Bob Hope and Bing Crosby ”Road Movies”

2023-08-22

Bob Hope and Bing Crosby were both Hollywood icons, but when they teamed up to do a series of irreverent "buddy" comedies, they created another Legend -- the "Road To. . ." series. The plots were thin -- mostly an excuse to have Bob and Bing team up to break the 4th wall, unroll loads of snarky adlibs, and create some classic physical shtick. With Dorothy Lamour along for the ride, the films were a hit, and an template for decades of "buddy" pictures to follow. As always, find extra...

Bob Hope and Bing Crosby were both Hollywood icons, but when they teamed up to do a series of irreverent "buddy" comedies, they created another Legend -- the "Road To. . ." series. The plots were thin -- mostly an excuse to have Bob and Bing team up to break the 4th wall, unroll loads of snarky adlibs, and create some classic physical shtick. With Dorothy Lamour along for the ride, the films were a hit, and an template for decades of "buddy" pictures to follow. As always, find extra cuts below and thanks for sharing our shows!

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For most of the Road movies, the lead female role was played by the great Dorothy Lamour. Here are Bob, Bing, and Dorothy in a scene from Road to Rio. https://youtu.be/gTEvHqkQZ3c

An enduring bit of physical shtick from the Road movies is "patty cake" in which Bob and Bing find an excuse to play the children's game -- starting a faux fist fight in the process and escaping whatever peril they were in. https://youtu.be/LQ-HhecZqjE

Bob and Bing were gleeful violators of the old acting code that you never "break the 4th Wall" -- meaning you don't talk to the audience. Here's a fun supercut of some of their best "4th Wall" offenses from The Road to Bali. https://youtu.be/uFOKJzKt3Iw

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