The Hope and Crosby Road pictures were very popular in the 1940s and "The Road to Morocco," the third in the series, shows them at about their best. Well, maybe "Zanzibar" was at the top, with "Utopia" not far behind. The climax in this one depends a little too much on minor gimmicks like dribbling glasses, exploding cigarettes, and whoopee cushions. A weakness easily overlooked.

The plot takes them to a fairy tale Morocco, more Arabian Nights and Hollywood than French colony. The men wear white suits and fez caps or turbans. The women wear diaphanous veils and tiaras. Dorothy Lamour turns up as a princess who, her fortune tellers say, must marry a man she cares nothing about because he is fated to die a violent death within the week, freeing Lamour to marry the powerful sheik Anthony Quinn. That man she cares nothing about and chooses to marry is Bob Hope. Crosby muscles in on Hope, not knowing what the sooth sayers sayeth.

It's all nonsensical and none of it is taken seriously by the actors, the writers, or the viewers. Even when Crosby is serenading Lamour with a pretty little ballad, "Moonlight Becomes You," he tries to pick a rose to bring her and pricks his finger instead. Some of the sight gags are pretty amusing -- Crosby and Hope imitating mechanical men, when a fly lands on Hope's nose. It's not the only joke involving Hope's notorious nose, and there's a reference to the size of Crosby's ears as well. I don't want to reveal too many of the amusing incidents, but I always laugh when a girl tries to wake up Hope. He shrugs her off, rolls over in bed, and mumbles, "Okay, Ma, I'll get a job tomorrow." And Crosby's line: "Junior, how can you do this to me? Why we went to school together. We were in the same class for years -- until I got promoted."

The script has no hesitation in breaking the fourth wall or slinging anachronisms, self references, or in-jokes around. When Hope asks how they got out of the tight spot we last saw them in, Crosby looks at the camera suspiciously, then leans over and whispers his reply into Hope's ear in order to keep it a secret from us. Some of the gags may be lost on younger, less sophisticated viewers. "Aunt Lucy" shows up as a ghost, giving advice and scolding the two men from time to time. Crosby makes some comment about Aunt Lucy's being dead but you can't keep her down. "Not Aunt Lucy," Hope agrees, "She's a Republican." (Kids: This movie was made midway through the unprecedented, and now illegal, third term of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, a Democrat.) I've always enjoyed the relationship between Hope and Crosby in these movies. Both are greedy, libidinous cowards, ready to double cross one another at the first glimpse of a dollar bill or a woman's ankle. (In this one, Crosby sells Hope into slavery to pay for a restaurant meal.) But neither is superior to the other in any way, unlike other popular comedy teams such as Abbott and Costello or Martin and Lewis. These guys are both equally stupid and despicable.

Lots of fun.

This is a typical ROAD movie with the boys chasing Lamour as the audience waits to see who Dotty will wind up with. The script is pure escapist, light-hearted stuff and everyone seems to enjoy the tongue in cheek style of all the gags.

Bing is his usual affable self, tossing off a few songs in the Crosby manner--the best of which is "Moonlight Becomes You". Dorothy Lamour is at her peak of lush beauty as the princess and manages to keep a straight face while the boys cut capers. Bob Hope shines in a part totally suited to his comic skills with one-liners and double takes that keep the high spirits flowing.

If you're a fan of ROAD movies, you'll definitely enjoy this one--although my own personal favorite is still ROAD TO UTOPIA.

If you are looking for a comedy set in the Sahara region, then look no further. With the possible exception of Laurel and Hardy's BEAU HUNKS (a nice short),I can't think of a single desert comedy as good as ROAD TO MOROCCO. It's easily better than Abbott and Costello's LOST IN A HAREM and THE FOREIGN LEGION as well as Laurel and Hardy's amazingly poor FLYING DEUCES.

The best thing about this Road picture is that although it is filled with music (something they just HAD to do in the 1940s),the songs are amazingly good. Unlike some of the comedies of the era, I wasn't tempted to fast-forward through the songs! With "Road to Morocco" and the lovely "Moonlight Becomes You", I was actually happy when the songs began! Wow--that's a first! The film is very typical of the series with Bing and Bob doing their usual nonsense. However, if it's possible, Bing abuses Bob even more than the last films, as he sells him into slavery!! And, thinking he's been rescued by Dorothy Lamour, Bob has actually been chosen to marry her because he's a patsy--a prophecy has been made that indicates that her first husband will die within the week!! Poor Bob Hope! As for the humor, it's a bit more fast-paced and fun than ever before and this, combined with the music, make this clearly the best of the films in the series. A lot of silly fun from start to finish, I particularly liked the various jokes where the actors stepped out of character to make fun of themselves or the film. Heck, even the camels got into the spirit of this self-mockery!!

The only serious problem with the film was the painfully unfunny and gross mental retardation skit--where Bob pretends to be retarded in order to get free food! Not only is this an insult to the mentally challenged but also to Islam. "Zakat" (charitable giving) is one of the pillars of Islam and here it is given a less than noble send-off. Now I am NOT a particularly politically correct guy (and often, this mindset annoys me because it can be anti-free speech),but here I do think the film was pretty tacky--but not so much that it seriously damages the film overall. I accept it as part of history and the way people were back then--like it or not. If it will seriously offend you skip the film entirely, speed past this portion or just grow thicker skin.

By the way, the camels in the film were all Bactrian camels--native to the far Eastern portion of Asia--particularly Mongolia. You won't find such a camel within thousands of miles of Morocco except in zoos! Nope, the single-humped variety is native to the region only.