Themes: Love Triangles, Cons and Scams, Otherwise Engaged
Main Cast: Bing Crosby, Dorothy Lamour, Bob Hope, Charles Coburn, Judith Barrett, Anthony Quinn
Release Year: 1940
Country: US
Run Time: 84 minutes
Plot
The story goes that such stars as Fred MacMurray, Jack Oakie and Burns & Allen had turned down The Road to Singapore before the leading roles went to Bing Crosby and Bob Hope. More conventionally structured than future "Road" efforts, the film casts Crosby as Josh Mallon, the irresponsible son of shipping magnate Joshua Mallon IV (Charles Coburn). Though the elder Mallon wants his son to enter the family business and marry longtime fiancee Gloria Wycott (Judith Barrett), Josh would rather pal around with his carefree sailor buddy Ace Lannigan (Bob Hope). On the eve of his wedding, Josh escapes with Ace to Singapore, where the two of them cook up a get-rich-quick scheme involving a highly unreliable spot remover. The boys' friendship is strained when they both fall in love with cabaret dancer Mima (Dorothy Lamour), who is on the lam from her jealous partner Caesar (Anthony Quinn). Hiding out from the authorities, the three protagonists wind up in the midst of a native ceremony, where Ace and Mima rescue Josh from a hasty marriage to a local temptress. When Gloria shows up to drag Josh back to the altar, Mima nobly gives him up, pretending to be in love with Ace. Eventually, however, big-hearted Ace realizes that Mima belongs with Josh, and thus concocts another scheme to lure his pal back to the Far East. Though many of the earmarks of the "Road" series are evident in Road to Singapore (the "patty-cake" bit, the presence of such guest stars as Hope's radio stooge Jerry Colonna, etc.), the film lacks the spontaneous quality of the later Hope-Crosby-Lamour starrers. Even so, it's an awful lot of fun, especially when Bob and Bing team up on the novelty number "Captain Custard" and Dorothy croons her requisite "moon and stars" romantic ballads. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
The famous "Road" series of pictures got off to a nice start with Road to Singapore, a funny and enjoyable debut, even if it lacks the polish and hilarity of some later entries. Chemistry is absolutely essential in this kind of endeavor, and if Bing Crosby and Bob Hope are not quite the well-oiled machine that they will become later, they're still pretty darn good. The camaraderie between the two feels genuine and completely unforced, and there's a palpable affection that is infectious. Dorothy Lamour, the distaff member of the triumvirate, also fits in with admirable ease; she knows how to play up to and with her male co-stars without letting them get the better of her, not an easy feat under the circumstances. Lamour also sounds quite nice on "The Moon and the Willow Tree," her big solo which is not quite as big as it wants to be. In fact, all of the numbers are a little off; there's nothing really wrong with them, but nothing terribly right either. The screenplay is also a bit shaky; the writers were clearly having a bit more difficulty than the stars in finding their way. This Road may have a few extra bumps along the way, but it's still an engaging little trip. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
According to Hope biographer Raymond Strait, the project which became Road to Singapore was first offered to Fred MacMurray and Jack Oakie (under the working title of Road to Mandalay), and after they declined, to George Burns and Gracie Allen (as Beach of Dreams), with a second male lead to be determined. They also declined. (Burns is quoted as saying that Gracie "thought the whole thing was silly.") At this point, Paramount decided to pair Hope and Crosby, and to take advantage of the screen popularity of Lamour, who had already made several lucrative pictures with a "South Seas" theme.
Although the Road to Singapore script was written by established filmwriters Frank Butler and Don Hartman and the film was directed by Victor Schertzinger, much of the action on the screen consists of material ad libbed by Hope and Crosby on the spur of the moment or surreptitiously contributed by their own writing staffs (including Sid Kuller and Ray Golden). The film also starred Charles Coburn and Jerry Colonna. The plot is very slight, and serves mainly as a vehicle to promote Crosby's musical numbers and Hope and Crosby's banter.
The film was an immediate box office success, helped in large measure by good reviews and by Hope's promotion of it on his weekly radio show. It was probably also aided by Hope's hosting, for the first of many times, of the annual Academy Awards show for 1939 pictures, considered by many film historians to have been the best single year in the history of the American cinema.
This is the only installment of the series in which Hope is billed third, under Dorothy Lamour.
Ironically, neither Hope nor Crosby reach Singapore in the film. Instead, the fictional island of "Kaigoon" is the primary location.
The lyrics of the song "Kaigoon" are in Esperanto.[1]
Performed by Bing Crosby, Dorothy Lamour and Bob Hope
"Too Romantic"
Lyrics by Johnny Burke - Music by James V. Monaco
Performed by Bing Crosby and Dorothy Lamour
"Kaigoon"
Lyrics by Johnny Burke - Music by James V. Monaco
Performed by chorus
Copyright
As a result of EMKA, Ltd.'s acquisition of the pre-1950 Paramount library (which includes this and the following three "Road" pictures) and the later transfer of rights to the fifth and sixth films to FremantleMedia and Columbia Pictures Television, Paramount would end up losing the rights to all the "Road" pictures it originally produced (the last film, Road to Hong Kong, was produced and released by United Artists, who retain the rights to the film to this day).
The copyright to Road to Singapore was renewed in a timely manner by EMKA. Originally registered for copyright as LP9497 with a declared publication date of March 22, 1940, the continuation of copyright was contingent upon renewal between the 27th and 28th anniversaries of that date. Renewal occurred March 31, 1967, number R407858. Although the film opened a week prior to the publication date, the renewal is still timely even if the earlier date were considered publication date. Renewal was filed by EMKA, Ltd., today part of NBC Universal Television Distribution, so thus Universal Studios now handles theatrical and home video distribution. The copyright is now scheduled to run until 95 years after the publication date (2035). The film has not entered the public domain.
