Road to Morocco (1942), starring Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, Dorothy Lamour, Anthony Quinn, Dona Drake
in Road to Morocco, Bob Hope and Bing Crosby are stowaway shipwreck survivors. They paddle to a North African shore and hitch a camel ride across the desert to Morocco. In order to buy food, Jeff sells Orville into slavery. What a good friend. But Orville’s owner turns out to be the beautiful Princess Shalmar (Dorothy Lamour), who quickly offers to become his wife. Unfortunately, the true reason for the Princess’s proposal soon becomes clear. Her prophet has warned that her first husband will meet a violent death within days of their marriage! Once Bob’s dead, she plans to marry her true love (Anthony Quinn). But the best-laid plans of mice and princesses oft go astray …
It’s a safe bet that the actual plot is secondary to the enjoyment of Road to Morocco. It’s a fast-paced buddy comedy, with Bob Hope and Bing Crosby as close friends, verbally trying to one-up each other constantly. And, feuding over the beautiful Dorothy Lamour, at which point friendship goes out the window! Anthony Quinn and Dona Drake are here as well as the “other” romantic leads.
It’s fast-paced, funny, and arguably the best of their Road movies. Enjoy! Be sure to check out some of the verbal humor in funny movie quotes from Road to Morocco.
Songs
- (We’re Off on the) Road to Morocco, sung by Bing Crosby and Bob Hope, lyrics by Johnny Burke, music by Jimmy Van Heusen
- Ain’t Got a Dime to My Name, sung by Bing Crosby, lyrics by Johnny Burke, music by Jimmy Van Heusen
- Constantly, sung by Dorothy Lamour, lyrics by Johnny Burke, music by Jimmy Van Heusen
- Moonlight Becomes You, sung by Bing Crosby, and later by Lamour, Hope, and Crosby – lyrics by Johnny Burke, music by Jimmy Van Heusen
Editorial review of Road to Morocco courtesy of Amazon.com
Road to Morocco, number three in the series of breezy comedies teaming Bing Crosby and Bob Hope, may be the funniest of the bunch. Bing and Bob find themselves Morocco-bound (“like Webster’s dictionary”), caught in an elaborately faked-up world of harems, palm trees, and other Arabian Nights bric-a-brac. Naturally, Dorothy Lamour is also there, as she was the customary target of male rivalry in the Road scenarios. There is something so loose and ingratiating about the patter between Hope and Crosby that it doesn’t ultimately matter if half the jokes don’t land; these guys had their own comfortable rhythm, fueled by cheerful one-upmanship. Their sense of spontaneity broke the fourth wall between movie and audience in a way only the Marx Brothers had really accomplished before, and audiences–feeling in on the joke–ate it up. Songs (including “Moonlight Becomes You”), topical references, and ancient vaudeville routines fill out the program. —Robert Horton
Cast of characters
- Bing Crosby (Holiday Inn) … Jeff Peters
- Bob Hope (The Ghost Breakers) … Orville ‘Turkey’ Jackson / Aunt Lucy
- Dorothy Lamour (My Favorite Brunette) … Princess Shalmar
- Anthony Quinn (Requiem for a Heavyweight) … Mullay Kasim
- Dona Drake (Kansas City Confidential) … Mihirmah
- Vladimir Sokoloff (Mr. Sardonicus) … Hyder Khan
- Mikhail Rasumny (Her Husband’s Affairs) … Ahmed Fey
- George Givot (April in Paris) … Neb Jolla