MOVIE
March 22, 1940, "Road to Singapore", the first title in the "Bob Hope Tribute Collection" from Universal that included some of the other "Road" movies such as "Road to Zanzibar", "Road to Morocco" and "Road to Utopia".

This series showcased Bob Hope and Bing Crosy, who each had their own, very popular radio shows at the time, and cashed in on the chemistry between the two and their "off the cuff" style. Dorothy Lamour also starred in the first four of the series, and wrote in her autobiography, "We were all exuberant about the picture, never dreaming that it would end in one of the greatest series ever to hit the motion picture industry."

On the first day of shooting, Hope and Crosby ad-libbed like mad and Lamour found it nearly impossible to slip in her scripted line. She quickly realized that there was really no point in learning her dialog. Crosby told her, "If you find an opening, Dottie, just throw something in."

Hope is the comic relief, who Paramount decided, never gets the girl in the series. This concept worked and insured that each movie ended up being the top 10 money maker for the year of its release.

As would be commonplace in these movies, the scripts were loose with a few songs thrown in and lots action from Bob and Bing. In this first film, Bing is the son of wealthy father (Charles Coburn), who chooses the life of a traveling hobo over high society. Hope plays Ace, his comedic, girl-crazy sidekick. Ending up in Singapore, they wrestle for the attention of an island girl named Mima (Lamour), while pandering all sorts of concoctions to the locals like "Spot-O" and "Scram-O". "Road to Singapore" is a decent first attempt in the series that fine tunes the antics and insults that will become commonplace.

DVD
Region 1
Single Sided, dual layer
Run Time: 92 minutes
Black & White, Closed-captioned
Full Screen (Standard) - 1.33:1
Audio Tracks: English (Mono)
Subtitles: English, Spanish, French

• Production notes
• TV spot(s)
• Bob Hope and the Road to Success
• Entertaining the Troops
• "Sweet Potato Piper" sing-along
• Photo gallery
• Cast and filmmakers

VIDEO
Occasional dirt and debris, scratches litter the production, but is not distracting as the film is generally strong, sharp and balanced.

AUDIO
The audio shows some signs of time with hiss and pop that is most noticeable during the quieter dialog scenes, but not too apparent during the musical numbers. It's not overly objectionable and is soon falls away during the viewing.

MENU
Scenes
18 total, 6 per page with thumbnails, static with music.

Bonus Materials
• Bob Hope and the Road to Success
• Entertaining the Troops
• "Sweet Potato Piper" sing-along with lyric captioning
• Photo gallery
• The Theatrical Trailer
• Production Notes
• Cast and Filmmakers
• DVD-Rom Features
• DVD Newsletter
• Recommendations

Languages
English only with subtitles selections of English, Spanish and French.

Play

BONUS MATERIALS
• Bob Hope and the Road to Success (14m)- Roger Mielke, author of "The Road to Box Office", Richard Grudins, author of "The Spirit of Bob Hope" and Phyllis Diller tells about the reason for the movies and how they affected the audience at the time.

• Entertaining the Troops (6m) - Richard Grudins and Phyllis Diller give a bit of history on Bob's dedication to entertaining our troops and his involvement in the USO tour.

• "Sweet Potato Piper" sing-along with lyric captioning

• Photo gallery (3m) - picture slideshow of lobby cards and stills during filming and breaks of Bob, Bing, Dorothy and supporting cast.

• The Theatrical Trailer

• Production Notes - Trivia about how the movie got its start as a rewrite of a tropical island movie called "Beach of Dreams". Originally called "Road to Mandalay" and offered to Fred MacMurray who turned it down. Bing Crosby and husband and wife comedy team of George Burns and Gracie Allen where then approached. Bing liked it, while Burns and Allen didn't and were replaced with Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour, finally settling on the title of "Road to Singapore".

• Cast and Filmmakers - a list of cast and crew.

• DVD-Rom Features - a notice that the Universal DVD's in this line may include games, screen savers, wallpapers, additional info, internet access and special Universal Studio links.

• DVD Newsletter - A way to sign up for the Universal E-Newsletter via dvd.universalpictures.com

• Recommendations - Recommends the other "Road to", as well as the other Bob Hope Tribute DVD's including "The Paleface", "Ghost Breakers", "Big Broadcast of 1938/College Swing" and "My Favorite Blonde/STAR Spangled Rhythm".

SUMMARY
The "Road To Singapore" starts a journey along the path of a film series that would turn out to be one of the most successful and remembered in history. While not the best of the "Road to" movies, it's entertaining and worth a spot in your collection if you are a Bob and Bing fan.