User Reviews

From the very first Road picture Hope and Crosby were known for their ad-libbing. In fact when they guested on each other's shows the two of them would take the script and insert some of their own lines to try and catch the other off-guard.

In this Road picture I will swear that the moment the boys and Dotty Lamour were washed ashore on the proverbial south sea island, the picture is one long ad-lib. I am sure the director said, here's the plot situation just make it up as you go. It's got that kind of spontaneity.

Look for 'guest' appearances by Jane Russell, Humphrey Bogart, Martin and Lewis and Bob Crosby in this wacky romp.

Says Dotty: "I love you Bob, I love you Bing, my heart's in a real wing ding." So do we all.

On a scale of one to a million this rates about a 999,999 on the silly scale. In colour and with beautiful production values ROAD TO BALI made in 1952 contains as many up to date movie and social references as an encyclopedia written by Ludwig Von Drake. In a huge theatre these ROAD films must have lifted the roof with laughter, and as a DVD diversion in 2006 any of them can be a generous and loony mood lifter. There is actually many laugh out loud moments still to be had even if you weren't born or aware of life in the early 50s. THE ROAD TO BALI (pronounced "Bally" by Americans; "Barley" by the rest of us) is basically flat-out hilarious with quips and ad libs galore. Even if you cringe at Bing Crosby as I do, there is enough genuinely funny lines and situations and terrible gags to overwhelm you...much like THE PRODUCERS released this year insists we find it relentlessly dementedly funny. To me Bob Hope has always been Daffy Duck (Groucho Marx was Bugs Bunny) and it is his vaudeville lunacy that carries Crosby inbetween squabbling over Lamour and pushing through all parts of the set. This film has some excellent special effects, very admirable for '52. A hilarious cameo from Jane Russell is the cherry on the icing. Some big dance scenes are an added bonus. Fun fun and demented fun. What a year 1952 was for hilarious films (look 'em up).

In this very lighthearted comedy, Bob and Bing ham it up in the South Pacific, in search of women and adventure. The plot, which involves deep-sea diving for sunken treasure, is super shallow ... so to speak. But of course the film is just an excuse to highlight the talents of the comic and the crooner. And talent they had. But here, neither the jokes nor the songs are memorable. Fortunately, Dorothy Lamour is on hand to spice things up. The sets are mildly interesting, in a tacky sort of way.

For me, the real value of the "road" movies is the perspective they bring to cinema viewing. My ... how movies have changed in fifty years, and not necessarily for the better. "Road To Bali" wouldn't fly today ... or float, for that matter. But for fans of Hope and Crosby, the film is a pleasant, harmless diversion, a reminder of a more innocent, bygone era in film-making.

I like all of the Hope and Crosby road pictures even if they were kind of silly. I grew up with them; even saw Hope on stage at the Palace Theater in Cleveland, Ohio in the old vaudeville days (they also had a picture show). Anyhow, as simple as they were, they were funny in their own way, and I loved Crosby singing, and Dorothy Lamour's vocaling in amour! Saw The Road to Bali on the tube AMC for the umpteenth time, and still enjoyed it; as usual the music is great, and the boys really didn't know how to end it! 6/10

ROAD TO BALI (Paramount, 1952), directed by Hal Walker, reunites the famous trio of Bing Crosby, Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour in another wild and crazy adventure for their sixth "Road" outing. Having traveled through "Singapore" (1940), "Zanzibar" (1941), "Morocco" (1942), "Utopia" (1945) and finally "Rio" (1947), with a lot of other territories to explore such as Borneo, Venice or even outer space, the writers came up with "Bali" as their next stop. With newfound surroundings, added Technicolor and surprise guest stars along the way, the material supplied, though hardly original, was no doubt quite popular in its day.

Opening with a commentary and visual over the map of Australia leading to the city in Melbourne, the story gets underway in a vaudeville house where American entertainers, George Cochran (Bing Crosby) and Harold Gridley (Bob Hope), longtime pals, are performing. Back stage are a couple of angry fathers with their daughters to whom these guys proposed, but each having no intention of marrying. Making their getaway, they soon end up on a train from which they jump out to avoid another angry father, ending up in a far away place surrounded by sheep. Arriving in another city as part of a cargo of sheep, the bearded George and Harold agree to accept jobs from Ken Ahok (Mervyn Vye) working as deep sea divers (with Harold doing the underwater job) to help locate buried treasure. Upon their arrival on an island paradise, the boys encounter Ahok's cousin, Lalah (Dorothy Lamour), a princess of Scottish descent. Because Ken Ahok happens to be responsible for the deaths of his previous divers, with intention of doing the same for these Americans, Lalah warns them that their mission means certain death. After Harold dives for and acquires the buried jewels, the trio break away from Ahok's murderous cutthroats and set sail out for Bali. While on the tropical island, further danger and numerous surprises awaits.

A movie being more fantasy than its intended South Seas island spoof, the film's best moments are its opening 20 minutes. In spite of every effort made turning out a great 91 minute comedy in the tradition of ROAD TO MOROCCO or ROAD TO UTOPIA, this latest "Road" installment grows tiresome long before it's all over. Crosby the con man, Hope the stooge, and Lamour the sarong girl in the middle, revive their past "Road" adventures with much familiarity, continue acting like over-age kids with their one "paddy cake" routine along with an assortment of ad-libs. In-jokes are put to the maximum this time around, some at a total loss for viewers today. Best bits however, are Hope and Crosby surrounded by beautiful maiden girls. An agonizing groan is heard off screen: Crosby: "What was that?" Hope: "It's Errol Flynn. He can't stand it." Or a clip insertion of Humphrey Bogart hauling The African Queen. (I thought Bali is in Indonesia!) Then there's Bing Crosby's brother Bob doing his bit with a "shot in the picture," along with Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, as well as Jane Russell in some amusing bits. There's also a running gag throughout the film where the boys play a flute to see what slowly grows out of the basket. Murvyn Vye makes a fine villain, but it would have been nice having Anthony Quinn ("Singapore" and "Morocco") back for old times sake.

Musical interludes are a tradition in the series, with new score by Johnny Burke and James Van Heusen, including: "Chicago Style" (sung by Bing Crosby and Bob Hope); "Moonflowers" (sung by Dorothy Lamour); "Hoot-Mon" (sung by Hope and Crosby in kilts, performed by handmaidens and warriors); "To See You" (sung by Crosby); "The Merry-Go-Round Around" (sung by Bob Hope, Dorothy Lamour and Bing Crosby); "Moonflowers" (reprize by Lamour); and "Wedding Chant" (natives). For Crosby's solo, Hope faces the camera addressing the theater audience that it's time for them to step out and get some popcorn.

Having fallen to public domain, poor quality prints of ROAD TO BALI have turned up on home video and DVD over the years. Better prints available happen to come from cable channels American Movie Classics and Turner Classic Movies. Being a Paramount film, notice the TCM print with both Columbia and Paramount studio logos for its introduction.

ROAD TO BALI almost became the final "Road" adventure. Ten years later, an attempt was made to revive the formula, being THE ROAD TO HONG KONG (United Artists, 1962), starring Crosby and Hope with Lamour strangely reduced to cameo appearance. Overall, any movie that can make a "monkey" out of Bob Hope, can't be all bad. (***)

Trying to avoid shotgun weddings, two entertainers (Bob Hope, Bing Crosby) run away and take jobs as deep sea divers. This leads them to Bali and princess Dorothy Lamour. Inevitably both guys vie for Dorothy's affections while tangling with bad guys and a giant squid.

Routine 'Road' picture with the notable difference of it being in color. Hope and Crosby are always fun, especially when they break the fourth wall. Lamour is lovely in color. This was her last film for ten years. Some of the gags are tired but there are still lots of yuks. Also some decent songs. Overall the likable personalities of the trio keep it afloat. Jane Russell, Martin & Lewis, and Humphrey Bogart (through African Queen footage) all have cameos. There is one rather odd sequence where Dorothy dreams of her childhood pet monkey and we see a real chimp wearing a very creepy Bob Hope mask.

And, it was the only one of the "Road to..." movies that he and Bing Crosby ever did in Technicolor. The ad-libbed asides to the audience were something I had never seen or heard of before! Even more of a delightful surprise was the cameo appearance by General Burkhalter as a South Sea island chief!! The songs weren't bad, either. * "The Merry-Go-Run-Around" is probably my second-favorite song of Bob's. "Silver Bells" and "Thanks for the Memories" naturally tie for first-place.* With Bob having died this past Sunday, nostalgia channels like AMC and TCM will no doubt include this, and all his other films, in some kind of marathon movie memorial. *Which they really should have done BACK ON HIS CENTENNIAL!* Oh, well. Thanks to you, Bob, for all my merry, mirth-filled memories.

I'm 14, and I'm a huge fan of Bob Hope. I got this movie for Christmas and I loved it. It was so darn funny. Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, and Dorothy Lamour all did a tremendous job. I was laughing my butt off throughout the movie. It was also great seeing Humphery Bogart, Dean Martin, and Jane Russell in cameos. Bob Hope is most funny when performing with Bing. They're a great comedy team. He has delivered lots of funny lines in this movie. It was funny how he made references to being in a movie or how Bing already had an Oscar. Bob Hope is one of the greatest comedians who ever lived and you all know it. Here's to Bob Hope!

The jokes just keep on coming in this 'Road movie'. There are so many gags here, you'll have to watch this film more than once to get them all. Although the story is very simple, the sets, the girls and especially the amazing Technicolor is a treat to watch. The Road To Bali is the medicine for a grey day!

The only 'Road' film in colour was also the only one made in the fifties and Dottie Lamour's last lead. The addition of Technicolor, the South Seas studio sets and an erupting volcano makes it resemble one of Lamour's sarong films of ten years earlier; while that era is further evoked by the return of the giant squid from 'Reap the Wild Wind'.

The 'Road' movies are the kind of films that used to be programmed on British TV in the late '70s/early '80s on a (usually rainy) Sunday afternoon, when there was little else to do except play board games. I watched them when I was young and remember finding them relatively amusing at the time—well, more fun than a game of Mousetrap (all that setting up the plastic pieces for it not to work!).

Having just watched Road To Bali, my first Road trip since I was a kid, I'm wondering what the hell I was thinking: the film is a horribly antiquated comedy with gags well past their sell-by-date and dull song and dance routines. The plot is all over the place, but mainly consists of our two happy-go-lucky heroes, George Cochran (Bing Crosby) and Harold Gridley (Bob Hope) arguing about who is going to marry beautiful Princess Lala (Dorothy Lamour), who they meet after applying for jobs as deep sea divers, their mission to retrieve a long sunken treasure guarded by a massive squid.

The vaudevillian jokes (scripted and ad-libbed), many of which were topical at the time, come thick and fast, but unless you're an octogenarian (and still blessed with your hearing and your marbles), I doubt very much if you'll find very many of them funny because you simply won't 'get' them (I'm fast approaching fifty and many of the quips sailed way over my head). Fortunately, the presence of the gorgeous Dorothy Lamour helps matters a lot, and there are a couple of fun, silly moments featuring the giant squid and an amorous gorilla, but with such dreadful gags and unmemorable songs, the hour and a half really felt like a lot longer.

***According to other comments here on IMDb, 'Bali' is one of the weaker Road movies. If I ever decide to take another trip down memory lane with Bing and Bob, I sure hope they're right.***

Cute, corny, comedy classic. This film would not satisfy most of the youth today - the humor was quite a bit different back then than it is today but comedies like this still draws a viewing audience. The humor here is a bit "dry" but funny if you "get it".

Hope & Crosby are quite a team and put on some fun song and dance routines as well. I still think the beginning of the film is the best part - the ending is good but the beginning quite fun.

I don't think this is Bing or Bob's best film but it is a fun to watch if you like the "old school" humor.

6/10

One of the actors making a cameo in Road to Bali is missing from the credit list--Humphrey Bogart! Bogie is seen pulling "The African Queen" through the marsh just as he did in the movie "The African Queen"! This film is full of site gags like the earlier Road pics, including Martin and Lewis in a dream and Bing's brother Bob shooting wild game! There have been various versions of this film released on video. TCM just showed a great copy in its original form with the Paramount logo. Earlier versions had cut the logo. This film must have fallen into public domain since it was produced by Bing (and Bob?) and only released by Paramount. The interesting thing about the new TCM version is that it has an early-'50s Columbia logo at the start! They must have gained access to it as the did Road to Rio years earlier.

An amusing entry of the Road comedies that were sure-fire boxoffice bets in the post-war years . Popular Hope and Crosby led to nationwide queues for the most successful comedy series of its time . This is a typical Bob Hope , Bing Crosby , Dorothy Lamour comedy in which our starring become involved in a lot of problems and adventures in the idyllic island of Bali. As they are two unemployed artists of failed spectacles , then they take jobs as sea divers for an island prince . Along the way they find a chest of priceless jewels and then some nasty , shady locals want to take it .Together again ¡ in the best and funniest Road picture yet !

The picture results to be a hilarious show with lots of fun , irony , giggles , songs , tongue-in-cheek , and musical numbers. Along with the charming main cast , there is an interesting plot enlivened by some funny guest appearances and a really attractive twist end . The most famous song was Crosby and Hope's duet : Chicago style . This is very entertaining and amusing movie , though some comical sketches seem more forced than before . It belongs to the "Road to..." series starred by Crosby , Hope and Dorothy Lamour , they formed a famous trio with too much success and they starred seven films as "Road to Morocco", "Road to Zanzibar" , "Road to Hong Kong" , "Road to Río", "Road to Utopia" , "Road to Singapore". This Road to Bali was the only of the series being shot in colour . Bob Hope and Bing Crosby are joined by a nice support cast of familiar faces, such as : Leon Askin, Michael Ansara , Ralph Moody , Murryn Vye , Humphrey Bogart , Katharine Hepburn on film, Carolyn Jones and final appearance cameo by Jane Russell in an amusing sketch. Furthermore , Dean Martin , Jerry Lewis funny guest spots , giving back Hope , Crosby's participation in "Scared Stiff" . The motion picture was well directed by Hal Walker who also made Road to Utopía , considered to be best of the series, and with similar artistic and technical team .

ROAD TO BALI is Paramount's sixth excursion down that road of gags with BING CROSBY, BOB HOPE and DOROTHY LAMOUR--and the material is silly but fun in the sort of way that the Hope and Crosby fans expected whenever a new "Road" picture came out. In this case, they were even more grateful than usual when Paramount gave the men Technicolor and Dorothy Lamour again for a playmate.

Nothing really new here. The men are on the lam for some reason from Australia, and when they land on a tropic isle without work they volunteer to become deep sea divers in a hunt for buried treasure. Naturally, their employers are up to no good and the rest of the film has Bing and Bob trying to escape the clutches of the bad guys while enjoying and fighting over the charms of Princess Lala (Lamour, of course).

The usual sight gags involving snake charmers and unexpected bit cameos from well-known stars (HUMPHREY BOGART is seen in a clip from "The African Queen" trudging through the jungle swamp), and JANE RUSSELL emerges for another gag routine. Hope and Crosby keep the quips sounding as though they ad-libbed as they went along (although this is not entirely true, I'm sure).

Whatever, it's all in good fun and it's good to see them sharing the screen with the fetching Lamour, who gets to warble the film's best song, "Moonflower", in that sultry manner she was famous for.

I have to admit this was the first "road" movie I've seen, and I'd like to see some of the earlier ones to see if they are better, but I wasn't too blown away by this one. The humor was OK, basically the type you'd expect from a Broadway show in the 30s or 40s but not an especially good one -- you know, bad puns and sight gags mostly. I do think that Hope and Crosby have very good energy on screen together and they play off each other well. I also enjoyed the "tiki" atmosphere of the sets, which were top of the line for Paramount.

The plot barely exists. Basically Hope and Crosby are guys on the lam from marriage proposals who become involved with a beautiful "native" princess who employs them to dig for treasure. When they find the treasure all their lives are in danger and they must escape to another exotic island.

A fun film, suitable for children, but basically it made me chuckle but no belly laughs if you know what I mean.

I was born in 1952, so of course I did not see it for awhile, and it was all in black and white in those days, but color is better! Daddy watched it with us and he laughed about it so much and enjoyed these fellas, so of course, so did we. Now my children love to watch the movies , but then ask me how old is he, she, and I have to say,"Google it!" Bing Crosby begins to sing and the kids say what else did he sing, and there it is again. I know he was a crooner, but cannot remember names of songs, so they go on to other characters, and I do not remember the womens names, but I said"she had big, ah, well, breasts", so of course they liked her, and the actress was old then and I have no idea who she was. Back to look it up, so he did. I enjoyed watching this movie just as much as ever, and it will never grow old to me. The fact that I can say that to so many people is wonderful, so this site fills the bill. Yes, that shows my age, too. LOL! Thank you very much for allowing me to write this review. I appreciate it very much. Bonnie/bonyelle

1952's ROAD TO BALI is my first "road" picture, and I don't think it's the one I should have started with - after all, by 1952, this shtick had to be getting pretty old. I admit to being a fan of Bob Hope, especially in his '40s films; I'm not a particular fan of Bing Crosby as an actor. I'm more a fan of his incredible singing in the early '30s. But having heard a lot about these "road" movies, I wanted to see one.

ROAD TO BALI isn't as highly rated as some of the others. The premise has to do with Bob and Bing, two vaudevillians who escape from Australia to avoid the father of the woman they're both engaged to for some reason. They eventually meet Dorothy Lamour, Bob dives for treasure and is almost killed by a giant squid, and then the three of them plus the treasure head for Bali. Along the way, there's music, corny jokes and beautiful women. The scene where a widowed ape decides Bob is her next mate is very funny ("Why am I always attracted to young widows?" he asks), and there are a few more laughs along the way. Just not enough.

Dorothy Lamour is lovely and has a great figure. Many years ago, a friend of mine was in a revue where Lamour was scheduled to appear. Everyone looked for her, ignoring the old lady in the corner, who turned out to be Lamour. When costumes and makeup got through with her, she looked exactly as she did in the Road pictures. Good for her. I look forward earlier installments of this series.

I thought Mr. Crosby had a great voice. He should have had more singing time in the film. Mr. Hope seemed a bit hapless - perhaps he and Crosby were not ready for the film. They seemed very unrehearsed, especially during the "song and dance" bit.

The movie is very dated. My grandmother says this "comedy" wasn't even funny, to her, back then. I believe these "native/road" movies sent a coded message that there would be a lot of "skin" time shown... well, this doesn't work, today. The players don't show all that much skin; perhaps, at that time, it was enough?

The "clever" jokes (Sadie Thompson was the hooker in "Rain") seem not to move the characters along. Many of the scenes look disjointed, and cheap. The ending is a mild pick-up. Despite the obvious "come ons", the film is sexless.

*** Road to Bali (11/19/52) Hal Walker ~ Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, Dorothy Lamour, Murvyn Vye