Der Weg nach Marokko (1942)
69KDer Weg nach Marokko: Directed by David Butler. With Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, Dorothy Lamour, Anthony Quinn. Two carefree castaways on a desert shore find an Arabian Nights city, where they compete for the luscious Princess Shalmar.
“Typical Hope and Crosby nonsense. More of a u0026quot;big budget home movieu0026quot; than anything else, but funny and enjoyable anyhow.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eBy the Time u0026quot;Moroccou0026quot; was created, the Road Pictures had been embraced and enjoyed and the formula was set in stone: An exotic locale, Dorothy Lamour, a couple of songs and go easy on the script because Bob and Bing are gonna u0026quot;jab-libu0026quot; their way through it regardless. The result here is a slick and entertaining yarn about absolutely nothing. Donu0026#39;t let the current climate of u0026quot;Islam/Arab/Terrorismu0026quot; mindset disturb you about the on screen antics because this was filmed in a different era and has nothing to do with the goings on in our world today.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eBing gets a chance to croon the very lovely Moonlight Becomes You, which to this day is still one of the most touching love songs ever written; Bob gets to do his u0026quot;screen persona schticku0026quot; and it is hilarious; Dorothy has a forgettable song and a funny reprise of Moonlight Becomes You, sung in the desert accompanied by the boys and it is extremely funny. Anthony Quinn (who was a Road Picture Regular) returns in a typical villain role in which he does his best.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eA couple of notes. Early in the picture Bob and Bing get involved with a camel who licks them. At the end of this routine as they prepare to ride away on the beast it spits at Bob. This was NOT in the script. The camel ad-libbed and the reactions of both Hope and Crosby are genuine. The director liked the take so much he used it in the final cut. Secondly, it took forever for the boys to sing the theme song, The Road to Morocco. It seems that every time they got to the lyric u0026quot; . . . like Websteru0026#39;s Dictionary weu0026#39;re Morocco bound. . . u0026quot; theyu0026#39;d break up over that lyric and would have to re-shoot the song.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eItu0026#39;s a breezy, light-weight, fun evening with Der Bingle and Old Slope Nose. Make yourself a bowl of popcorn, grab a large soda and laugh away for 82 minutes. Itu0026#39;ll do you good!”