Road to Singapore (1940)

A Disappointing Continuation

A Brilliant Conflict

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

While the theatre is always experienced in the present tense, with the passing of time more and more films are viewed through the lens of hindsight; so one notices here little dissonances as early as the opening credits in which Bob Hope is billed third after Bing and Dottie. Dorothy Lamour is still noticeably young and fresh-faced, while Bob is permitted to be more of a ladies' man than he later would.It's all pretty forgettable, but one views it indulgently, knowing that the talking fish and other enjoyable breaches of the fourth wall were not far away thanks to this film.

Yes, a most enjoyable romantic comedy, with an accent firmly on music and song. Skilfully directed from a most entertaining script with a roster of extremely likeable players (except of course for heavies Quinn and Pendleton), it's no wonder the film proved such a box-office bonanza for Paramount. Four of the five songs especially composed for the film (the exception of course is "Kaigoon" which is okay as a native dance number but is not a patch on the zippily witty "Captain Custard" or the charmingly off-beat "Sweet Potato Piper" or the agreeably romantic "Too Romantic" or the beautifully balladic "The Moon and the Willow Tree") deserved nominations for the "Best Song" Oscar, but none did receive that honor. Who remembers the actual winners, "It's a Blue World" or "Waltzing in the Clouds"?Lamour of course provides the film's romantic focus, whilst Hope and Crosby (joined briefly by Colonna) supply the slapstick, the clever banter and the perfectly timed repartee. So well do the principals play in tandem, you'd think they'd been acting together for years. It's hard to credit this is the first film in the series. True the humor is not quite as crazy as in some of the other entries, but is that a disadvantage?Beautifully photographed with excellent production values, The Road to Singapore adds up to exceptional entertainment.Although the critics were lukewarm, the public found this initial teaming of Crosby, Hope and Lamour impossible to resist. And no wonder. The film has a joy, a carefree spirit, an anti-materialistic edge, and yet is so glossily and expertly presented that there don't seem to be any categories of picturegoer to whom the film would not appeal. The melodious Crosby, the quippy Hope, the alluring Lamour, and all set in rich and/or exotic locales, teeming with favorite support players like the lovably irascible Charles Coburn or the lovely if demanding Judith Barrett.

Road to Singapore can in my opinion be likened to "Flying Down To Rio" as they both rather dull, insipid and forgettable films, remembered solely for the significant movie firsts they boast, the latter film being of course the first on screen pairing of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Therefore it classifies as a movie milestone despite the fact that the film itself is pretty dire.The Road to Singapore is a milestone in movie history, and its not due to any cinematic brilliance, clever writing or Oscar winning performances. This film is classed as a milestone purely because it was the first on screen adventure for Bing Crosby, Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour in their now legendary 22 year "Road To.." series.Josh Mallon (Crosby) is the reluctant heir to an over bearing shipping Magnet and reluctant fiancé to a society heiress. Josh is a free spirit who rather than face up to his destiny as future head of the firm, prefers to run away and sail the world aboard his fathers ships with his best mate Ace Lannigan (Hope).When a shipboard fight involving the family of his perspective bride forces Josh and Ace to run away again, they decide to shy away from the rat-race forever and live anonymously on the paradise island of Kaigoon (don't look it up on the map folks because it ain't there), meeting up, befriending and finally shacking up with Mima (Lamour) an exotic dancer in a local café.Whilst the entire world is looking for the heir to the Mallon Millions, Josh is finding true happiness and true love in the arms of the beautiful Mima, but how long can is anonymity last before he is found and will his ultimate destiny destroy his chance of ultimate happiness?Although still in essence a comedy with musical interludes, this is without doubt the most serious of the Road movies.Bing, Bob and Dotty, as they have become affectionately known through the decades must have had no idea that this movie would spurn six funnier and more successful sequels, otherwise I am sure they would have injected both a little more enthusiasm for the project and more of the familiar banter and off the wall humour the later films contained and became famous for.Road to Singapore shows us little of the great triple act Bing, Bob and Dotty were to eventually become and although their is obvious screen chemistry between Bing the Crooner and Bob the Comic, they had yet to develop the double crossing, self depreciating ad libbing characters that would see them become the greatest comedy double act of the 1940's and early 1950's.Rather than squabble, swindle, con and insult each other throughout the picture, which was the mainstay of all their future screen pairings, Bing and Bob actually seem very pally indeed, and apart from five minutes of their more customary double crossings, in order to impress and ensnare Mima, they seem genuinely fond of each other.Despite this sneak preview of what was to come, great comedy moments are few and far between as although Hopes one liners are as good as ever, unfortunately Bing is relegated to the role of straight man and romantic lead, a formula they thankfully abolished in all later movies, allowing Bing to be just funny and just as zany as his friend.Road to Singapore is far from a bad film, but it is a poor representation of one of the most successful and funniest film series in history.

Fleeing misadventures with girls once again, two playboys escape from women (in particular an arranged marriage for Josh Mallon by his shipping magnate father). However when they arrive in Singapore they meet Mima. A first the two use her for free labour, then they want their freedom from a woman but then they realise that they both want some time with her and compete for her affections.The first of the successful Road movies is the foundation on which the others were build, basically meaning that this is straight to formula without the shine and added touches that we got with the middle movies (before they just got silly towards the end). The plot is stronger as a result but it does feel a little ordinary in comparison to some of their later hi-jinx. However the film is weakened by far too many musical numbers, I don't mind about 2 or even 3 but here it was pushing up to about 5+ in a 80 minute run time. While these do give the film a more general entertainment value I prefer the out and out comedy of Hope and Crosby and the songs took away from that.This is not to say it isn't funny, but just that the duo seem to be finding their feet still. The jokes are good and the banter is sharp without being too knowing. Crosby plays the playboy very well and Hope is more controlled than usual – he is actually operating within the bounds of the film and not doing any knowing gags. This is a bit of a surprise for me as I'm used to hope being bigger than the film and interacting with the audience, but I still enjoyed it, he even worked better in the serious parts. Lamour is more understated than later films but it is strange to see a woman so clearly white portraying a woman supposed to be of ethnic origin – but I guess that's the period.Overall this is an enjoyable film but not the Road series at it's best. Instead this is the birth of the series and the formula is in place with a solid plot and songs, personally I preferred the middle movies where they let rip with the comedy a bit more but not to the point of silliness.