard's henchmen Frank Faylen and Joseph Vitale, Bob and Bing uncover the precious Papers, and Dorothy is saved. But how can those papers stop a wedding? We won't give away the surprise, nor will we tell you whether Dorothy ends up with Bob or Bing, nor even what the heck Jerry Colonna is doing in the picture leading a cavalry charge. Not the best of the "Road" pictures, Road to Rio is nonetheless one of the most memorable--and quotable (how many of your high school pals used to confound the teacher by declaring "You're in the groove, Jackson"?) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Cast Bob Hope as Harold Gridley Bing Crosby as George Cochran Dorothy Lamour as Princess Lalah Murvyn Vye as Ken Arok Peter Coe as Gung Leon Askin as Ramayana Ralph Moody as Bhoma Da Bing Crosby as Scat Sweeney Bob Hope as Hot Lips Burton Dorothy Lamour as Lucia Maria de Andrade Gale Sondergaard as Catherine Vail Frank Faylen as Trigger Joseph Vitale as Tony Frank Puglia as Rodrigues Nestor Paiva as Cardoso Robert H. Barrat as Johnson The Stone-Barton Puppeteers as Guest Jerry Colonna as Cavalry Captain The Andrews Sisters as Themselves

Crew Earl Hedrick - Art Director Hans Dreier - Art Director Bernard Pearce - Choreography Edith Head - Costume Designer Oscar Rudolph - First Assistant Director Norman Z. McLeod - Director Ellsworth Hoagland - Editor Robert Emmett Dolan - Composer (Music Score) Johnny Burke - Composer (Music Score) Robert Emmett Dolan - Musical Direction/Supervision Ary Barroso - Songwriter Bob Russell - Songwriter Jimmy Van Heusen - Songwriter Wally Westmore - Makeup Ernest Laszlo - Cinematographer Daniel Dare - Producer Ray Moyer - Set Designer Sam Comer - Set Designer Paul K. Lerpae - Special Effects Gordon Jennings - Special Effects Edmund Beloin - Screenwriter Jack Rose - Screenwriter Earl Hedrick - Art Director Hans Dreier - Art Director Bernard Pearce - Choreography Edith Head - Costume Designer Oscar Rudolph - First Assistant Director Norman Z. McLeod - Director Ellsworth Hoagland - Editor Robert Emmett Dolan - Composer (Music Score) Johnny Burke - Composer (Music Score) Robert Emmett Dolan - Musical Direction/Supervision Ary Barroso - Songwriter Bob Russell - Songwriter Jimmy Van Heusen - Songwriter Wally Westmore - Makeup Ernest Laszlo - Cinematographer Daniel Dare - Producer Ray Moyer - Set Designer Sam Comer - Set Designer Paul K. Lerpae - Special Effects Gordon Jennings - Special Effects Edmund Beloin - Screenwriter Jack Rose - Screenwriter

Road to Bali
The plot for Road to Bali is pretty thin stuff, even for one of the "Road" pictures. This does, however, place more of a burden on our trio of stars and on the quality of the jokes and songs; while there's nothing really wrong with any of these elements, things still don't really come together to make Bali the boffo fun that it wants to be. Even moreso than in previous entries in the series, there's an abundance of self-referential humor and light genre parodies -- and comic cameo appearances are taken to a bit of a ridiculous extreme. But even so, Bali is amiable and undemanding fun, and if Bob Hope and Bing Crosby don't have the inspired lunacy that they had in Road to Morocco, they still work like a well-oiled machine (with Dorothy Lamour as the lever that often gets them started). Bali also benefits from being shot in Technicolor. There aren't any real location shots, just studio sets, but they positively drip with rich, savory color. Lamour gets the best song, "Moonflowers," and Crosby does quite nicely with the mediocre "To See You." Not the best "Road" show, Bali nonetheless is enjoyable and occasionally very funny. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
 

Road to Rio
The fifth in the "Road" series, Road to Rio is a bit more uneven than its predecessors, and a bit less zany in its humor. When Rio's humor misses its mark, it misses it by a wider margin than the earlier films -- but when it hits, it scores way up high on the laugh meter. As an excuse for anything other than gags and songs, the screenplay is fairly useless, but with Bing Crosby, Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour around to knock the gags and songs out of the ballpark, who cares? The star trio gets an able assist in the humor department from the strange Wiere Brothers and delightful singing support from the Andrews Sisters, and Gale Sondergaard is on hand to supply a dangerously sinister touch to the plot. Comedic highlights include Hope in drag, Hope on a high wire and the Wieres making use of their precious little English. Crosby is in golden voice on the haunting "But Beautiful and his duet with the Andrews Sisters on the rhythmic "You Don't Have to Know the Language" is a gem. For her part, Lamour makes something special out of "Experience." Norman Z. McLeod's direction is fast and pointed, exactly what Rio requires. If Rio occasionally falls flat, its highs are more than enough to make it an entertaining little romp. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
 

Disc Title: Road to Rio - People Awards: Robert Emmett Dolan: Academy, Best Score - Musical (nominated)

General Specifications: Language Options: Subtitle Options: Sound Processing: Additional Features: MPAA Rating: DVD Discs Included: 1 DVD Sides: 1 DVD DVD Region Code: Content Length: 191 min