SERIOUSLY. This is what the crap Hollywood still puts out?

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

George and Harold, down at heel song and dance men, forced to flee Australia, get involved in South Sea shenanigans in pursuit of the beautiful Princess Lala.Bing Crosby, Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour, in the 7th (of 8) and only colour Road adventure, deliver the mix of tomfoolery, wisecracks, song and dance routines which audiences had come to expect. If I mention that the goings on include singing sheep, a giant squid, treasure, a romantic gorilla and a volcano, then you may get some idea of the colourful nonsense you can expect.It's showing its age, but it's still good fun.

When more than one writer is credited with a script, chances are the movie stinks. As if he knew this, the director had Bob and Bing breaking the fourth wall, and throwing in stuff that did nothing except bog the "story" down. It was the cinematic equivalent of watching a doctor desperately trying to revive a patient who is D.O.A.It was creepy that women young enough to be their daughters throw themselves at the boys. Indeed, the sexism and racism here is despicable! Were Bob's and Bing's egos' that fragile or that inflated? I couldn't decide which.How was it that the natives spoke perfect, unaccented English? Where did they get their fine clothes and jewels? How did they build that mansion? Bob, Bing, and Dorothy land on a supposedly deserted island, but spend the night in the swankiest hut ever built, and Dorothy romps in a man-made lagoon the next morning! Why did they throw in the tiger and the gorilla? How did Dorothy's evil cousin wind up where she wound up? Then, because the film makers ran out of ideas (not that they had any to begin with), they pull an Irwin Allen, and have a volcano erupt! Ninety minutes of torture, and our trio never do get to Bali (why they had to get to Bali is never explained). Instead, Bing, Dorothy, and Jane Russell (don't ask) walk toward a yacht anchored in the harbor (don't ask) as Bob frantically tries to stop the "movie" from ending (don't ask).Avoid this like the plague. Your brain cells will thank you.

The song-and-dance men George Cochran and Harold Gridley have to leave Melbourne, Australia in a hurry to avoid various marriage proposals.They take a job as divers and soon they find themselves from an idyllic island on the way to Bali.They meet the beautiful Princess Lala.Now, these two may be the best of buddies, but when they see a woman they both like, they forget their friendship.That's what happens now.The boys start fighting over the hand of Princess Lala.But the locals don't have such good thoughts on their minds...Road to Bali (1952) was the 6th of the seven Road to...movies.It's directed by Hal Walker, and its writers include Frank Butler and Hal Kanter.Bob Hope and Bing Crosby made a fantastic pair.And when you add Dorothy Lamour to that list, what could be better? Murvyn Vye is Ken Arok.Leon Askin plays King Ramayana.There are also some "gag" appearances and great cameos in this movie.Bing's brother, bandleader Bob Crosby appears there.You see Humphrey Bogart dragging the boat from The African Queen.Crosby also finds his Oscar from that movie but Hope grabs that saying "Give me that.You've got one."Another great comedy team, Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin are there in a brief dream sequence.Dean is Man in Lala's dream while Jerry is the Woman.At the very end we see Jane Russell as her character from Son of Paleface.And then you see people like Carolyn Jones (Eunice) and Sylvia Lewis (Temple Dancer).The scene with the gorilla is funny.They all get hit by the natives with poisonous darts that make them all laugh.When the men are captured by the natives, Hope even misses the overly friendly gorilla.There are also some entertaining musical numbers.My favorite one must be with Hope, Crosby and Lamour swinging on the lianas and singing "The Merry-Go-Run-Around."You also hear the Tarzan yell made by Hope.This movie was among some other old comedies when I bought it a little while back.It's enjoyable to watch these old masters doing what they did best, and that is make us laugh.

By this time - the sixth in an eventual series of seven - the formula was well established; wise-cracks, in-jokes, forget the 'fourth wall', throw in some 'cameos' (in this case Bogie, Jane Russell, Bob Crosby and Martin and Lewis), a 'plot' that sees Bing con Bob into taking some dangerous job (human canon ball, deep-sea diver, etc), a soupcon of song and dance and away we go. This time around the duo leave town one bullet in front of a shotgun wedding - actually two bullets and two shotgun weddings as both Bing and Bob have dallied with local girls in Australia. They were, by definition, of their time so that much of the humour may seem flat but what remains is the great 'timing' and rapport between Hope and Crosby and perhaps above all the songs, many of which became not only 'hits' of the day but went on to become 'standards' such as Moonlight Becomes You and But Beautiful. This is hardly surprising given that Johnny Burke wrote the lyrics for the first six and Jimmy Van Heusen the music for the last six (Burke worked with composer James V. Monaco - 'Too Romantic' on the first in the series, Singapore and Van Heusen worked with new partner Sammy Cahn on the seventh, Hong Kong). The score here is as fine as ever with such gems as Chicago Style, To See You Is To Love You, Hoots, Mon, and Moonflower. Maybe not the best of the seven but not the worst either and the only one in colour.