The Road To Hong Kong (1962)

When their careers hit the skids, two ex-vaudevillians (Bing Crosby, Bob Hope) turn confidence men. When one (Hope) of them has memory problems, his memory is restored with the aid of a miracle drug that allows him to memorize things completely. But when he accidentally memorizes a top secret secret formula, enemy agents are after him. Directed by Norman Panama (THE COURT JESTER), this was the seventh and the last of the ROAD movies which began in 1940, all starring Hope, Crosby and Dorothy Lamour. Alas, this is a feeble effort and a sad end to a most enjoyable series of comedies. Genuine laughs are very few and far between. The comedic highlight is when Hope and Crosby go visit an Indian doctor played by Peter Sellers and Sellers steals the scene from under their noses. There's also a funny sight gag with a fish nibbling on Hope's fake mustache but that's about it. Two scenes in a 90 minute movie doesn't cut it. Sexism and ageism rear their ugly head when Dorothy Lamour is replaced by the much younger Joan Collins (age 29) as the leading lady. Bing Crosby considered the 48 year old Lamour too "old" to play a romantic lead opposite the 59 year old Crosby and Hope. To his credit, Hope refused to do the movie unless Lamour was given a part. She was gracious enough to do an extended cameo toward the end of the film instead of telling the producers to take their cameo and shove it. The Asian cliches and stereotypes are a burden in an already weak movie. With Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, David Niven, Robert Morley and Jerry Colonna.