Karry Best movie of this year hands down!

Grimerlana Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike

Cooktopi The acting in this movie is really good.

Roxie The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

weezeralfalfa First of the Road Series, starring Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, and Dorothy Lamour that served as escapist fare during and after WWII to supposed exotic destinations. Although Singapore is the supposed destination for the boys, they never made it quite that far, ending up on the fictional island of Kaigoon, in eastern Indonesia, south of Flores. They sit down in a restaurant where Dorothy Lamour(Mima) and Anthony Quinn(as Caesar)are a dancing floor attraction. Dorothy is a western girl who has gone native. As part of their act, Caesar wraps a whip around Dorothy's waist. When Dorothy shows some interest in the boys with her eyes, Caesar acts jealous. The boys do their first signature pat-a-cake routine, before laying Caesar out. Caesar continues to be an occasional thorn in the side of the others. When Mima is walking outside, he grabs her and pulls her into the jungle. The boys hear her screams and , after another pat-a-cake routine, lay out Caesar in a big mud puddle. Later, Caesar realizes that Hope doesn't have a passport, hence calls immigration authorities to deport him. Hope is put in a police van, from which he escapes....Quinn would play a villain in several more of the Road Series.Of course, Bing and Hope continually fight over Mima. At a yearly community festival, the boys don't know that part of its function is to allow maidens to make their choice of husband. A lovely maiden chooses Hope to dance with, but he runs away when told the custom. Meanwhile, Bing has to chose between Mima and Gloria, his girlfriend back home, who has come to the island with his father to escort him back home.Actually, the film begins with Bing and Hope disembarking from the ship they have been working on, badmouthing wives and girlfriends, swearing they are through with women. Of course, they break this vow when they get to know Mima, although they complain that her neatness standards are higher than theirs: typical of women. Charles Colburn plays Bing's father, whom we meet in the first part and again toward the end, when he comes to take Bing home to help him run his shipping business and marry Gloria.Charles Colburn didn't start in Hollywood until about 60, yet he appeared in more than 70 films and had many TV appearances until his death, more than 20 years later. He usually played fathers and other authority figures. I remember him as the father of Mabel: Bell's girl friend, in "The Story of Alexander Graham Bell"Dorothy Lamour's early ambition was to become a band and radio singer, rather than an actress. This she accomplished. She usually got a song or 2 in the Road Series. She had also played exotic women in several of her early films, thus was ideal in a series supposedly going to various exotic locals. She sure didn't look exotic to me. Don't know why she was chosen to stand in for exotic-looking women.

Uriah43 In this first movie of the "Road series" two fun-loving bachelors named "Joshua Mallon V" (Bing Crosby) and "Ace Lannigan" (Bob Hope) find themselves on the verge of being married. So rather than face that dreadful prospect the two of them take the first tramp steamer out and eventually find themselves on the remote South Pacific island of "Kaigoon". Once there they see a dancer at a nightclub named "Mima" (Dorothy Lamour) being mistreated by her partner named "Caesar" (Anthony Quinn) and naturally come to her defense. A fistfight breaks out and during the pandemonium Josh, Ace and Mima manage to escape and take up residence in a small hut. Although the three of them safe for the moment, Caesar is determined to find Mima and bring her back. Likewise, other people are also looking for both Josh and Ace and each day brings them closer as well. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was a pleasant B-movie which features several songs along with a great number of gags—some better than others. But the main attraction, in my mind, was the good chemistry between Bing Crosby, Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour. Yet despite all of these positive aspects the film itself doesn't rise above its general B-movie attributes and for that reason I have rated it as about average. Followed by "Road to Zanzibar".

classicsoncall It's called "The Road to Singapore" but I don't know why; Hope and Crosby wind up on the island of Kaigoon in the Southeast Asia Pacific. I guess it sounds a lot better than "Road to Kaigoon".Having seen a handful of later 'Road' pictures, I thought this film, the first in the series, would be a laugh riot but I was mistaken. Apparently the film makers as well as the principals hadn't fully fleshed out their strategy or their comic approach yet. You don't have the zany one-liners in abundance, and if the boys were winging it by going off script it's hard to tell. However the picture does introduce some of the staples to be found in future Road flicks - the patty-cake routine, Crosby's off-hand reference to his waistline, and the general persona of the boys as con men, though that's not quite as apparent here.In fact, a few times it seemed like the picture was trying too hard for it's share of laughs with routines like Spotto the Miracle Worker and Scrammo the cockroach repellent. The first bit involved madcap comic Jerry Colonna utilizing his his google-eyed, handlebar mustached character as an unwilling accomplice to Ace Lannigan's (Hope) hapless spot-cleaning invention. I never saw a huckster go from a buck a bottle down to a nickel as rapidly as Hope did.As for Dorothy Lamour, America's first and perhaps most prolific pin-up girl found a winning combination in this very first team up with the comedy duo who had already thrilled radio audiences with their slick banter and comedic put-downs. Wondering how she'd keep up with their dubious hi-jinks, she wound up following Crosby's advice to look for an opening and give it her best shot. It was good enough for six more Road shows.

lugonian ROAD TO SINGAPORE (Paramount, 1940), directed by Victor Schertzinger, marked the initial pairing of crooner Bing Crosby. and funny man, Bob Hope, in what was to become the first in a series of "Road" adventures revolving around a guy, a pal and a gal. With no sequels originally intended, its popularity truly relies most not on the slight screenplay by Don Hartman and Frank Butler nor the few comedy routines, but the fine chemistry brought out by its leading players, Crosby, Hope and Dorothy Lamour. The story revolves around Josh Mallon (Bing Crosby, in a role suited for a much younger actor), a free-spirited young man whose serious-minded father (Charles Coburn) wants him to carry in the family business of his multi-million dollar establishment, Mallon Steamship Company, as well as to settle down and marry an heiress, Gloria Wycott (Judith Barrett). Josh very much prefers spending time bumming around with his boyhood pal, "Ace" Lannigan (Bob Hope), who enjoys having him around for laughs. Following a social function where Josh and Ace entertain the snobbish guests, soon developing into a fist fight riot. The boys break away from civilization by boarding a ship bound for Singapore where they live as carefree bachelors in a bungalow near the port of Kaigoon. While in a cabaret, Josh and Ace witness the gaucho dance performed by Cesar (Anthony Quinn) and Mima (Dorothy Lamour). Due to Mima's attention towards the young Americans, a fight ensues between them and the jealous Cesar leading to another riot. As the boys leave, they take Mima with them. As Mima takes the position as their housemaid, the boys resent her changing their carefree style with orders and keeping the bungalow neat and tidy. Eventually, they find themselves falling for her and do whatever pranks possible to get her to themselves. More problems arise when Papa Mallon and Gloria track down Josh to take him back with them to the states, much to the dismay of his friends.As Bob Osborne, host of Turner Classic Movies, mentioned in his profile on the the making of the film in its January 28, 2010 presentation, SINGAPORE was initially scripted for George Burns and Gracie Allen, and revised for Fred MacMurray and Jack Oakie before the screenplay finally went to Crosby and Hope. Worked into the script were songs by Johnny Burke and Victor Schertzinger, including: "Captain Custard" (sung and performed by Bing Crosby and Bob Hope); "The Moon and the Willow Tree" (sung by Dorothy Lamour); "Sweet Potato Piper" (sung by Crosby, Lamour and Hope); "Too Romantic" (sung by Crosby and Lamour); "Kaigoon" (by James Monaco and Johnny Burke, sung by natives); and "Too Romantic" (sung by Crosby). "Too Romantic" is the love song theme, slow in tempo, suited for the style of Crosby and Lamour, while the lively "Captain Custard" number demonstrates how grown men can still get by acting like mischievous little boys clowning around, and making eyes and chasing pretty ladies in the process. As much as these guys are full of fun, their on screen party guests think otherwise. Look fast for TV character actress Elvira Allman as a homely woman. Other members in the cast include Pierre Watkin (Morgan Wycott); Gaylord Pendleton (Gordon Wycott); Johnny Arthur (Timothy WIllow); and Benny Inocencio (The Native Boy), As fate would have it, this simple and innocent story proved far more success as anticipated, paving the way for a series of "Road" comedies by re-teaming Crosby, Hope and Lamour in different character portrayals, different locales but similar situations involving two guys and a gal. Unlike their ventures that lead to ZANZIBAR (1941), MOROCCO (1942), UTOPIA (1945), RIO (1947), BALI (1952) and HONG KONG (1962), this initial entry contained nothing to the hilarity of in-jokes, constant ad-libs by its principals, un-billed guest stars, subtitles and/ or talking animals. There are two instances where the script allows for wild comedy, one where the trio enact a medicine show that turns disastrous, with Jerry Colonna (the one with the mustache, loud voice and big rolling eyes) and as its prime victim; and another during the native festival where Bob and Bing dress up as natives in order to get some free food. SINGAPORE has rare distinctions where it provides some background to its two characters: Crosby as a millionaire's son whose happiest being away from responsibility; an Lamour the native girl who teams up with a dancer (Quinn) following the death of her parent. There's not much background pertaining to Hope's character except for being a sidekick who fails in specializing in medicine shows. He shows the sentimental side to his nature in one somber moment between him and Lamour, quite unusual for a Hope comedy. The major ingredient SINGAPORE has that would be used in most subsequent films is Hope and Crosby's "paddy cake" routine, and of course Lamour enacting as their straight woman. During its cable TV era, SINGAPORE was shown on American Movie Classics (1992-2000) before traveling over to Turner Classic Movies where it made its debut August 3, 2004. TCM also has in its library a 1931 Warners drama bearing the same title starring William Powell but that ROAD TO SINGAPORE bears no resemblance to this edition. Over the years MCA Home video distributed it to home video in the 1990s before shifting this and the series to DVD. Regardless of being the lesser item in the series, ROAD TO SINGAPORE, which will never have the distinction of becoming part of American Film Institutes "100 Greatest Comedies" as ROAD TO MOROCCO (1942) did, but is one relatively known as the movie that started it all with Crosby, Hope and Lamour and their journey to adventure into comedy, music and romance. (***)