Road to Zanzibar
Encyclopedia
Road to Zanzibar is a 1941 Paramount Pictures
comedy film starring Bing Crosby
, Bob Hope
, and Dorothy Lamour
, and marked the second picture in the popular "Road to …" series made by the trio.
Paramount executives owned the rights to a story by Sy Bartlett
titled "Find Colonel Fawcett
" about two men trekking through the jungles of Madagascar
. They felt that its plot was so similar to the recently released Stanley and Livingstone
(1939) that it could not be made as written without seeming too derivative, so they turned the project over to Frank Butler
and Don Hartman, the writers on the wildly successful Road to Singapore
which Paramount had released the year before. Thus reborn as a comedy and spoof
of the safari
genre
, the film resembled its predecessor in every important way, with plot taking a back seat to gags (many of them ad libbed
), and music. The film was so successful that further "Road to..." pictures were assured.
) as a side-show caller at a circus advertising an act featuring his friend Hubert "Fearless" Frazier (Bob Hope
), as a human cannonball, with 'Fearless' quickly substituting a dummy at the last minute and hiding in a secret compartment. The flaming dummy sets the big tent on fire and everyone into a panic and the two of them flee. Their subsequent acts show 'Fearless' doing more dangerous acts, usually getting injured every time. When Chuck brings the next 'great idea', wrestling a live octopus, 'Fearless' finally balks and wants to go back to the states. At a fancy restaurant, they're sent champagne by a wealthy man, diamond baron Charles Kimble (Eric Blore
). The festive mood turns sours when the police show up, but Kimble bails them out. They decide to go home to the United States, but when Chuck goes to get the tickets Kimble invites him onto his yacht for a drink.
'Fearless' is busy packing and when Chuck comes back, he finds out Chuck spent all their money, five thousand, on the deed for one of Kimble's diamond mines. It seems like a good deal, until they find out Kimble is an eccentric who would sign over anything and the deed is worthless. Furious at Chuck losing all their money, 'Fearless' ends their partnership.
Later that evening, 'Fearless' comes back with a fistful of money, claiming to have 'sold' the diamond mine to some guy at a bar for SEVEN thousand. They start to leave only to be confronted by the same man, Monsieur Lebec (Lionel Royce). 'Fearless' had inflated the story a little, so the Lebec and his huge bodyguard want Chuck and 'Fearless' to accompany them to actually see the mine. Chuck and 'Fearless' manage to escape and jump onto a boat.
Stranded, they are propositioned by Julia Quimby (Una Merkel
) to help rescue her friend, Donna LaTour (Dorothy Lamour
), from being sold at a slave auction. They bid 150 in local coin on her to rescue her. Unbeknownst to both of them, Julia and Donna are also con-artists and take half of the payment to get food. Donna reveals to Julia about the seven thousand Chuck and 'Fearless' have and how she convince them to take her and Julia on a safari across the country, not telling them it's to see Donna's wealthy boyfriend. 'Fearless' is reluctant to go, but Chuck convinces him it's the best way to hide out and really wants to help Donna.
On the safari, Donna romances 'Fearless', but he's unsure about her intentions, especially when she cuddles up to Chuck, who seem oblivious. Julia, also doesn't like Donna romancing Chuck and casually throws around the name of Donna's boyfriend.
As their journey continues, with the help of an announcer and a montage, both Chuck and 'Fearless' both vie for Donna's attention. During a moonlit canoe ride, Chuck proclaims his feelings and Donna realizes she's starting to fall for him too. Julia tells Donna it would be foolish to give up her wealthy boyfriend for a side show crooner. Chuck and 'Fearless' continue to fight over Donna, with Chuck drugging 'Fearless' and 'Fearless' ripping up Chuck's shirt.
Donna finally confides to 'Fearless' that despite her feelings for Chuck, her heart belongs to another. Thinking its him, 'Fearless' agrees to tell Chuck. Chuck refuses to believe 'Fearless, who is practically skipping, but then Julia comes in and tell them both about the rich boyfriend.
Chuck and 'Fearless' finally learn they've been had from the beginning and everything had been a set-up. They angrily run into the jungle to confront her. While she's swimming, a pair of leopards appear and tear her clothes while she hides in the reeds. Upon seeing her torn clothes, Chuck and 'Fearless' assume she's dead. They bury her clothes and have a funeral, all while Donna watches. During their attempt at a eulogy, they admit that despite the fact she lied to them, they both loved her. Chuck and
'Fearless' start to sing and burst into tears, until Donna sings to them and then they both turn on her. They storm off into the jungle and the safari leaves without them.
While trying to find their way back, Chuck and 'Fearless' stumble upon skeleton laden caves. They jokingly bang on the drums only to summon a local tribe of natives. The natives, thinking they are gods, adorn them with jewels and give them food. Chuck and 'Fearless' thinks its great until the natives decide to test them by throwing 'Fearless' in a cage with a giant gorilla. After a comical wrestling match, in which 'Fearless' loses, the natives prepare to cook them both, until they use their infamous 'patty cake' routine to escape.
They return to civilization, haggard, dirty and penniless until they hock the jewels they had received from the natives. 'Fearless' reluctantly lets Chuck go get the tickets. When he comes back empty handed, 'Fearless' is crushed, until Chuck presents Donna and Julia. Donna gave up the rich boyfriend because she's in love with Chuck.
When 'Fearless' asks what they are going to do for money, Chuck springs another 'great idea' and the film ends with the four of them again doing a carnival act, this time sawing a woman (Julia) in half.
All lyrics by Johnny Burke
, and music by Jimmy Van Heusen
While the film opened in New York on April 9, 1941, the renewal is still timely even if the earlier date were considered publication date. Renewal was filed by EMKA, Ltd.
, which acquired Paramount's classic pre-1950 library in 1957. Today, EMKA is part of NBC Universal Television Distribution
, and Universal Studios is now the theatrical and home video distributor. The copyright is now scheduled to run until 95 years after the publication date (2036). The film has not entered the public domain
.
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
comedy film starring Bing Crosby
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....
, Bob Hope
Bob Hope
Bob Hope, KBE, KCSG, KSS was a British-born American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in radio, television and movies. He was also noted for his work with the US Armed Forces and his numerous USO shows entertaining American military personnel...
, and Dorothy Lamour
Dorothy Lamour
Dorothy Lamour was an American film actress. She is best remembered for appearing in the Road to... movies, a series of successful comedies starring Bing Crosby and Bob Hope .-Early life:Lamour was born Mary Leta Dorothy Slaton in New Orleans, Louisiana, the daughter of Carmen Louise Dorothy...
, and marked the second picture in the popular "Road to …" series made by the trio.
Paramount executives owned the rights to a story by Sy Bartlett
Sy Bartlett
Sy Bartlett was an American author and screenwriter/producer of Hollywood films. Born Sacha Baraniev in Ukraine, he immigrated to the United States at the age of four and adopted the name Sidney Bartlett....
titled "Find Colonel Fawcett
Percy Fawcett
Lt. Colonel Percival Harrison Fawcett was a British artillery officer, archaeologist and South American explorer....
" about two men trekking through the jungles of Madagascar
Madagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
. They felt that its plot was so similar to the recently released Stanley and Livingstone
Stanley and Livingstone
Stanley and Livingstone is a movie about reporter Sir Henry M. Stanley's quest for Dr. David Livingstone, a missionary presumed lost in Africa. Spencer Tracy played Stanley, Sir Cedric Hardwicke portrayed Livingstone, and other cast members included Nancy Kelly, Walter Brennan, Charles Coburn,...
(1939) that it could not be made as written without seeming too derivative, so they turned the project over to Frank Butler
Frank Butler (writer)
Frank Butler was an American film and theatre actor; he was also a screenwriter.-Theatre:His theatre career included two appearances in Broadway-theatre productions in New York City, New York....
and Don Hartman, the writers on the wildly successful Road to Singapore
Road to Singapore
Road to Singapore is a 1940 Paramount Pictures film starring Bing Crosby, Dorothy Lamour, and Bob Hope, which marked the debut of the long-running and popular "Road to …" series of pictures spotlighting the trio.-Plot:...
which Paramount had released the year before. Thus reborn as a comedy and spoof
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
of the safari
Safari
A safari is an overland journey, usually a trip by tourists to Africa. Traditionally, the term is used for a big-game hunt, but today the term often refers to a trip taken not for the purposes of hunting, but to observe and photograph animals and other wildlife.-Etymology:Entering the English...
genre
Genre
Genre , Greek: genos, γένος) is the term for any category of literature or other forms of art or culture, e.g. music, and in general, any type of discourse, whether written or spoken, audial or visual, based on some set of stylistic criteria. Genres are formed by conventions that change over time...
, the film resembled its predecessor in every important way, with plot taking a back seat to gags (many of them ad libbed
Ad libitum
Ad libitum is Latin for "at one's pleasure"; it is often shortened to "ad lib" or "ad-lib"...
), and music. The film was so successful that further "Road to..." pictures were assured.
Plot
The film starts with con-artist Chuck Reardon (Bing CrosbyBing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....
) as a side-show caller at a circus advertising an act featuring his friend Hubert "Fearless" Frazier (Bob Hope
Bob Hope
Bob Hope, KBE, KCSG, KSS was a British-born American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in radio, television and movies. He was also noted for his work with the US Armed Forces and his numerous USO shows entertaining American military personnel...
), as a human cannonball, with 'Fearless' quickly substituting a dummy at the last minute and hiding in a secret compartment. The flaming dummy sets the big tent on fire and everyone into a panic and the two of them flee. Their subsequent acts show 'Fearless' doing more dangerous acts, usually getting injured every time. When Chuck brings the next 'great idea', wrestling a live octopus, 'Fearless' finally balks and wants to go back to the states. At a fancy restaurant, they're sent champagne by a wealthy man, diamond baron Charles Kimble (Eric Blore
Eric Blore
Eric Blore was an English comic actor. Blore was born in Finchley , England.Aged eighteeen, he worked as an insurance agent for two years. He gained theatre experience while touring Australia. Originally enlisting into the Artists Rifles he was commissioned in the South Wales Borderers in World...
). The festive mood turns sours when the police show up, but Kimble bails them out. They decide to go home to the United States, but when Chuck goes to get the tickets Kimble invites him onto his yacht for a drink.
'Fearless' is busy packing and when Chuck comes back, he finds out Chuck spent all their money, five thousand, on the deed for one of Kimble's diamond mines. It seems like a good deal, until they find out Kimble is an eccentric who would sign over anything and the deed is worthless. Furious at Chuck losing all their money, 'Fearless' ends their partnership.
Later that evening, 'Fearless' comes back with a fistful of money, claiming to have 'sold' the diamond mine to some guy at a bar for SEVEN thousand. They start to leave only to be confronted by the same man, Monsieur Lebec (Lionel Royce). 'Fearless' had inflated the story a little, so the Lebec and his huge bodyguard want Chuck and 'Fearless' to accompany them to actually see the mine. Chuck and 'Fearless' manage to escape and jump onto a boat.
Stranded, they are propositioned by Julia Quimby (Una Merkel
Una Merkel
Una Merkel was an American Tony Award-winning stage and film actress.-Life and career:Una Merkel was born in Covington, Kentucky, and grew up in Philadelphia and New York City. She bore a resemblance to actress Lillian Gish and began her career as a stand-in for Gish, most notably in the 1928...
) to help rescue her friend, Donna LaTour (Dorothy Lamour
Dorothy Lamour
Dorothy Lamour was an American film actress. She is best remembered for appearing in the Road to... movies, a series of successful comedies starring Bing Crosby and Bob Hope .-Early life:Lamour was born Mary Leta Dorothy Slaton in New Orleans, Louisiana, the daughter of Carmen Louise Dorothy...
), from being sold at a slave auction. They bid 150 in local coin on her to rescue her. Unbeknownst to both of them, Julia and Donna are also con-artists and take half of the payment to get food. Donna reveals to Julia about the seven thousand Chuck and 'Fearless' have and how she convince them to take her and Julia on a safari across the country, not telling them it's to see Donna's wealthy boyfriend. 'Fearless' is reluctant to go, but Chuck convinces him it's the best way to hide out and really wants to help Donna.
On the safari, Donna romances 'Fearless', but he's unsure about her intentions, especially when she cuddles up to Chuck, who seem oblivious. Julia, also doesn't like Donna romancing Chuck and casually throws around the name of Donna's boyfriend.
As their journey continues, with the help of an announcer and a montage, both Chuck and 'Fearless' both vie for Donna's attention. During a moonlit canoe ride, Chuck proclaims his feelings and Donna realizes she's starting to fall for him too. Julia tells Donna it would be foolish to give up her wealthy boyfriend for a side show crooner. Chuck and 'Fearless' continue to fight over Donna, with Chuck drugging 'Fearless' and 'Fearless' ripping up Chuck's shirt.
Donna finally confides to 'Fearless' that despite her feelings for Chuck, her heart belongs to another. Thinking its him, 'Fearless' agrees to tell Chuck. Chuck refuses to believe 'Fearless, who is practically skipping, but then Julia comes in and tell them both about the rich boyfriend.
Chuck and 'Fearless' finally learn they've been had from the beginning and everything had been a set-up. They angrily run into the jungle to confront her. While she's swimming, a pair of leopards appear and tear her clothes while she hides in the reeds. Upon seeing her torn clothes, Chuck and 'Fearless' assume she's dead. They bury her clothes and have a funeral, all while Donna watches. During their attempt at a eulogy, they admit that despite the fact she lied to them, they both loved her. Chuck and
'Fearless' start to sing and burst into tears, until Donna sings to them and then they both turn on her. They storm off into the jungle and the safari leaves without them.
While trying to find their way back, Chuck and 'Fearless' stumble upon skeleton laden caves. They jokingly bang on the drums only to summon a local tribe of natives. The natives, thinking they are gods, adorn them with jewels and give them food. Chuck and 'Fearless' thinks its great until the natives decide to test them by throwing 'Fearless' in a cage with a giant gorilla. After a comical wrestling match, in which 'Fearless' loses, the natives prepare to cook them both, until they use their infamous 'patty cake' routine to escape.
They return to civilization, haggard, dirty and penniless until they hock the jewels they had received from the natives. 'Fearless' reluctantly lets Chuck go get the tickets. When he comes back empty handed, 'Fearless' is crushed, until Chuck presents Donna and Julia. Donna gave up the rich boyfriend because she's in love with Chuck.
When 'Fearless' asks what they are going to do for money, Chuck springs another 'great idea' and the film ends with the four of them again doing a carnival act, this time sawing a woman (Julia) in half.
Cast
- Bing Crosby ... Chuck Reardon
- Bob Hope ... Hubert 'Fearless' Frazier
- Dorothy Lamour ... Donna LaTour
- Una MerkelUna MerkelUna Merkel was an American Tony Award-winning stage and film actress.-Life and career:Una Merkel was born in Covington, Kentucky, and grew up in Philadelphia and New York City. She bore a resemblance to actress Lillian Gish and began her career as a stand-in for Gish, most notably in the 1928...
... Julia Quimby - Eric BloreEric BloreEric Blore was an English comic actor. Blore was born in Finchley , England.Aged eighteeen, he worked as an insurance agent for two years. He gained theatre experience while touring Australia. Originally enlisting into the Artists Rifles he was commissioned in the South Wales Borderers in World...
... Charles Kimble - Douglass DumbrilleDouglass DumbrilleDouglass Dumbrille was a Canadian actor and one of the Canadian pioneers in early Hollywood.-Life and career:...
... Slave trader - Iris AdrianIris AdrianIris Adrian was an American film actress.-Life and career:Born in Los Angeles, California as Iris Hostetter, Adrian won a beauty pageant and worked with the Ziegfeld Follies, before she entered films at the end of the silent era in Chasing Husbands and appeared as an extra or chorus girl in early...
... French soubrette in cafe - Lionel Royce ... Monsieur Lebec
- Buck Woods ... Thonga
- Leigh Whipper ... Scarface
- Ernest WhitmanErnest WhitmanErnest Whitman was an African American television and film actor....
... Whiteface - Noble JohnsonNoble JohnsonNoble Johnson was an African American actor and film producer.-Biography:Standing 6'2" at 215 pounds, his impressive physique and handsome features made him in demand as a character actor and bit player...
... Chief - Joan MarshJoan MarshJoan Marsh was an American film actress.Marsh was the daughter of Charles Rosher. She made her first film appearance as an infant in the Universal Pictures film Hearts Aflame , billed as Dorothy Rosher...
... Dimples, helper in Human Cannonball act - Luis Alberni ... Native booth proprietor
- Robert MiddlemassRobert MiddlemassRobert Middlemass was an American character actor with over 100 film appearances...
... Police inspector
Songs
- "You Lucky People, You" performed by Bing Crosby
- "African Etude / Road To Zanzibar" performed by Bing Crosby and a chorus while on safari
- "You're Dangerous" performed by Dorothy Lamour
- "It's Always You" performed by Bing Crosby
All lyrics by Johnny Burke
Johnny Burke (lyricist)
Johnny Burke was a lyricist, widely regarded as one of the finest writers of popular songs in America between the 1920s and 1950s.-Biography:...
, and music by Jimmy Van Heusen
Copyright renewal
The film's copyright was renewed in a timely manner by the company which had acquired it. Originally registered for copyright as LP10409 with a declared publication date of April 11, 1941, the continuation of copyright was contingent upon renewal between the 27th and 28th anniversaries of that date. Renewal occurred April 18, 1968, number R434268.While the film opened in New York on April 9, 1941, the renewal is still timely even if the earlier date were considered publication date. Renewal was filed by EMKA, Ltd.
EMKA, Ltd.
EMKA, Ltd. is an in-name-only division of Universal Studios' television unit whose sole function is overseeing Paramount Pictures' pre-1950 sound feature film library. EMKA was formed by MCA in 1957 .In the aftermath of the landmark 1948 United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc...
, which acquired Paramount's classic pre-1950 library in 1957. Today, EMKA is part of NBC Universal Television Distribution
NBC Universal Television Distribution
NBCUniversal Television Distribution is the television distribution arm of the NBCUniversal Television Group in the United States, and is a subsidiary of General Electric...
, and Universal Studios is now the theatrical and home video distributor. The copyright is now scheduled to run until 95 years after the publication date (2036). The film has not entered the public domain
Public domain
Works are in the public domain if the intellectual property rights have expired, if the intellectual property rights are forfeited, or if they are not covered by intellectual property rights at all...
.