Road to ...
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Road to... refers to a series of seven comedy films starring Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, and Dorothy Lamour. They are also often referred to as "Road pictures." The movies were a combination of adventure, comedy, romance, and music. The minimal plot often took a back seat to gags, many of them ad-libbed by Crosby and Hope during filming.
The movies contain many in-joke references to other Hollywood actors and jabs at Paramount Pictures, the studio that released all the films except for The Road to Hong Kong. There are also frequent instances where Bob Hope breaks the "fourth wall" to make side comments to the audience such as, "(Crosby)'s gonna sing, folks. Now's the time to go out and get the popcorn." in the Road to Bali.
Films in the series
- Road to Singapore (1940)
- Road to Zanzibar (1941)
- Road to Morocco (1942)
- Road to Utopia (1946)
- Road to Rio (1947)
- Road to Bali (1952)
- The Road to Hong Kong (1962)
...The Fountain of Youth
In 1977, an eighth Road to... movie was planned titled Road to the Fountain of Youth, however, Crosby died that year of a heart attack.[1] Two years later, Hope announced the possibility of doing the film with George Burns, but the film was never made.
Spoofs
The Fox animated TV series Family Guy has had three "Road to..." episodes that spoof the original Road pictures. They star Brian and Stewie Griffin, and the episodes are Road to Rhode Island, Road to Europe, and Road to Rupert. Road to Germany has been announced as an upcoming episode.
The Road to El Dorado was an homage to the Road to... films. It features brief caricatures of Crosby and Hope.
Spies Like Us was a homage to the films; Hope makes a cameo as himself in one scene.
