Road to SingaporeYear of Release: 1940
Directed By: Victor Schertzinger
Starring: Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, Dorothy Lamour
Genre: Comedy, Romance, Musical
Overview:The 1940s' hottest movie trio—Bob Hope, Bing Crosby and Dorothy Lamour—chart a course for comedy and romance in
Road to Singapore.
Running out on his stuffy desk job and marriage-minded girlfriend, Josh Mallon (Crosby) links up with sailor-buddy Ace (Hope) and sets sail for the farthest point on the map—Singapore. On the exotic island of Kaigoon, they meet Mima (Lamour), a lovely young dancer cruelly dominated by her whip-cracking partner-fiancé (Anthony Quinn). Josh and Ace rescue Mima, who moves into their shack, cooks, cleans, sings—and quickly becomes the object of their wise-cracking war for her affections.
A top grosser of 1940,
Singapore was the initial entry in the legendary Hope-Crosby-Lamour
Road series that delighted movie goers for over 20 fun-filled years.
My Thoughts:This is a fun bit of funny, escapist fluff. Our heroes, two chaps looking for nothing but good times, run away from marriage, work and high society to live as island bums. There they meet a girl who just might make them change their bachelor ways, if only she didn't make them both feel that way. The jokes are funny, and Crosby and Hope have great chemistry together and their banter is clever. Lamour works well with both of them, and is probably about as believably exotic as they were going to cast in 1940. It feels like there are a lot of songs for the short runtime, but other than that, no complaints. If you're looking for an amusing little film, and you like old movies, Bing Crosby and/or Bob Hope, this isn't a bad choice.
Bechdel Test: Fail
Overall: 3/5