The Road to Hong Kong (1962) Reviews

• The Road Ends In Hong Kong

  bkoganbing2004-07-02

  This turned out to be the end of a great cycle of comedy films. Two mega-individual stars, pooling their talents to come up with comedy classics. Since this was the only Road picture not done on the Paramount lot it has a whole different feel to it and not for the better. Unfortunately the decision was made to dump Dorothy Lamour from her traditional role as sex object for Crosby and Hope to pant over. Joan Collins was years away from her career role as Alexis Carrington. Here she's just not into the same spirit of things that Dotty was. Dotty was brought in and did one of her numbers Warmer Than A Whisper towards the end of the film. It's been pointed out that 29 year old Collins looked ridiculous falling for 58 year old Crosby. I can see the case for it, but I would remind everyone that four years earlier, Bing in fact took as his second wife, a woman with just such an age difference. One of the inside jokes of the film was that Hope's name in the film was Chester Babcock which is the birth name of Jimmy Van Heusen who wrote so many film scores for Crosby. Van Heusen and Sammy Cahn contributed a ballad for Bing dueted with Collins called Let's Not Be Sensible. And Bob and Bing get two patter numbers, Teamwork and the title tune. There's a lot less music in this outing and that's not for the better of the film. Still the film has some good comedic moments the best of which involve a hilarious scene in a Hindu doctor's office with an unbilled Peter Sellers as the doctor. The doctor advises Hope to take a cure for amnesia at a hidden lamasery, a la Shangri La, where they find David Niven committing Lady Chatterley's Lover to memory. And at the end when the boys and Collins arrive on another planet in a surreal ending they find Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin waiting for them. Among the rest of the supporting cast Robert Morley as a mad scientist and chief villain and Felix Aylmer as the Grand Lama stand out. Before Crosby died in 1977, he Hope and Lamour and signed to do still another film entitled Road to the Fountain of Youth. I wish it had been done. Road to Hong Kong is all right, but not up to the standards of those wacky days at Paramount.

• A fond farewell

  horrorfilmx2009-10-08

  There are no bad ROAD movies, and I do not except this one from that statement. As someone once said of the Marx Brothers film AT THE CIRCUS (and I paraphrase) in the career of any other comedy team this picture would be considered a classic. It not only holds its own with the rest of the series but I actually prefer it to ROAD TO RIO, which (while still adhering to the Road Rule stated above) always seemed like the weakest of the series to me. It's funny the reasons some other posters have given for not liking the film: It looks like it was made in the Sixties (it was), the stars looks like they're nearing their sixties (they were, and so what?), it's not as funny as the others in the series (in any given horse race one horse will come in last, but he still had to be pretty damn good to get into the race in the first place). And nobody seems to much like Joan Collins. Well, she was gorgeous and a competent enough actress and in a movie like this who cares anyway? It's Bob and Bing's movie and despite what anyone says they prove they've still got the goods and deliver them with ease. I say quit carping and enjoy.

• The Road is Long...well this one seems to be.

  Scaramouche20042008-04-06

  Ten years had passed since Bing and Bob had embarked upon a Road together and for whatever the reason they decided to get together again in 1962 for a final trip. However some Burk made the monumentally bad decision of dropping Dorothy Lamour from the fun, and replacing her with the much younger and much less talented Joan Collins. Lamour had been their friend and co-star in all the Road Pictures and had joined both Bing and Bob in other solo vehicles for over twenty years and being all but dropped from 'Hong Kong' must have felt like a right royal smack in the teeth. However she is given a ten minute cameo three quarters of the way in, and to be honest it is the only segment of this rather drab movie that really shines. It makes you realise that had Dorothy held on to her usual third billing status, then this film would have been 100% more entertaining and 150% better received than it was. Joan Collins fails to interest the audience but does nothing but interest our two nigh on sixty year olds, who as usual swindle, cheat and hoodwink the other in an attempt make her their own...it would have been more appropriate if they were fighting over which one would adopt her. Even the gags are rubbish and far from the standard we expect from a Road film. there is one scene in particular when on a space craft Bing and Bob are auto-fed by a machine which starts to malfunction. It's no wonder this joke seems old and dated to a 21st Century audience; it was practically resurrected from the dead in 1962 as the great Charlie Chaplin brought us that old chestnut in Modern Times almost twenty five years earlier. It was also the only movie in the series not made by Paramount and was mainly a British made film, with many of the cast and cameos coming from notable British actors, As well as Collins, there was Robert Morley, Peter Sellars, David Niven and Felix Aymler, with Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra dropping by in the final reel to help out their old mates and provide much needed American presence. If you have the wherewithal to sit through this turkey to the very end, it is clear that this was literally the end of the road, and as swan songs go this was probably the worst in movie history. They should have finished on the high note of walking into the sunset with Dorothy and Jane Russell on that far away and colourful Balineese Island. Despite the fact that at the time of Bing's death in 1977, the three were planning yet another Road film reunion, their glory days had long since gone and another dirty smear joining this one, on the otherwise spotless Road To.. brand would have been a major mistake.

• OK - but the other "Road to" films were better

  bob the moo2001-12-17

  Chester and Harry are con-men working their way around Asia. When an accident puts Chester in hospital with memory loss, the two contact a doctor who advises them of a ancient herb that will bring back all his memories. The herb also gives him the ability to memorise anything he reads. A mix-up at the airport with an agent of a cult puts Chester in possession of formulae for a space rocket which the cult plan to use to put weapons on the moon and take control of the earth. The cult pursue the two leading to a range of crazy situations on earth.......and beyond! That's the plot and, to quote Dorothy Lamor in this film "That's the plot so far? I'd better hide you.....from the critics!". The plot is, as always, a flimsy excuse for banter between Hope and Crosby. However in other "Road to...." movies the plot has been a little less silly. Here it's daft and too complicated to be totally forgotten about. And unfortunately the banter feels a little tired between the two, the other road movies felt fresher. And it feels like they know it too - there's lots of tired routines, "special effects!" for one, and they have too many self-deprecating jokes. They're quite funny but after a while you realise that they're just saying it before anyone else does. However there still is much to like here - Hope and Crosby are still funny in a bad movie and some of their banter is still great, although the situations that give them the dialogue are daft. Hope and Crosby play their characters with well rehearsed ease. A young Joan Collins is OK but comes over as a little over earnest. The larger-than-life Robert Morley plays the cult leader with seriousness and Peter Sellers wins the film with his Indian doctor cameo. There are a range of small cameos, some funny some not - Dorothy Lamor returns to the Road series, David Niven turns up for a few silent seconds and Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra take a gentle swipe at their rivals (although it's not very funny -"special effects!"). Overall this is a gentle comedy that you'll enjoy because of Hope and Crosby. The ridiculous plot takes away from it a lot (did they have to make it quite so silly?), and the musical numbers slow it down a bit. But to be honest, there's much better movies in the road series that this one.

• End of the Road

  wes-connors2013-05-31

  Bosom pals Bing Crosby (as Harry Turner) and Bob Hope (as Chester Babcock) are in India when Mr. Hope loses his memory; no thanks for that. Hope is taken to Tibet by Mr. Crosby, where the duo hope to find a cure. At an airport, pretty young spy Joan Collins (as Diane) appears. Also serving as the story's part-time narrator, Ms. Collins thinks Hope and Crosby are secret agents. She joins them on "The Road to Hong Kong". The opening song "Teamwork" is followed by some funny banter. Special effects help an amusing title song. Then, this attempt to revive the "Road " series crashes... The worst part of the film occurs when the Hope and Crosby ape "Modern Times" while shot into space. They are force-fed bananas and get bounced around in fast-motion while strapped in chairs, accompanied by amateurish sound effects and trick photography. Also, the comedy team has zero rapport with Collins, who is uncomfortable and cardboard as their romantic interest. Frankly, Hope and Crosby are too old for Collins, anyway. To make matters worse, their more age appropriate leading lady Dorothy Lamour has a featured cameo and song. Other big name bits are scattered about. *** The Road to Hong Kong (4/27/62) Norman Panama ~ Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Joan Collins, Dorothy Lamour