Road to Bali / Road to Rio

Bob Hope and Bing Crosby + Dorothy Lamour made seven "Road" pictures. The last three are available on Blu-Ray:1) Road to Singapore - 1940 (Paramount)2) Road to Zanzibar - 1941 (Paramount)3) Road to Morocco - 1942 (Paramount)4) Road to Utopia - 1946 (Paramount)5)  Road to Rio [Blu-ray ] - 19476)  Road to Bali [Blu-ray ] - 1953 (the only one in color)7)  Road to Hong Kong [Blu-ray ] - 1962 (MGM)All seven films are excellent, but the first four are funniest, especially "Road to Morocco" and "Road to Utopia".Unfortunately, these four are the only titles not yet on Blu-Ray, though I am optimistic.Paramount Studio's film library is now owned by Universal which has an active Blu-Ray reissue program.TEMPORARY RECOMMENDATION:While we are waiting for a Blu-Ray release of the first four titles, they are still available in a nice two-DVD set from Universal for only $10 (Photo One). The Bob Hope and Bing Crosby Road to Comedy Collection NOT RECOMMENDED:Avoid the earlier DVD release of this collection (Photo Two).All four movies are crammed onto a single double-sided DVD, which is asking for trouble:  On the Road With Bob Hope and Bing Crosby Collection (Road to Singapore/Road to Zanzibar/Road to Morocco/Road to Utopia) BLU-RAY REVIEW:--- "Road to Rio" (1947) and--- "Road to Bali" (1953) were produced by Hope and Crosby, and only distributed by Paramount.Licensed to Kino Lorber for Bu-Ray release.the "Road to Rio" is given a minimalist release by Kino Lorber with no extras.My least favorite Road picture.The writing is not as sharp as the others, plus it is the longest of the seven films (1 hour, 40 minutes), and would have benefited from some tighter editing.The black and white picture is just OK, despite being preserved by the UCLA Film Archive (apparently the original negative is not pristine).The "Road to Bali" was a great improvement.The only Road picture filmed in Technicolor: the blu-ray is spectacular,.Plus Kino Lorber provides an informative audio commentary.--- "Road to Hong Kong" (1962) was filmed nine years later.Hope's only black and white film after 1953.Bob and Bing are a bit past their prime and poor Dorothy Lamour is reduced to a cameo (the female romantic interest is actually played by Joan Collins).Still, it's the funniest Bob Hope comedy of the 1960s.A minimalist production by Olive Films, despite the fact that they are charging nearly $30 for the Blu-Ray (for the same price, you can buy both the "Road to Rio" and "Road to Bali" blu-rays).Boo.Olive Films also released it on DVD for $13.One drawback:None of the blu-rays have English subtitles (the sound is pretty clear though).The first four Road films in the two-DVD set from Universal had English SDH subtitles, and I expect the eventual blu-rays will too.OTHER BOB HOPE FILMS on BLU-RAY:Kino Lorber has released three other Bob Hope films on Blu-Ray:--- 1947  My Favorite Brunette [Blu-ray ]"My Favorite Brunette" re-united Bob Hope with Dorothy Lamour as his leading lady, and even had a cameo appearance by Bing Crosby, so its almost a Road picture.--- 1951  The Lemon Drop Kid [Blu-ray ]Slightly sappy film, but it did introduce the great Christmas Song "Silver Bells"."My Favorite Brunette" and "Lemon Drop Kid" are given minimalist treatment, but at least the price is reasonable.--- 1952  Son of Paleface [Blu-ray ]One of Hope's funniest films, co-starring Jane Russell.It was a sequel to Hope's equally funny 1948 film "Paleface", also starring Jane Russell.Weird:In "Paleface" Bob Hope marries Jane Russell.In "Son of Paleface" Bob Hope, playing the the son of himself and Jane Russell, marries Jane Russell.I'm surprised the censors didn't notice.The song "Buttons and Bows" appears in both films - winner of the Oscar for Best Song in 1948 ("East is east and west is west, and the wrong one I have chose.")"Son of Paleface" is given the deluxe treatment by Kino Lorber with an audio commentary.

This weo-movie DVD set completes the 'Road" collection for me. "Road To Rio" features Bob Hope and Bing Crosby in beautiful South America rescuing Lucia Maria de Andrade (Dorothy Lamour) who i being controlled by her evil aunt (Gale Sondegaard). Jerry Colona and The Andrews Sisters are aso in the cast. "Road to Bali" is the first 'Road" film in color. In this comedy-adventure, Hope & Crosby help Princess Lala (Dorothy Lamour retrieve a cache of jewels in the South Pacific. This adventure was to be their last 'Road' film but the two returned years later for one last road trip.

I've always had a fondness for Crosby/Hope's Road movies. Pure silliness with Dorothy Lamour always the attraction. Plots are thin, shenanigans numerous and the usual repartee expected of the duo. Today the stereotypes may be unpleasant for some and the "exotic" locales too fakr, but the light-hrated comedy is the core.

All of it

The good news about this collection of Bob Hope films is that a number of them have been available for years in lousy public domain copies and the prints here are excellent. Here is what you get:- "My Favourite Brunette" is a very funny satire of of the private eye films such as "The Maltese Falcon". Dorothy Lamour is very droll here, always at her best with Hope and the film has an excellent supporting cast.- Two "Road" films are included. Neither "Rio" nor "Bali" are the best in the series but any "Road" picture is way ahead of most screen comedies of the time and Hope always brought the best out in Crosby. "Rio" is in technicolour and looks great.- "The Lemon Drop Kid" is a typical sentimental Damon Runyon yarn about the characters around Broadway, the old dames and the gangsters. Hope fits in well but the sentiment is laid on thick and dates the film. He does perform an hilarious bit in drag which is worth the rest of the film put together- "The Seven Little Foys" really stretches Hope in the biography of Eddie Foy and his brood. The star dispenses with his regular mugging, does not play for sympathy and does maybe his best straight acting ever. The highlight is his dance with Jimmy Cagney as George M Cohan. This is also an excellent technicolour print.The set contains no extras except a few theatrical trailers.

I've admired Bob Hope for decades. Of all his films, my favorite of his is "My Favorite Brunette", also starring Lon Chaney, Peter Lorre, and Dorothy Lamour. Unfortunately all the copies (on DVD) I've purchased over the years are horrific copies of copies from the Public Domain... Why Paramount permitted this film to eclipse its copyright is just plain irresponsible. Imagine my astonishment, when I took a gamble and purchased yet ANOTHER DVD of this film, only to find that "My Favorite Brunette" was extracted from a much better - and cleaner - print. It's not the best (as it deserves to be) but it is by far the most beautiful offspring of several generations of prints from the original master. I find this one film alone worth the price of this collection. The other films are great fun, especially for the family (if they aren't yet too sophisticated enough to enjoy great stories in black and white) and I was so relieved to find this collection in such great shape. You will not be the least bit disappointed in this edition. Do not bother with any other DVD release of "My Favorite Brunette" - this is the only one I've found that has a quality of about 90%, and believe me, this is as good as gold while it lasts...

BOB HOPE made us laugh all his life.The least we can do is buy these 5 movies that are among his very best.I had already the first four ROAD movies with BOB and BING,and i am happy now that i have ROAD TO RIO and ROAD TO BALI.THE LEMON DROP KID is a pure entertainment that let's BOB have a field day;THE LITTLE SEVEN FOYS is hilarious and MY LITTLE BRUNETTE has BOB reuniting with DOROTHY LAMOUR.There is also a second collection of BOB HOPE movies by SHOUT.Don't make the mistake of buying volume 2.Volume 2 is for those who collect every movies that BOB made.No dud in volume 1.You can buy safely.

This is a great collection of movies. "The Seven Little Foys" is one of my favourite Bob Hope movies. Even if you are not really a hope fan you will love this movie. It's a must have.

Bob is very good in this movie

Good

Pirated dvd!!!!!!!!!