Synopsis:
In Africa, two American scam artists (Bing Crosby, The Bells of St. Mary’s, and Bob Hope, The Ghost Breakers) get their just deserts when a pair of beautiful women (Dorothy Lamour, The Greatest Show on Earth, and Una Merkel, Summer and Smoke) trick them into participating in a phoney safari.
Reaction & Thoughts:
“You’re in Africa now. Strange things happen here.”
The second of the seven “Road to” movies with Bob Hope, Bing Crosby and Dorothy Lamour manages to break the movie sequel curse: Road to Zanzibar surpasses the first film in every single aspect. The jokes are funnier, the musical numbers are livelier, and the storyline is far more absurd. This is how you do a quality sequel!
The huge success of the first entry in the franchise, Road to Singapore (1940), took Paramount by surprise, but you can tell that this time around the studio came with a game plan. This is a crafty combination of wacky gags and catchy tunes, and the twist and turns are bonkers — you can’t predict what it’s going to happen next.
Road to Zanzibar is essentially a spoof of jungle movies. It makes fun of films like Trader Horn (1931), Tarzan The Ape Man (1932), King Solomon’s Mines (1937), etc. It’s hilarious from start to finish, and all the movie references are clever as well. I laughed throughout the whole movie, and that doesn’t happen to me very often.
Unlike the first film, which had a pretty straightforward storyline, this sequel seems determined to reject the stereotypical three-act movie structure. It’s unpredictable, and it has many moments of pure craziness. For example, the boys have a freaky encounter with an ornery octopus, and there is a hysterically funny slave auction.
Road to Zanzibar goes from crazy funny to demented funny after Hope and Crosby bump into a tribe of cannibals. This is by far the funniest section of the movie. Hope’s cage match with a gorilla is nuts — I was laughing so hard that I had to replay the sequence a couple of times. There are many more gags, and all of them hit the bull’s eye — the movie swings for the fences and never strikes out.
Conclusions & Final Thoughts:
I can’t wait to watch Road to Zanzibar again. It deserves a place among the great movie sequels. Okay, technically it isn’t a sequel (Bob Hope, Bing Crosby and Dorothy Lamour play different characters). It’s more like a follow-up, but never mind that, this is a deliriously funny musical-comedy. B&W, 91 minutes, Not Rated.
This is my contribution to The Mismatched Couples Blogathon, hosted by Realweegiemidget Reviews and Cinematic Catharsis.
Theatrical Trailer:
Diary of A Movie Maniac 
I don’t remember my gran watching this one – but I can’t resist a good parody. Thanks for bringing this one, it sounds like so much fun for someone like you who rarely laughs at movies (I blame the canned laughter in the Love Boat). Added this to my final post, out tonight (my time).
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It was great to watch a parody that doesn’t hold back. Today, movie comedies seem afraid to tell jokes.
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I know what you mean, it does feel a very PC society and that they are worried they’ll offend someone. Even in movies, comedy is lost in translation. I’ve found that over here the double entendres in Bond films just don’t translate. But then I understood some of the more Finnish subtleties in Fallen Leaves having lived here.
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“Even in movies, comedy is lost in translation.”
Exactly. I think you can see it when Hollywood remakes an European movie.
For example, I thought Richard Pryor’s The Toy, a remake of the 1976 French movie (with Pierre Richard), failed to capture the original’s ironic humor. The same thing happened with La Cage aux Folles, which is funnier than the American remake The Birdcage.
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I totally agree with you. I am planning to see the original French film for Blame It On Rio, I am sure it won’t be as painful. Thanks for mentioning La Cage Au Gilles, I tried to watch The Birdcage but found it difficult to get into. Gene Hackman was good, Robin Williams irritating so I gave up!
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Blame It On Rio (1984) is a guilty pleasure of mine. I’ve never seen the 1970s French version (I’ve read that it was recently remade in France). Interestingly, another 1984 comedy, The Woman in Red, is also based on a French comedy.
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Caine could be in some ahem misses. I don’t think anything quite misses like ‘Jaws The Revenge’ however.
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No argument there. Jaws: The Revenge is a classic example of how the sequel curse can damage the film industry.
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Jaws is one of those movies that didn’t need a sequel. #2 is kinda fun, but I didn’t care for #3 and #4. But all 4 films were box office hits, so what do I know?
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I know! The shark roars for goodness sakes. At least ‘Rio’ has some pretty ladies to divert the attention. For bottom Caine I have heard ‘The Island’ is an atrocity. I have luckily not seen it….yet (shudder).
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The Island doesn’t work (I reviewed it a couple of years ago). But Caine has done worse: Ashanti, Beyond the Poseidon Adventure, The Jigsaw Man, etc.
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Caine and Gene Hackman were the busiest actors from my childhood. They were everywhere. I think they did a lot of movies just for the money, so despite being great actors, they were in a lot of junk.
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I thought you had reviewed ‘The Island’. Caine even appeared in the remake of ‘Get Carter’! Why oh why? The two TV Harry Palmer films too. Wow this was rough stuff for a favorite actor. (The remake of ‘Sleuth’ I can live with).
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Me neither. I could have given me a seizure for how bewildering it became in the latter half. To make a remake significantly different from an original I can appreciate of course. But the original Sleuth was probably better left alone in the remake curse of the film industry.
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I thought the Sleuth remake was horrendous! I blamed Kenneth Branagh, who, in my opinion, is a bit of a hack. His tendency to over-direct ruined Frankenstein (Hamlet and Thor) for me. That’s the reason I’ve stayed away from his Agatha Christie movies. Henry V is fantastic, and I enjoyed Dead Again, but I prefer him as an actor.
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Sorry I misread you. You said ‘can’ live with. Michael Caine’s eagerness to participate in the remake I easily appreciate, given what the original did for his career.
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I saw The Woman In Red. One of Gene Wilder’s best.
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I thought The Woman in Red was an amusing sex farce. But I’ve read that the original French version, Pardon Mon Affaire, is better. One day, I’ll find out for myself. Anyhow, I think both movies stole ideas from Billy Wilder’s Seven Year Itch.
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I saw the trailer for the French remake yesterday out of curiosity, still to check out the earlier French version for comparison. I’ll get back to you… as the jury is out on that one. Never seen the Woman in Red, but do remember the film poster.
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Speaking of lost in translation have you seen this… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XamB9tt_opQ
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Gilles should say Folles . ( Bloody phone)
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What the…. WOW, this is their revenge for all the awful American remakes of French movies! [laugh]
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Here’s the translation of those lyrics in this post, just in case like me you were lost translating the French.. (they also had their own theme for Knots Landing), https://flashbackdallas.com/2015/12/12/the-dallas-theme-song-youve-never-heard-en-francais/
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“it was a big hit on the French pop charts” [confused]
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There’s also this Dallas tribute from Finland… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wNaquEceBM
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I know. Like John Adams (William Daniels) says in ‘1776’: ‘…we’ve got to offend somebody, damn it!’.
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wow! My mind is blown! I had no idea there are seven of these road movies! I guess that’s proof that Hollywood has always loved a franchise!
good review and it’s nice to hear that the sequel surpasses the original because that is a rare thing!
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Agreed. Good sequels are few and far between.
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Indeed they are.
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Yes one of the tough things to pull off. Though some can be good.
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Agreed.
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Thought you might be interested, Hoofers and Honeys is doing a Bing Crosby and Bob Hope blogathon very soon…
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Thanks for the heads up! 🙂
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There are a few more coming up on my blogathon page – and I’ve just published my review on Enter the Ninja, awaiting your thoughts on the Dallas connection. Have you had any thoughts for my Name blogathon…?
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