The Road to Hong Kong
Encyclopedia
The Road to Hong Kong starring Bing Crosby
, Bob Hope
, and Joan Collins
, was the last in the long-running Road to … series and the only episode not produced by Paramount Pictures
, though reference to the other films in the series are shown in Maurice Binder
's opening title sequence. Norman Panama
directed the movie.
, the regular "Road" picture stars Crosby and Hope returned for one last go, but the leading lady
was now Joan Collins
rather than Dorothy Lamour
. Lamour did make a cameo appearance
as herself late in the film. Other cameos are provided by David Niven
, Peter Sellers
, Roger Delgado
, Jerry Colonna, Frank Sinatra
, and Dean Martin
.
Hope's character is named "Chester Babcock," an in joke because songwriter James Van Heusen
was born Edward Chester Babcock. The lamasery where Hope goes to restore his memory is reused from Black Narcissus
. Peter Sellers' appearance as an Indian physician involves extended interplay with Crosby and Hope.
In her autobiography, Lamour wrote that Crosby had felt her too old to be a leading lady whilst Hope refused to do the film without her. Her extended cameo that featured her singing with Hope and Crosby was a compromise.
The plot involves espionage and space rockets, being reminiscent of Dr. No
and hence is part of the spy craze of the 1960s. Hope and Crosby are up against a SPECTRE
type organisation called "The Third Echelon" who have their own underwater secret headquarters and are led by Robert Morley
with James Bond film regular Walter Gotell
as "Dr. Zorbb". The film's art director
is another Bond film regular, Syd Cain
.
Hope, Crosby and Collins end up in a rocket bound for another planet. There they meet a new comedy team -- "The Italians!" as Hope calls them, Frank Sinatra
and Dean Martin
.
Although the movie features the same kind of antics and gags as previous episodes, with all characters trying their utmost to help each other, the film was not as well-received as its predecessors.
This is the only "Road" film to have its rights retained by the original producer/distributor (where all the previous films are now at the hands of other companies), although today MGM (UA's sister studio) handles distribution and marketing on behalf of UA.
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 Joan Collins
Joan Collins
Joan Henrietta Collins, OBE , is an English actress, author, and columnist. Born in Paddington and raised in Maida Vale, Collins grew up during the Second World War. At the age of nine, she made her stage debut in A Doll's House and after attending school, she was classically trained as an actress...
, was the last in the long-running Road to … series and the only episode not produced by Paramount Pictures
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...
, though reference to the other films in the series are shown in Maurice Binder
Maurice Binder
Maurice Binder was a film title designer best known for his work on 14 James Bond films including the first, Dr. No in 1962 and for Stanley Donen's films from 1958. He was born in New York City, USA, but mostly worked in Britain from the 1950s onwards...
's opening title sequence. Norman Panama
Norman Panama
Norman Panama was an American screenwriter and film director born in Chicago, Illinois. He collaborated with a former schoolfriend, Melvin Frank to form a writing partnership which endured for three decades...
directed the movie.
Plot and production
Filming in England at Shepperton StudiosShepperton Studios
Shepperton Studios is a film studio in Shepperton, Surrey, England with a history dating back to 1931 since when many notable films have been made there...
, the regular "Road" picture stars Crosby and Hope returned for one last go, but the leading lady
Leading lady
Leading lady is an informal term for the actress who plays a secondary lead or supporting role, usually a love interest, to the leading actor in a film or play. It is not usually applied to the leading actress in the performance if her character is the protagonist.A leading lady can also be an...
was now Joan Collins
Joan Collins
Joan Henrietta Collins, OBE , is an English actress, author, and columnist. Born in Paddington and raised in Maida Vale, Collins grew up during the Second World War. At the age of nine, she made her stage debut in A Doll's House and after attending school, she was classically trained as an actress...
rather than 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...
. Lamour did make a cameo appearance
Cameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
as herself late in the film. Other cameos are provided by David Niven
David Niven
James David Graham Niven , known as David Niven, was a British actor and novelist, best known for his roles as Phileas Fogg in Around the World in 80 Days and Sir Charles Lytton, a.k.a. "the Phantom", in The Pink Panther...
, Peter Sellers
Peter Sellers
Richard Henry Sellers, CBE , known as Peter Sellers, was a British comedian and actor. Perhaps best known as Chief Inspector Clouseau in The Pink Panther film series, he is also notable for playing three different characters in Dr...
, Roger Delgado
Roger Delgado
Roger Caesar Marius Bernard de Delgado Torres Castillo Roberto was an English actor, best known for his role as the first Master in Doctor Who....
, Jerry Colonna, Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
, and Dean Martin
Dean Martin
Dean Martin was an American singer, film actor, television star and comedian. Martin's hit singles included "Memories Are Made of This", "That's Amore", "Everybody Loves Somebody", "You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You", "Sway", "Volare" and "Ain't That a Kick in the Head?"...
.
Hope's character is named "Chester Babcock," an in joke because songwriter James Van Heusen
James Van Heusen
Jimmy Van Heusen , was an American composer. He wrote songs mainly for films and television , and won an Emmy and four Academy Awards for Best Original Song.-Life and career:...
was born Edward Chester Babcock. The lamasery where Hope goes to restore his memory is reused from Black Narcissus
Black Narcissus
Black Narcissus is a 1947 film by the British director-writer team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, based on the novel of the same name by Rumer Godden...
. Peter Sellers' appearance as an Indian physician involves extended interplay with Crosby and Hope.
In her autobiography, Lamour wrote that Crosby had felt her too old to be a leading lady whilst Hope refused to do the film without her. Her extended cameo that featured her singing with Hope and Crosby was a compromise.
The plot involves espionage and space rockets, being reminiscent of Dr. No
Dr. No (film)
Dr. No is a 1962 spy film, starring Sean Connery; it is the first James Bond film. Based on the 1958 Ian Fleming novel of the same name, it was adapted by Richard Maibaum, Johanna Harwood, and Berkely Mather and was directed by Terence Young. The film was produced by Harry Saltzman and Albert R...
and hence is part of the spy craze of the 1960s. Hope and Crosby are up against a SPECTRE
SPECTRE
SPECTRE is a fictional global terrorist organisation featured in the James Bond novels by Ian Fleming, the films based on those novels, and James Bond video games...
type organisation called "The Third Echelon" who have their own underwater secret headquarters and are led by Robert Morley
Robert Morley
Robert Adolph Wilton Morley, CBE was an English actor who, often in supporting roles, was usually cast as a pompous English gentleman representing the Establishment...
with James Bond film regular Walter Gotell
Walter Gotell
Walter Gotell was a German actor, known for his role as General Gogol, head of the KGB, in the James Bond film series.Gotell was born in Bonn, Germany; his family emigrated to the United Kingdom after the Nazis came to power...
as "Dr. Zorbb". The film's art director
Art director
The art director is a person who supervise the creative process of a design.The term 'art director' is a blanket title for a variety of similar job functions in advertising, publishing, film and television, the Internet, and video games....
is another Bond film regular, Syd Cain
Syd Cain
Sidney B. "Syd" Cain was a British production designer who worked on more than 30 films, including four in the James Bond series in the 1960s and 1970s....
.
Hope, Crosby and Collins end up in a rocket bound for another planet. There they meet a new comedy team -- "The Italians!" as Hope calls them, Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
and Dean Martin
Dean Martin
Dean Martin was an American singer, film actor, television star and comedian. Martin's hit singles included "Memories Are Made of This", "That's Amore", "Everybody Loves Somebody", "You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You", "Sway", "Volare" and "Ain't That a Kick in the Head?"...
.
Although the movie features the same kind of antics and gags as previous episodes, with all characters trying their utmost to help each other, the film was not as well-received as its predecessors.
This is the only "Road" film to have its rights retained by the original producer/distributor (where all the previous films are now at the hands of other companies), although today MGM (UA's sister studio) handles distribution and marketing on behalf of UA.
Cast
- Bing CrosbyBing CrosbyHarry 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....
... Harry Turner - Bob HopeBob HopeBob 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...
... Chester Babcock - Joan CollinsJoan CollinsJoan Henrietta Collins, OBE , is an English actress, author, and columnist. Born in Paddington and raised in Maida Vale, Collins grew up during the Second World War. At the age of nine, she made her stage debut in A Doll's House and after attending school, she was classically trained as an actress...
... Diane (3rd Echelon agent) - Robert MorleyRobert MorleyRobert Adolph Wilton Morley, CBE was an English actor who, often in supporting roles, was usually cast as a pompous English gentleman representing the Establishment...
... Leader of the 3rd Echelon - Walter GotellWalter GotellWalter Gotell was a German actor, known for his role as General Gogol, head of the KGB, in the James Bond film series.Gotell was born in Bonn, Germany; his family emigrated to the United Kingdom after the Nazis came to power...
... Dr. Zorbb (3rd Echelon scientist) - Sir Felix AylmerFelix AylmerSir Felix Edward Aylmer Jones, OBE was an English stage actor who also appeared in the cinema and on television.-Early life and career:...
... Grand Lama - Alan GiffordAlan Gifford-Selected filmography:* The Kangaroo Kid * A Yank in Ermine * The Flying Scot * Visa to Canton * Town Without Pity * Carry on Cowboy * Only When I Larf * Phase Four...
... American official - Michele Mok ... Mr. Ahso
- Katya Douglas ... 3rd Echelon receptionist
- Roger DelgadoRoger DelgadoRoger Caesar Marius Bernard de Delgado Torres Castillo Roberto was an English actor, best known for his role as the first Master in Doctor Who....
... Jhinnah - Robert AyresRobert Ayres (actor)Robert Ayres was an American film, stage and television actor.-Selected filmography:* The Black Widow * Delayed Action * A Prize of Gold * It's Never Too Late...
... American official - Mei Ling ... Ming Toy
- Jacqueline JonesJacqueline JonesJacqueline Jones is Walter Prescott Webb Chair in History and Ideas and Mastin Gentry White Professor of Southern History at the University of Texas at Austin, United States. She is an expert in American social history in addition to writing on economics , women, and class.- Background :Born in...
... Blonde at airport - Yvonne Shima ... Poon Soon
- Dorothy LamourDorothy LamourDorothy 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...
... Herself