Der Weg nach Sansibar (1941)

Der Weg nach Sansibar: Directed by Victor Schertzinger. With Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, Dorothy Lamour, Una Merkel. Stranded in Africa, Chuck and his pal Fearless have comic versions of jungle adventures, featuring two attractive con-women.

“Of the comedy teams that made a series of movies in the 1940s and 1950s, Hope and Crosby were probably the most engagingly amusing. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAbbott and Costello were usually silly. Their movies seemed aimed at an audience of children, although some, like u0026quot;Meet Frankensteinu0026quot;, are outrageous. There was an element of sadism too, with Abbott (always the humorless straight man) slapping the helpless Costello around and snarling at him, a standard relationship left over I guess from vaudeville where clowns batted each other over the head with bladders.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eMartin and Lewis were clearly differentiated. Martin was the parent and Lewis was the twelve-year-old child. It all seems a bit much, now. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eBut Hope and Crosby were the most nearly equal. Crosby was the smooth-talking crooner. Both were cowards but Hope was a braggart too, a stock figure in the comedies of Ancient Rome and afterward. I think the figure was called miles gloriosus. What they had that the other teams didnu0026#39;t, and whatu0026#39;s on good display here, is a kidding quality that consists of trying to outwit one another, competition for the girl (Dorothy Lamour), inside jokes, and a kind of comfortably relaxed unspoken friendship that draws the audience in.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIn many ways the funniest scene is when Hope and Crosby realize theyu0026#39;ve been double crossed by Lamour and set out to find her and tell her off. They discover some shreds of her clothing and conclude, mistakenly, that sheu0026#39;s been eaten by leopards and carried off. (Hope: u0026quot;They didnu0026#39;t even leave an ear. What hogs those leopards are.u0026quot;) The two men try to mourn her passing in a sincere and dignified way but their anger at her keeps simmering to the surface. They interrupt their weeping to recite some poetry over her buried clothing but they donu0026#39;t know any poems. Hope starts off with, u0026quot;A bunch of the boys were whooping it up/ in the Malamut saloon…u0026quot; Crosby chides him and instead begins to recite u0026quot;Casey at the Bat.u0026quot; The scene simply cracks me up. Crosby: u0026quot;She was just a kid.u0026quot; Hope: u0026quot;Weu0026#39;ll miss her. Even though she was WRONG!u0026quot; When they realize sheu0026#39;s still alive they sneer and kick away the dirt from her u0026quot;grave.u0026quot; u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI donu0026#39;t think of u0026quot;The Road to Zanzibaru0026quot; as necessarily their best Road picture, although itu0026#39;s right up there with u0026quot;Utopiau0026quot; and u0026quot;Morocco.u0026quot; It was basically their first though. The earlier u0026quot;Road to Singaporeu0026quot; lacked the lazy improvisational impression that this one has. u0026quot;Singaporeu0026quot; seems, in retrospect, too well plotted, if you can imagine. Youu0026#39;ve gotta give these guys a little room to kick out. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe plotu0026#39;s absurd anyway. Africa on the Paramount set, with phony drums and u0026quot;nativesu0026quot; and a guy in a gorilla suit engaged in a professional wrestling match with Hope. Actually, Hopeu0026#39;s pretty amusing. Woody Allen has said that he picked up quite a few of Hopeu0026#39;s comic mannerisms to use in his own performances. (See also Hopeu0026#39;s u0026quot;Theyu0026#39;ve Got Me Covered,u0026quot; a classic of its kind, so to speak.) And Crosby is a necessary counterpart to Hopeu0026#39;s physicality. The two work very well together.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIu0026#39;ll have to throw in one of their exchanges. The pair find themselves broke and stranded in a small African town. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eHope (gloomily): u0026quot;This must be the nowhere that people say theyu0026#39;re 500 miles from.u0026quot; u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eCrosby: u0026quot;Well donu0026#39;t blame me. We wouldnu0026#39;t be here if you hadnu0026#39;t sold the map to that diamond mine.u0026quot; u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eHope: u0026quot;Hah! Itu0026#39;s your fault! If you hadnu0026#39;t bought it I wouldnu0026#39;t have had it. And if I didnu0026#39;t have it I couldnu0026#39;t sell it. So if I couldnu0026#39;t sell it, then we wouldnu0026#39;t be stuck here, would we?u0026quot; u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eCrosby: u0026quot;Nope.u0026quot; u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eHope (looks doubtful for a moment, thinking hard): u0026quot;I donu0026#39;t get it.u0026quot; u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eTheir movies also produced a number of popular songs, some of which have become standards. This one has u0026quot;Itu0026#39;s Always You.u0026quot; Others have songs like u0026quot;Moonlight Becomes You.u0026quot; u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eYouu0026#39;ll probably enjoy this one. If youu0026#39;re in the proper mood, it will crack you up.”