Road to Morocco

• Directed by David Butler
• November 10, 1942

Two fast-talking guys find themselves on a desert shore and sold into slavery to a princess. That is either the beginning of something silly or something disturbing.

Road to Morocco is the third in the Road to… series. This leans a little bit more into the absurdity with the occasional talking camel or elements for humor rather than story development.

Bing Crosby and Bob Hope are respectively friends Jeff Peters and Orville “Turkey” Jackson with the talented Dorothy Lamour as Princess Shalmar and Anthony Quinn returning to the series as Sheik Mullay Kasim to whom the princess is originally betrothed. Jeff made a deathbed promise to Orville’s Aunt Lucy (whose ghost is played by Hope) to look after Orville that is always getting the pair in trouble.

I don’t know why Aunt Lucy trusted Jeff. Given what he does here he may not have been the most trustworthy individual. After Orville accidentally blows up the boat Jeff alludes to eating Orville if they are stuck for a long time on the high seas. To top that off he sells Orville into slavery for some money to pay for his food. Then he steals Orville’s princess though at the end Orville does get his own love interest. What was he like BEFORE the movie?!

Orville for his part is a bit thoughtless and less lying but is still kind of slimy. He’s willing to put Jeff in jail when he (Orville) is with Shalmar but then again in Orville’s defense Jeff did sell him into slavery. And given that Jeff makes a play for Shalmar almost immediately I am betting he knew what a horndog his ‘pal’ was.

While Orville is set to marry the princess it is not a good thing. Turns out that the princess is going to marry him just for a week so he can get killed and she can actually marry the love of her life who according to the stars is supposed to be Sheik Mullay Kasim though that turns out to be a big mistake on the astrologer’s part because he mistook some fireflies and mosquitoes in his telescope for planets. You might want to get a new astrologer after that.

This pokes fun at popular movies. Some of those jokes will go over the heads of younger viewers. The ghost of Aunt Lucy makes mention of Mr. Jordan (a reference to Here Comes Mr. Jordan). There are also meta jokes acknowledging the previous movies like Shelmar saying she feels like she has done this before with Orville mentioning but this time he gets a girl. Logic takes a backseat to gags and entertainment, as has been the case since the beginning.

Orville’s ultimate romance with the servant girl Mihirmah (Dona Drake) is a little weird. I’m just not sure why she picked him. Maybe I missed something. I do have a habit of watching with my dogs but anything beyond a brief moment was not communicated. I also find it odd that Shalmar is willing to put aside Jeff’s multiple blatant instances of bad character to think she can settle down with him. Even in a series that plays loose with things that strains believability.

The music is always a draw. “(We’re Off on the) Road to Morocco” is sung by Bing Crosby and Bob Hope with the pair making comments in the lyrics that allude to the coming film as well as the series general formula, “Ain’t Got a Dime to My Name” is sung by Bing Crosby, “Constantly” is performed by Dorothy Lamour, and “Moonlight Becomes You” is done solo by Bing Crosby then later by Lamour, Hope, and Crosby.

If I had a serious gripe it would be that a second take needed to be used when improvising was done in order to more smoothly integrate it into what was actually written. I’m not against improvisation. To Davis Butler’s credit it is done here better than anything Paul Feige does when he allows for improvisation. 

Road to Morocco is fun and bouncy. It may be fluff but it is excellent fluff making it a great pick-me-up.