Road to Morocco (1942)

Director:

David Butler

Writers:

Frank Butler (original screenplay) and
Don Hartman (original screenplay)

Release Date:

10 September 1943 (Sweden)

Genre:

Adventure | Comedy | Family | Romance

Tagline:

You'll Shriek At These Shieks! . . . trying the double - Oh! on Sheikess Dorothy Lamour!

Plot:

Two carefree castaways on a desert shore find an Arabian Nights city, where they compete for the luscious Princess Shalmar.

Plot Keywords:

Beautiful Woman | Boat Accident | Sequel | Camel | American

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 1 win

Cast

Bing Crosby	...	Jeff Peters
Bob Hope	...	Orville 'Turkey' Jackson / Aunt Lucy
Dorothy Lamour	...	Princess Shalmar
Anthony Quinn	...	Mullay Kasim
Dona Drake	...	Mihirmah
Vladimir Sokoloff	...	Hyder Khan
Mikhail Rasumny	...	Ahmed Fey
George Givot	...	Neb Jolla

Runtime:

82 min (DVD) | 81 min (copyright length)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

USA:TV-G (TV rating) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | USA:Approved (PCA #8255) | Finland:S | Sweden:15 | UK:U | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Imperial County, California, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

For use in this film, Paramount bought comedy routines originally written by Ralph Spence for his story "From Rags to Rhythm."

Goofs:

Factual errors: Orville says that he was born on September 13, 1913, a Friday. That date was actually a Saturday.

Quotes:

Jeff Peters: First chance we get, we better dash for the nearest exit.
Turkey Jackson: Yeah, but how about that guy's knife? We're gonna look silly stumbling outta here on a set of stumps.

Movie Connections:

Featured in AFI's 100 Years... 100 Songs (2004) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Ain't Got a Dime to My Name (Ho Hum)

Well, I'll Be A Monkey's Uncle!

Typical Hope and Crosby nonsense. More of a "big budget home movie" than anything else, but funny and enjoyable anyhow.

By the Time "Morocco" was created, the Road Pictures had been embraced and enjoyed and the formula was set in stone: An exotic locale, Dorothy Lamour, a couple of songs and go easy on the script because Bob and Bing are gonna "jab-lib" their way through it regardless. The result here is a slick and entertaining yarn about absolutely nothing. Don't let the current climate of "Islam/Arab/Terrorism" mindset disturb you about the on screen antics because this was filmed in a different era and has nothing to do with the goings on in our world today.

Bing gets a chance to croon the very lovely Moonlight Becomes You, which to this day is still one of the most touching love songs ever written; Bob gets to do his "screen persona schtick" and it is hilarious; Dorothy has a forgettable song and a funny reprise of Moonlight Becomes You, sung in the desert accompanied by the boys and it is extremely funny. Anthony Quinn (who was a Road Picture Regular) returns in a typical villain role in which he does his best.

A couple of notes. Early in the picture Bob and Bing get involved with a camel who licks them. At the end of this routine as they prepare to ride away on the beast it spits at Bob. This was NOT in the script. The camel ad-libbed and the reactions of both Hope and Crosby are genuine. The director liked the take so much he used it in the final cut. Secondly, it took forever for the boys to sing the theme song, The Road to Morocco. It seems that every time they got to the lyric " . . . like Webster's Dictionary we're Morocco bound. . . " they'd break up over that lyric and would have to re-shoot the song.

It's a breezy, light-weight, fun evening with Der Bingle and Old Slope Nose. Make yourself a bowl of popcorn, grab a large soda and laugh away for 82 minutes. It'll do you good!