By this time - the sixth in an eventual series of seven - the formula was well established; wise-cracks, in-jokes, forget the 'fourth wall', throw in some 'cameos' (in this case Bogie, Jane Russell, Bob Crosby and Martin and Lewis), a 'plot' that sees Bing con Bob into taking some dangerous job (human canon ball, deep-sea diver, etc), a soupcon of song and dance and away we go. This time around the duo leave town one bullet in front of a shotgun wedding - actually two bullets and two shotgun weddings as both Bing and Bob have dallied with local girls in Australia. They were, by definition, of their time so that much of the humour may seem flat but what remains is the great 'timing' and rapport between Hope and Crosby and perhaps above all the songs, many of which became not only 'hits' of the day but went on to become 'standards' such as Moonlight Becomes You and But Beautiful. This is hardly surprising given that Johnny Burke wrote the lyrics for the first six and Jimmy Van Heusen the music for the last six (Burke worked with composer James V. Monaco - 'Too Romantic' on the first in the series, Singapore and Van Heusen worked with new partner Sammy Cahn on the seventh, Hong Kong). The score here is as fine as ever with such gems as Chicago Style, To See You Is To Love You, Hoots, Mon, and Moonflower. Maybe not the best of the seven but not the worst either and the only one in colour.
Review of Road to Bali
