The Road to Hong Kong on DVD
Bob Hope and Bing Crosby teamed up yet again in this 1962 outing
that sees Chester (Hope) and Harry (Crosby) head to Tibet to find a special
drug thatll restore Chesters lost memory.
They do, but thats only the beginning of their adventures
as they end up leaving Earth entirely, heading into space.
The storys okay, though the producers apparently
didnt seem to think it was strong enough and so stuck in some Very Famous
Stars making cameos.
Besides being Vaudevillians, Harry and Chester are also con
artists who, at films opening, are about to unveil their newest scam: a
rocket space suit-type thing. When their test pilot backs out,
Chester straps it on.
In the hospital, where Chester's recovering from the experiment,
Harry discovers that Chester has also lost his memory. He cant even
remember what girls are and what he did with them, nor (less importantly to
him) can he remember his name. Harry, for once, feels terrible and takes tries
to help Chester - which leads them to the Tibetan Monastery where a special
herb brings back Chesters memory.
Meanwhile, we need a love interest and this time instead of her
being Dorothy Lamour (who has a small part near the end) its Joan Collins
as Diane, agent for a group called the third Echelon. She thinks Chester is
supposed to be her contact and gives him a secret physics formula thats
designed to send a rocket into space. Apparently, her group wants to beat both
the Soviets and the Americans into space so they can threaten to drop bombs on
them if they dont accept their rule.
The Road to Hong Kong was made some twenty two years after Hope
and Crosby kicked off the Road series and in some ways its "sci fi"
aspects feel like other classic comedy team moviessuch as Abbott
and Costello Go to Mars. Its more state of the art than the
earlier Road movies, therefore, and thats fine.
Hope and Crosby are comfortable in their roles and Collins does a
pretty good job substituting for Lamour. The cameos are also enjoyable, though
the last one (featuring a pair of Hollywood giants) is more than a tad
lame.
Still, its a Road movie in the tradition of the others, and
that cant be a bad thing now, can it?
The DVD is presented in the original theatrical aspect ratio of
1.66:1, but it isnt anamorphic so we had to use the zoom setting on our
16x9 TV. Despite that, the black and white picture (we wonder why they
didnt use color for this outing) is very good. Audio is Dolby Digital
mono and its fine for what it is.
The only extra, unfortunately, is the theatrical trailer.
Panama and Franks The Road to Hong Kong, from MGM Home Video
92 min. widescreen letterboxed (1.66:1), not 16x9 TV compatible, Dolby
Digital mono
Starring Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Joan Collins, Dorothy Lamour, Robert Morley
Produced by Melvin Frank
Written by Norman Panama and Melvin Frank, Directed by Norman Panama
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