User reviews

There are no bad ROAD movies, and I do not except this one from that statement. As someone once said of the Marx Brothers film AT THE CIRCUS (and I paraphrase) in the career of any other comedy team this picture would be considered a classic. It not only holds its own with the rest of the series but I actually prefer it to ROAD TO RIO, which (while still adhering to the Road Rule stated above) always seemed like the weakest of the series to me. It's funny the reasons some other posters have given for not liking the film: It looks like it was made in the Sixties (it was), the stars looks like they're nearing their sixties (they were, and so what?), it's not as funny as the others in the series (in any given horse race one horse will come in last, but he still had to be pretty damn good to get into the race in the first place). And nobody seems to much like Joan Collins. Well, she was gorgeous and a competent enough actress and in a movie like this who cares anyway? It's Bob and Bing's movie and despite what anyone says they prove they've still got the goods and deliver them with ease. I say quit carping and enjoy.

This turned out to be the end of a great cycle of comedy films. Two mega-individual stars, pooling their talents to come up with comedy classics.

Since this was the only Road picture not done on the Paramount lot it has a whole different feel to it and not for the better. Unfortunately the decision was made to dump Dorothy Lamour from her traditional role as sex object for Crosby and Hope to pant over. Joan Collins was years away from her career role as Alexis Carrington. Here she's just not into the same spirit of things that Dotty was. Dotty was brought in and did one of her numbers Warmer Than A Whisper towards the end of the film.

It's been pointed out that 29 year old Collins looked ridiculous falling for 58 year old Crosby. I can see the case for it, but I would remind everyone that four years earlier, Bing in fact took as his second wife, a woman with just such an age difference.

One of the inside jokes of the film was that Hope's name in the film was Chester Babcock which is the birth name of Jimmy Van Heusen who wrote so many film scores for Crosby. Van Heusen and Sammy Cahn contributed a ballad for Bing dueted with Collins called Let's Not Be Sensible. And Bob and Bing get two patter numbers, Teamwork and the title tune. There's a lot less music in this outing and that's not for the better of the film.

Still the film has some good comedic moments the best of which involve a hilarious scene in a Hindu doctor's office with an unbilled Peter Sellers as the doctor. The doctor advises Hope to take a cure for amnesia at a hidden lamasery, a la Shangri La, where they find David Niven committing Lady Chatterley's Lover to memory. And at the end when the boys and Collins arrive on another planet in a surreal ending they find Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin waiting for them.

Among the rest of the supporting cast Robert Morley as a mad scientist and chief villain and Felix Aylmer as the Grand Lama stand out.

Before Crosby died in 1977, he Hope and Lamour and signed to do still another film entitled Road to the Fountain of Youth. I wish it had been done. Road to Hong Kong is all right, but not up to the standards of those wacky days at Paramount.

The Road to Hong Kong is the seventh and final film in the "Road To" series of films starring Bing Crosby and Bob Hope. It's directed by Norman Panama and Panama co-writes the screenplay with Melvin Frank. Music is by Robert Farnon and cinematography is by Jack Hildyard. Plot pitches Hope and Crosby in the middle of a mistaken identity scenario and thus mixed up with an organisation intent on world domination via the moon!

There had been a ten year gap since The Road to Bali was released in 1952, but such was the success and popularity of the series the boys were once again trundled out for one last "Road To" hurrah. Behind the scenes squabbles and stipulations tainted it some what, most notably the shunting out of the way of the series' previously leading lady Dorothy Lamour (who ends up making an extended cameo), who was replaced by a youthful Joan Collins. So with some scratchy back history and a word of mouth reputation as the worst of the series, with claims of the dynamic duo being too old and long past their best, The Road to Hong Kong must be a stinker then? Right? Actually no.

Sure it lacks some of the energised nuttiness of previous instalments, but this definitely isn't a stinker. Yes the boys are a bit long in the tooth, and Collins, whilst no Lamour in screen presence and chemistry value with the duo, is sexy, spunky and grounds some of the more older frayed edges. The sci-fi plot is delightfully bonkers, very much capturing the space age zeitgeist of the 60s, and there's a whole bunch of great gags as usual (my favourite is about an elephant thermometer). Not all the intended humourous scenes work, but most do, while there's even a quite surreal one involving banana feeding machines! Bonus sees a cameo from the great Peter Sellers as his patented Indian Doctor, a scene where you can see Bing and Bob looking on and thinking the torch is being passed, while a strong support cast includes Robert Morley, Walter Gotell and Felix Aylmer. Funky opening credit sequences as well!

Worst in the series? Well that's a harsh statement, more like it's a lesser light than the rest it is probably more fairer to say, but it's a fun film that adds weight to what fine entertainment value Bing and Bob were. 6.5/10

Chester and Harry are con-men working their way around Asia. When an accident puts Chester in hospital with memory loss, the two contact a doctor who advises them of a ancient herb that will bring back all his memories. The herb also gives him the ability to memorise anything he reads.

A mix-up at the airport with an agent of a cult puts Chester in possession of formulae for a space rocket which the cult plan to use to put weapons on the moon and take control of the earth. The cult pursue the two leading to a range of crazy situations on earth.......and beyond!

That's the plot and, to quote Dorothy Lamor in this film "That's the plot so far? I'd better hide you.....from the critics!". The plot is, as always, a flimsy excuse for banter between Hope and Crosby. However in other "Road to...." movies the plot has been a little less silly. Here it's daft and too complicated to be totally forgotten about. And unfortunately the banter feels a little tired between the two, the other road movies felt fresher.

And it feels like they know it too - there's lots of tired routines, "special effects!" for one, and they have too many self-deprecating jokes. They're quite funny but after a while you realise that they're just saying it before anyone else does. However there still is much to like here - Hope and Crosby are still funny in a bad movie and some of their banter is still great, although the situations that give them the dialogue are daft.

Hope and Crosby play their characters with well rehearsed ease. A young Joan Collins is OK but comes over as a little over earnest. The larger-than-life Robert Morley plays the cult leader with seriousness and Peter Sellers wins the film with his Indian doctor cameo. There are a range of small cameos, some funny some not - Dorothy Lamor returns to the Road series, David Niven turns up for a few silent seconds and Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra take a gentle swipe at their rivals (although it's not very funny -"special effects!").

Overall this is a gentle comedy that you'll enjoy because of Hope and Crosby. The ridiculous plot takes away from it a lot (did they have to make it quite so silly?), and the musical numbers slow it down a bit. But to be honest, there's much better movies in the road series that this one.

This is actually the first Cosby/Hope "Road" picture I ever saw. I knew it was the last (after a 10 year break) and (for some reason) was in b&w--probably because Cosby and Hope looked better that way. I also heard it was pretty bad. While it's not great, I sort of enjoyed it.

The plot was REALLY silly and involves the boys in espionage with Joan Collins along for the ride and a (surprisingly) very bad job by Robert Morley as the lead villain. Dorothy Lamour decided to not costar in this one but she does pop up (playing herself) in an amusing cameo and sings one song (Cosby sings too). There's also a really silly and pointless bit when Cosby and Hope are sent to outer space. And the ending is desperate.

Still, it was well-made and Cosby and Hope were a wonderful team--their easy banter is great to watch and they made the worst lines seem funny. Also it's fun to see Collins (who's quite good) so young and full of sex appeal.

So, it's enjoyable way to kill 90 minutes. I'm seen better but I've seen worse too.

After a break of ten years, this was to be the last entry into the long - running and extremely popular series of "Road" movies.

Space rockets, espionage and international intrigue provide the backdrop on this occasion as Hope and Crosby are kidnapped by the leaders of a mysterious and thoroughly evil interplanetary organization known as the "Third Echelon" who force them to become unwilling astronauts in order to take over the world. The two stars were in their late fifties by the time this one came along and they were obviously due to retire from their familiar, high-energy roles as roustabout con men / adventurers. But, even though they may have been slowing down, just a tad, the generally snappy pace and witty banter of earlier outings remained intact.

Made in England and shot in black and white, this quirky, low budget offering must have been a visual disappointment for audiences after the color escapades of its immediate predecessor - 1952's "Road to Bali". Although Dorothy Lamour makes a brief appearance, she had been largely replaced as the love interest by the younger British sex symbol, Joan Collins. The rest of the supporting cast, headed up by Robert Morley, is excellent and playful cameos by Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin just before the curtain falls added a topical touch to the proceedings as Sinatra's "Rat Pack" was constantly in the news. As usual, there are a couple of good songs, the best of which, "Team Work", opens the picture.

Despite its somewhat bargain basement look, "The Road to Hong Kong" still manages to provide a fun finale to the series.

I have recently re-watched all the Hope & Crosby road pictures and saved this one for last--mostly because it's the hardest to find and because it was their last film. Unfortunately, the decade that separated this and the previous film was too long and the nice momentum from the earlier films was clearly lost. It proves the old saying that 'you can't go back'--as the team probably should have just called it quits after "The Road to Bali".

The problems with "The Road to Hong Kong" are many. The most serious of which is the age of the team. While the jokes might have worked okay with the 40-something Hope and Crosby, here they are positively geriatric and seeing them making googly eyes at very young and pretty ladies just seemed creepy. While Crosby was cast as the suave lover in earlier films, here he just conjured up images of a creepy old man...and Hope wasn't much better. Starring them opposite a young and very sexy Joan Collins (instead of perennial co-star Dorothy Lamour) didn't help matters any, as this only seemed to accentuate that they were just past their prime. The other super-serious problem was the script. You'd think after all this time they'd have held out for a GOOD script, but they didn't. The plot manages to be significantly more weird and outlandish than their previous films and the notion of the team battling super-spies and manning a rocket to space just seemed very forced and stupid.

I remember back in the 1970s before Bing Crosby died that the two men had talked about doing yet another Road Picture. Thank goodness it never got past the talking stage, as given the direction their careers took in this decade, the results would have been horrid--especially in light of the films Hope made in the twilight years of his career. I know that devoted fans might take exception to this review, but as for me, the whole experience in watching "The Road to Hong Kong" was sad...and almost too painful to watch. Like the last films of Laurel & Hardy, Abbott & Costello, Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd, this film just reaffirms that in comedy it's best to go out on top.

Yes, Bob and Bing are almost elderly and Dotty only gets a minor role in it but I really enjoy watching this, the last of the Road films. I am old enough to rightly claim that I saw it as a kid when it first hit the screen and it has gotten better as I have grown older. I certainly didn't get some of the quips like "I think this guy rolls his own" in response to the supreme leader's rant about dominating the world from his bases on the moon. I didn't know why Peter Sellers was so funny as he spoofs his Indian doctor from "The Millionairess". I didn't know why David Niven was sniggering as he was remembering "Lady Chatterleys Lover". I loved the dynamic between Bob and Bing. I enjoyed the songs - no classics but very catchy and witty. There was some broad comedy and the salute to Chaplin's "Modern Times" as the machines designed to feed and comfort the apes rather than humans whilst in space go out of synch and at double speed. There was the usual breaking of the fourth wall and cameo that became a staple in the series. The film was almost prescient in being a spoof on Bond films that had not been made. Walter Gotell playing the cold blooded right hand man in much the same manner as he did in "From Russia with Love". There is a super villain who plans to take over control of the world from space. There is a beautiful agent to be won over to the side of right and good. Even the chess master in "From Russia with Love", Peter Madden, turns up as a monk who tells Bing and Bob that money and women are of no importance. To which Bob retorts, "He needs to spend a weekend in Vegas". Another strangely prescient quip that only a year later was echoed by Major Kong in "Dr Strangelove". But I digress - as does the film. I suppose the film is a case of the film being like an old vaudeville show. It's got all sorts of bits and pieces cobbled together with the storyline being of least importance. At one point Bob asks Bing why he is foolishly going to try to fly with a "malted milkshake machine" strapped to his behind. Bing explains it in terms of the money etc. But then adds, " Besides it's a plot point". Again, that one flew over my head as a kid but today it gives me a smile if not a laugh. Yes, people who are not of my vintage and sensibilities are free to not enjoy the film but I am glad to be able to enjoy the last of Bob and Bings' teamwork.

As everyone knows, Bing Crosby and Bob Hope starred in seven "Road to" movies. For no real reason, I started at the end and watched The Road to Hong Kong first! I have nothing to compare this one with, but it felt like a very well-oiled installment, with jokes and references to the previous flicks included in the dialogue, and with chemistry between the two leads that was obviously cultivated through the decades.

In this last "Road" movie, Bob and Bing get mixed up in two very dated concepts: a space race with Russia and making fun of the Chinese. There are tons of mimics and offensive gags about the Chinese people and their culture, so if you're going to sit through this one, you'll need to expect and overlook those. With Joan Collins serving as the fodder for the love triangle, and a pretty cute cameo from regular cast member Dorothy Lamour, the rest of the un-offensive script is pretty funny. Bob and Bing have a constant push-and-pull relationship and their jokes are a great mixture of old-school vaudevillian banter and sixties sex comedy gags.

While this was my first "Road" movie, I liked it enough to check out another. This one has really funny, unexpected cameos from Peter Sellars, David Niven, Pat O'Brien, Dean Martin, and Frank Sinatra! I can't wait to see what the other movies have in store!

The Road to Hong Kong was the last and least of the Hope-Crosby Road pictures but that still made this a funny movie.Hope and Crosby are con men who get involved accidentally with international spies. Some of the humor could be considered "politically incorrect" in this era but the rest is typical Road picture. Joan Collins takes over the Dorothy Lamour role and doesn't quite have the talent for it especially when compared to Ms. Lamour who makes a cameo in the movie. Peter Sellers is not to be missed,however.His cameo as the Indian neurologist is one of the funniest scenes in any movie.

I can't strongly recommend this movie,but if you like the other Road pictures or are a Peter Sellers fan you will want to check this out.

I liked this movie a lot! The cameo appearances are great and the gorilla space suit/ banana and milk auto-feed scenes are roll around on the floor, tears in your eyes, make you smile when you think about it for the rest of your life funny!

After an accident leaves "Chester Babcock" (Bob Hope) with amnesia, his partner "Harry Turner" (Bing Crosby) takes him to a Tibetan lamasery in search of a special herb that will restore his memory. What they don't know is that upon taking this drug certain people develop a photographic memory as well and Chester just happens to be one of them. This comes into great use when Chester is accidentally given a secret formula for rocket fuel which he memorizes prior to Harry haphazardly destroying it. Unfortunately, a secret criminal organization known as the "Third Echelon" desperately wants this formula in their quest for world domination and Chester now becomes their number one target. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that I thought that this film served as a rather fitting ending to a very successful comedy series. I especially liked the scene featuring Chester dressed up to look Chinese and Dorothy Lamour as the songstress. Absolutely hilarious. In any case, I enjoyed this movie and I have rated it accordingly. Above average.

At its most inspired when it breaks the fourth wall ("That's the plot of the movie? Come on, I must hide you" -"From the killers?" -"No, from the critics"!). Of special interest to James Bond fans, as it was released the same year as the first official Bond movie ("Dr.No"), so it got the pulse of the era early, and the outlandish plot could actually be considered a precursor to "Moonraker"! Other plusses include an excellent villain in Robert Morley, the ravishing young Joan Collins and the equally ravishing not-so-young Dorothy Lamour, and a series of funny cameos which I, for one, will not spoil. **1/2 out of 4.

I know this one has not much of a reputation, but I really, really enjoyed it. A big improvement, too, from the two prior ones.

It's not a masterpiece. The feeding scene, stolen from Chaplin's "Modern Times", is a pale imitation (as was Woody Allen's later imitation of it in "Bananas"); Joan Collins, as has been said before, has no flair for comedy whatsoever; the "special effects" running gag is kind of feeble; and Robert Morley is not dark enough a presence for the heavy. (It's also extremely non-p.c., but that's not a fault in my book.)

On the upside, there is an air of utter silliness about it that's very appealing, which their ages actually add to -- it's really fun to see them as middle-aged guys doing the exact same nonsense they did when they were younger, it makes it all sort of "meta". And their timing and chemistry are absolutely spectacular -- as good as they've ever been. Maybe better. And the script is genuinely funny. And the cameos add a lot. A couple of good songs, too.

Very funny, particularly the earlier scenes. And probably the last movie Hope made that isn't utterly embarrassing.

Bosom pals Bing Crosby (as Harry Turner) and Bob Hope (as Chester Babcock) are in India when Mr. Hope loses his memory; no thanks for that. Hope is taken to Tibet by Mr. Crosby, where the duo hope to find a cure. At an airport, pretty young spy Joan Collins (as Diane) appears. Also serving as the story's part-time narrator, Ms. Collins thinks Hope and Crosby are secret agents. She joins them on "The Road to Hong Kong". The opening song "Teamwork" is followed by some funny banter. Special effects help an amusing title song. Then, this attempt to revive the "Road " series crashes...

The worst part of the film occurs when the Hope and Crosby ape "Modern Times" while shot into space. They are force-fed bananas and get bounced around in fast-motion while strapped in chairs, accompanied by amateurish sound effects and trick photography. Also, the comedy team has zero rapport with Collins, who is uncomfortable and cardboard as their romantic interest. Frankly, Hope and Crosby are too old for Collins, anyway. To make matters worse, their more age appropriate leading lady Dorothy Lamour has a featured cameo and song. Other big name bits are scattered about.

*** The Road to Hong Kong (4/27/62) Norman Panama ~ Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Joan Collins, Dorothy Lamour

Ten years after Road to Bali, Hope and Crosby made a belated farewell with this movie, much like Indy returning in Crystal Skulls I suppose.

I ordered this out of perverse curiosity. It starts off badly, with the pair caught up in some space rocket over the moon escapade which makes them men out of their time, a bit like Indy in the last one. It signifies it's the end of an era. Crosby looks old, he has the irascible, slightly scary look he took on in later years - his nonchalant, butter wouldn't melt expression is long gone so when he stitches up Hope it seems a bit sinister. Hope is older too and looks like a right-wing Republican of the Tricky Dicky era. Both could appear in more serious, credible movies (China Syndrome type stuff) as villainous types, you feel. Joan Collins shows up early on to offer up a flashback with her harpy narration.

It does get better, however, and for a film released in 1962, the same year as Doctor No, there are plenty of Bond connections. I enjoyed the zany credits and found they were done by one Maurice Binder. Walter Gotell turns up as an evil scientist, one year before his turn as Morzeny in From Russia With Love. Casino Royale's Peter Sellers and David Niven make cameos - Niven's is 10 seconds long, Sellers reprises his Indian doctor to not very humorous effect, save some goonish fun with a snake in a basket. The same year as Dr No we see the villain (played by Robert Morley) has an underwater lair with windows looking out onto sharks, which makes Hope gulp and grab his partner's lapels. Morley ends up with some Hugo Drax-like plan from Moonraker to exterminate 'the unemployed, the great unwashed' from space, a venture one can't help thinking the older, crankier comedians might have some secret sympathy with.

The finale is quite mad and risqué, with the pair winding up alone in an unlikely destination with Joan Collins , whom they agree to share carnally in a way that bizarrely anticipates her later roles in The Stud and its sequel, some 10 years later, thankfully the cringeyness is broken by another pair of welcome star cameos.

Not the best Road to... film but not really that bad either. Hope's mugging to the camera provides much of the comic energy.

I love The Road to Hong Kong. It's my favorite Road picture. I don't know why so many people dislike it. So Bing and Bob are older than they used to be. Who isn't?

My favorite scene is the boys' Fly-It-Yourself scam. The "native pilot" is a no-show (can't blame him) so, of course, Bing bamboozles Bob into taking over and nearly getting himself killed. I love the bit of dialogue when Bing is helping Bob into his ridiculous flying gear. It goes something like:

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Bob: Why do I always have to do the dangerous stuff?

Bing: It's the nature of the relationship. Just like one of us is brawn and the other is flab.

Bob: Have you got a program? So far I don't recognize anyone.

Bing: Well, don't get sore at me. It's just a plot point.

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I've always been a Bing Crosby fan, but I've never thought he was particularly attractive. However, I think he's really quite cute in his silly love scene with Joan Collins. He could warble a love song at me, anytime.

Although I enjoyed the earlier Road films, The Road to Hong Kong is the only one I've bought on DVD. It was that good. I've watched it umpteen times and it always makes me laugh.

Oh, and yeah, and then there's Bob Hope's perfectly timed line after Robert Morley delivers an impassioned I'll-take-over-the-world-speech: "I think he rolls his own."

THE ROAD TO HONG KONG (United Artists, 1962), directed by Norman Panama, reunites the screen partnership of Bing Crosby and Bob Hope for the first time since their sixth road venture to Bali a decade earlier. Dorothy Lamour, the third member of the famous trio, receives special billing in the opening credits as "our special cup of tea." Given only seven of it's 91 minutes, the series breaks tradition by not being distributed by Paramount nor produced in Hollywood, but in England, and substituting Joan Collins over Lamour as Hope and Crosby's in-between companion. While most screen reunions fail to recapture the spirit of the old days, this latest (and final) installment to the "The Road" series, fortunately doesn't fall into that category, nor does it fit into the class of the previous efforts either. Yet having Crosby and Hope together again, singing, dancing, "paddy caking" their way (once) out of tough situations does make way into reviving those good old days after all. Black and white photography also gives THE ROAD TO HONG KONG that 1940s feel, the decade when the "Road" comedies were at its peak. However the moment Joan Collins steps into the picture in her beehive hairstyle are viewers quickly reminded this to be a product of the 1960s with 1950s material rather than the 1940s.

In spite of its pros and cons, THE ROAD TO HONG KONG gets off to a good start before the credits start rolling as Crosby and Hope take center stage doing a song and dance with backdrop drawings to previous "Road" pictures: THE ROAD TO SINGAPORE...ZANZIBAR ... MOROCCO ... UTOPIA ... RIO and BALI, and competing over star billing. After an aerial view of Hong Kong and off-screen narration, the story gets underway as agents for the American Secret Intelligence Headquarters are provided an explanation by Diane (Joan Collins), former spy for the Third Echelon leader (Robert Morley) out to conquer the universe, as to how a couple of Americans ended up in a rocket ship into outer space. Told via flashback, ten days ago in Calcutta, Harry Turner (Bing Crosby) and Chester Babcock (Bob Hope) are introduced as a couple of ex-vaudevillians wanted throughout the world for fraud in their attempt to demonstrate their "Interplanetary Fly-It Yourself Space Kit" to the crowd. With Harry the confidence man and Chester his duped pal, the latter gets talked into a dangerous stunt that causes him to lose his memory. Hoping to cure his amnesia, the boys come to a Neurologist (Peter Sellers) who advises Harry to take Chester over to a "Lost Horizon" location of Tibet where he's to acquire a specific amnesia curing drug from the Grand Lama (Felix Aylmer). With Chester now having a photographic memory, Harry comes up with a new gimmick for a memory act. Diane, who had earlier mistaken Chester as her contact to get the top formula for Russian rocket fuel (who unwittingly memorized its formula for space navigation), soon leads the men into a series of wild escapades on the streets of Hong Kong to outer space through the use of "team work" and "special effects."

In between the antics comes the traditional time out for songs by Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen which includes: "Team Work" and "The Road to Hong Kong" (sung by Bing Crosby and Bob Hope); "Let's Not Be Sensible" (sung by Crosby); "Personality" and "Warmer Than a Whisper" (sung by Dorothy Lamour); and "Team Work" (reprised by Crosby, Hope and Joan Collins).

Surprise guest stars also add to the humor of the story, notably that of David Niven, Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra. Jerry Colonna, the wide-eyed character with the mustache, makes his third cameo in the "Road" series, this time as a man asking for a match, while Peter Sellers, years before winning fame as Inspector Clouseau in the hilarious "Pink Panther" spy series of the 1960s and 70s, offers the film's funniest moments as the Indian doctor who examines the memory loss Chester (Hope). This sequence alone makes THE ROAD TO HONG KONG a worthy offering next to Dorothy Lamour's reunion with the boys as she attempts to hide them from the killers not so much from the killers but from "the critics." Lamour plays herself this time around, looking quite youthful for her age, especially during her brief moment in long hair and sarong. With Hope telling Lamour about "all those 'Road' pictures they made together," it's a wonder why Hope and Crosby didn't use their own names as opposed to screen characters Harry and Chester this time around.

Coming in a bit late to capitalize on the 1950s science fiction phase, THE ROAD TO HONG KONG did arrive in time to meet with the current trend of spies and espionage that had proved popular in the 1960s, a genre popularized by the "James Bond" spy adventures starring Sean Connery. Fans of the series may actually enjoy THE ROAD TO HONG KONG, even with some in-jokes that might be at a loss to some. For this being the end of the road, it almost wasn't. Shortly after the death of Bing Crosby in October 1977, Bob Hope hosted a tribute to his former partner in one of his many hourly TV specials on NBC. There was a mention about how he, Crosby and Lamour were to do another "Road" picture, THE ROAD TO THE FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH. One wonders what would have become of that one, especially during the changing times of the 1970s? THE ROAD TO HONG KONG, formerly available on video cassette and later DVD, can be currently found occasionally on Turner Classic Movies (TCM premiere 1995). (***)

I don't think it's a surprise to say this is the least of all the Hope/Crosby Road films. It starts off slow, picks up in the middle, then drags to a conclusion. There's some Cold War spy type stuff that somehow makes the film feel more dated than the movies made in the forties. Hope and Crosby still have that chemistry, although Bob seems a bit more invested than Bing. Joan Collins doesn't offer a whole lot to things. It's inexcusable Dorothy Lamour was reduced to a cameo (one of the film's best scenes). She was still a beauty at 48 and obviously had better chemistry with the duo than Collins. Anyway, this is still worth a look especially for fans of the duo. It's not a terrible comedy by any means just a disappointment by comparison to the rest of this series.