VeteranLight I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

LouHomey From my favorite movies..

Abbigail Bush what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Jakoba True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

mark.waltz The "road" series is at its best in the third installment that proves that the third time is the charm. Stranded after the boat they've stowed away on blows up (caused by Hope's smoking in the boiler room), they end up where all the old hour glasses are emptied out. This has a great title song that a sets the whole thing up, getting polite digs into Paramount and the censors, making predictions of running into Dorothy Lamour, and introducing hope and Crosby to a friendly camel, as well as the spirit of Hope's late aunt, played like Hope looking very much like Charley's aunt.As usual, Lamour is in distress, a princess in search of a prince, or at least a temporary one to marry her in predictions of an ancient curse. Lavish sets, inside tongue in cheek jokes and Hope getting to make time with Crosby's best gal. There's non stop laughs, action and the occasional song, especially a reprise of "Moonlight Becomes You" where the trio switch singing voices and imitate each other's styles.The return of Anthony Quinn from the first film provides the action, with cute Dona Drake as Lamour's lady in waiting. Another very funny moment has hope pretending to be retarded in order to get free food with a laugh out loud encounter with the shop keeper. This is the gag a minute movie that I would rank among the funniest films ever made. Of the remainder of the series, only the follow-up ("Utopia") came close with the others all amusing but not nearly as finny as this.

blanche-2 It's amazing to me that Dorothy Lamour could keep a straight face during the shenanigans of Bing Crosby and Bob Hope while filming. Apparently she had a great time with them, which is no surprise.The boys wind up in Morocco in this film, and as usual, Bing's character can't wait to throw poor Bob under the bus - or, in this case, caravan. This time, Bing gets money to pay a restaurant bill by selling Bob into slavery. It turns out Bob is to be the groom of the glamorous Lamour. He's having a blast, though he writes to Bing that he's being tortured daily. As usual, Dorothy falls for Bing.People might think I'm crazy, but I just love the '40s Bob Hope. He was adorable and very funny. Crosby gets to sing the beautiful "Moonlight Becomes You," an added bonus.The stories are always the same, set in different locales, and they're always funny. Just two guys ad-libbing and goofing around. Hope plays his own aunt, an apparition. Enjoy.

lugonian ROAD TO MOROCCO (Paramount, 1942), directed by David Butler, the third installment of the seven journeys made by the famous trio of Bing Crosby, Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour, finds them in their wildest adventure of them all. Capitalizing on the current trend of "Arabian Nights" fantasies as Alexander Korda's THE THIEF OF BAGDAD (United Artists, 1940), featuring Sabu, and ARABIAN NIGHTS (Universal, 1942) that paved the way for a series of similar adventures teaming Maria Montez and Jon Hall, ROAD TO MOROCCO makes every attempt in spoofing every one of them, especially itself, and getting away with it in the process.The story gets right down to basics with the explosion of an ocean freighter which finds all passengers safely accounted for with the exception of two unidentified stowaways, Jeffrey Peters (Bing Crosby) and Orville "Turkey" Jackson (Bob Hope), seen floating together in the Mediterranean on a raft. They end up on shore where the carefree bachelors ride a camel that takes them to the city of Morocco. Unable to pay for their large meal they've eaten at a restaurant, Jeff meets up with a Arabian (Dan Seymour) who offers him six hundred "kolaks." Using that to pay off the meal, Orville wonders what Jeff did to acquire so much money. He soon discovers that he's been sold as he's suddenly being taken away by two strong armed men. Later that night, Jeff is awaken from his sleep by the ghost of Orville's Aunt Lucy (Bob Hope in drag) who orders him to get Orville back. Soon thereafter, Jeff searches about and locates his pal in the palace of Shalmar being "tortured" by a handful of beautiful maidens and in the arms of Princess Shalmar (Dorothy Lamour), royalty in an Arab kingdom. As Jeff attempts to break into Orville's territory by wooing the princess, he eventually learns as to why Orville was selected to become Shalmar's proposed husband. Complications ensue by the arrival Mullay Kasim (Anthony Quinn), a cruel desert chief out to claim Shalmar as his own, and having quite a time doing it.Other members of the harem consists of Dona Drake (Mirirmah); Vladimir Sokoloff (Hyder Khan, the astrologer who looks into the stars for Shalmar's future); George Givot (Ned Jolla); and Yvonne DeCarlo, uncredited as one of the handmaidens. Anthony Quinn, who co-starred in the initial film, ROAD TO SINGAPORE (1940), returns once more adding to some hilarity as the villainous sheik who falls victim to Crosby and Hope's antics. In tradition to the "Road" series with its selection of comedy routines, song interludes are worked well into the script, composed by Johnny Burke and Jimmy Van Heusen, including: "The Road to Morocco" (sung by Bing Crosby and Bob Hope); "Ain't Got a Dime to My Name (Ho Hum)" (sung by Bing Crosby); "Constantly" (sung by Dorothy Lamour); "Moonlight Becomes You" (sung by Bing Crosby and Dorothy Lamour); and "Moonlight Becomes You" (reprised). Hope and Crosby clown around as they each sing the title song, throwing some in-jokes in the process, one of them being, "I lay you eight to five that we'll meet Dorothy Lamour," while Crosby and Lamour take part in what's to become the film's best song, "Moonlight Becomes You," later to be spoofed by the three principal players singing in each other's voices in the soundtrack. If that isn't silly enough, this bona-fide "Road" comedy also consists of talking camels ("This is the screwiest picture I've ever been in" says one, while the other talking like Katharine Hepburn); the traditional Hope and Crosby "paddy cake" routine; as well as Hope's attempt in an Academy Award nomination with his hysterical "No food, no water" outbursts. With a handful from outrageous to awfully silly and outdated routines thrown in this escapist comedy adventure, ROAD TO MOROCCO, which improves over its predecessor of ROAD TO ZANZIBAR (1941), earned two Academy Award nominations, for Best Screenplay and Best Sound Recording, but none for Bob as hoped. Aside from this being the best known and most revived in the series, ROAD TO MOROCCO proved so popular that it's been listed as one of the top 100 best comedies by the American Film Institute. Distributed to home video in the 1990s through MCA Home Entertainment, and later DVD, Cable television revivals were plentiful when ROAD TO MOROCCO was presented on American Movie Classics (1992-2000), and finally on Turner Classic Movies (2004-present). Next adventure, ROAD TO UTOPIA (1945), which is, in many ways, even better and funnier than ROAD TO MOROCCO. Watch it and see why. (*** camels)

MartinHafer If you are looking for a comedy set in the Sahara region, then look no further. With the possible exception of Laurel and Hardy's BEAU HUNKS (a nice short), I can't think of a single desert comedy as good as ROAD TO MOROCCO. It's easily better than Abbott and Costello's LOST IN A HAREM and THE FOREIGN LEGION as well as Laurel and Hardy's amazingly poor FLYING DEUCES.The best thing about this Road picture is that although it is filled with music (something they just HAD to do in the 1940s), the songs are amazingly good. Unlike some of the comedies of the era, I wasn't tempted to fast-forward through the songs! With "Road to Morocco" and the lovely "Moonlight Becomes You", I was actually happy when the songs began! Wow--that's a first! The film is very typical of the series with Bing and Bob doing their usual nonsense. However, if it's possible, Bing abuses Bob even more than the last films, as he sells him into slavery!! And, thinking he's been rescued by Dorothy Lamour, Bob has actually been chosen to marry her because he's a patsy--a prophecy has been made that indicates that her first husband will die within the week!! Poor Bob Hope! As for the humor, it's a bit more fast-paced and fun than ever before and this, combined with the music, make this clearly the best of the films in the series. A lot of silly fun from start to finish, I particularly liked the various jokes where the actors stepped out of character to make fun of themselves or the film. Heck, even the camels got into the spirit of this self-mockery!!The only serious problem with the film was the painfully unfunny and gross mental retardation skit--where Bob pretends to be retarded in order to get free food! Not only is this an insult to the mentally challenged but also to Islam. "Zakat" (charitable giving) is one of the pillars of Islam and here it is given a less than noble send-off. Now I am NOT a particularly politically correct guy (and often, this mindset annoys me because it can be anti-free speech), but here I do think the film was pretty tacky--but not so much that it seriously damages the film overall. I accept it as part of history and the way people were back then--like it or not. If it will seriously offend you skip the film entirely, speed past this portion or just grow thicker skin. By the way, the camels in the film were all Bactrian camels--native to the far Eastern portion of Asia--particularly Mongolia. You won't find such a camel within thousands of miles of Morocco except in zoos! Nope, the single-humped variety is native to the region only.