ROAD TO ZANZIBAR: Blu-ray (Paramount, 1941) Kino Lorber

With Victor Schertzinger’s Road to Singapore (1940) enriching Paramount’s trove, it was inevitable the screen team of Bing Crosby and Bob Hope – along with Dorothy Lamour – would go on to make a sequel…and not just one. Road to Zanzibar (1941) was Crosby and Hope’s follow-up, and, in many ways, proved a far more aggressively marketed farce than its predecessor, catching the tailwinds of the former movie and racing right back for a double-dip at the box office. Naturally, this left some critics apoplectic as the ‘Road’ pictures were fast becoming an anathema to the way ‘good movies’ usually get made. Even the Abbott and Costello comedies have plots. But the ‘Road’ movies, seemingly without conscience or compunction, appear wholly disinterested in telling a story – good, bad or indifferent; rather, merely using a threadbare premise as flimsy framework on which to hinge some hokey humor and deftly comedic situations solely to showcase the Crosby/Hope camaraderie to its very best advantage. It sincerely helps, both Crosby and Hope were fast becoming legends in their own time, with a built-in audience from radio that could be counted upon to follow them in whatever media they were presently appearing. And so, Road to Zanzibar had everything going for it even before a single frame was shot.

Paramount owned the rights to Sy Bartlett’s ‘Find Colonel Fawcett’ – a tale of two mercenaries trekking through the deepest, darkest jungles of Madagascar. Regrettably, the plot bore an uncanny resemblance to the highly successful, Stanley and Livingstone, made only a scant two years earlier over at 2oth Century-Fox. Concerned over its similarities (as lawsuits might abound), Paramount’s executive brain trust had its own brainstorm (or ‘fart’ depending on one’s point of view). Why not rework the material as a comedy instead? Why not, indeed? So, Frank Butler and Don Hartman were recalled to work a little magic; their inspiration mostly derived from the formulaic ‘what worked’ in their Road to Singapore. What followed was a safari spoof in which all the stops were pulled out, leaving Crosby and Hope to ad lib a good many of the more memorable one-liners, working material backwards from their Vaudeville days with a dash of inimitable sass and silliness factored in. Not everyone was impressed with these results. While Variety thought the picture lacked ‘compactness and spontaneity’ the ‘sparkle and tempo’ of its predecessor, even those critics amused by it, like New York Times’ Bosley Crowther, lamented the fact the mystery of the Dark Continent had been diffused – presumably, for all time, by Crosby and Hope’s hardy rape of its exoticism at the expense of a cheap, if thoroughly good-humored, jibe.

Road to Zanzibar foregoes establishing Crosby and Hope has legitimate heroes. This one instead opens with the pair firmly ensconced as slick con-artists: Chuck Reardon (Bing Crosby) and Hubert ‘Fearless’ Frazier (Bob Hope).  Reardon is a side-show caller in a traveling circus promoting Hubert as the human cannonball. It’s all for not, as Hubert substitutes an obvious dummy for the explosive launch while he hides in a secret compartment. Too bad the fake is highly flammable. It sets the big top ablaze, forcing Hubie and Chuck to run for their lives. To salvage their reputations, Reardon demands all subsequent ‘acts’ be legit – inveigling ‘Fearless’ in some fairly dangerous encounters in which he is usually injured. Eventually, Hubert has quite enough of incurring all the physical expenses to life and limb. So, when Reardon pitches the ‘next big idea’ – a wrestling match with a live octopus – Hubert balks. Unable to coax Hubert, Reardon decides to ply his pal with a fashionable luncheon at a swank restaurant to seal the deal. Instead, the boys are sent a magnum of champagne by diamond baron, Charles Kimble (Eric Blore). However, the jovial mood turns ugly when police arrive to arrest Reardon and Frazier. Kimble – who is immensely amused – decides to bail the boys out. Electing to return home on the earliest clipper, Reardon is detained by Kimble’s invitation on his yacht.

Hence, when Reardon returns to their hotel room, he quietly explains how he has all of their hard-earned $5000 spent on the deed to one of Kimble’s diamond mines. It sounds like a safe investment, until the boys discover Kimble is basically a loon who has sold them a worthless claim. Penniless and pissed, Hubert dissolves his partnership with Reardon. However, sometime later, a gloating Hubert saunters in with $7000 acquired from the sale of the same worthless mine to another unwitting dupe. Only this time, the sucker – one Monsieur Le Bec (Lionel Royce) – is not so easily fooled. Indeed, Le Bec and his beefy bodyguard want the boys to accompany them on their trek to the mine. Clumsily, the boys manage their escape, slipping aboard a freighter bound for Africa. Now, stranded in the middle of nowhere, Reardon and Hubert are propositioned by a young woman, Julia Quimby (Una Merkel), desperate to rescue her friend, Donna LaTour (Dorothy Lamour), from a white slavery auction. Impressed with Donna’s beauty, the boys bid a sizeable sum to procure her freedom. But what neither Reardon nor Hubert can fathom is that Donna and Julia are also con-artists, playing their percentage to steal half the payment for food.  A short while later, Donna confides in her partner in crime; Reardon and Hubert are flush. So, Julie cons the boys into taking them on a safari. Actually, they are headed home, where Donna plans to be reunited with her wealthy boyfriend.

Along the trek, Reardon and Hubert vie for Donna’s affections. Reardon warbles ‘It's Always You’, and Donna suddenly realizes she has begun to fall for his charms. Julia is incensed. After all, it is not good business to give up a ‘sure thing’ for a sideshow crooner. Reluctantly, Donna confesses to Hubert that despite her feelings for his partner she already belongs to another. This revelation turns rancid when Hubert mistakenly believes Donna is trying to explain how she has fallen in love with him instead. Under this misguided notion, Hubert preens in front of Reardon. But then Julia appears, giving the full story to them both. Determined to get to the bottom of things, the boys charge into the jungle in search of Donna who, at present, is indulging in a skinny dip. On shore, a pair of leopards tear apart her discarded clothes. Upon stumbling across these shredded remains, Hubert and Reardon mistakenly assume Donna has been killed by wild animals. Remorsefully, they burn the tatters and hold a eulogy as Donna looks on from her hiding spot in the reeds. Reardon attempts a reprise of ‘It’s Always You’ but becomes overwrought with emotion until Donna warbles a few bars of the song. Believing all this to be part of the con, the boys storm off. Now, the safari leaves without them.

Having lost their way, Hubert and Reardon come upon the haunted remnants of a series of stony catacombs, strewn in skeletal remains. At first amused by their find, the boys bang on a drum that inadvertently summons a tribe of cannibals to their location.  Mercifully, the tribesmen think the boys are reincarnated gods. They adorn Hubert and Reardon with priceless treasures and stage a banquet on their behalf. Briefly, the boys believe they have found paradise; that is, until one of the tribesmen gets the brilliant notion to test their immortality by locking Hubert in a cage with a live gorilla. The wrestling match that follows leaves Hubert bewildered but otherwise unharmed. Nevertheless, the tribe has come to the decision Hubert and Reardon are not gods but men, fit for the roasting pot. Yum-yum. Predictably, the boys stage an escape, using their time-honored pat-a-cake routine to get away. Upon their return to civilization, the boys hock the jewels they managed to steal from the natives. Reluctantly, Hubert allows Reardon to secure them safe passage on the next ship bound for home. Instead, he returns hours later with Donna and Julia in tow. We learn Donna has given up her rich boyfriend because she is desperately in love with Reardon. Asked by Hubert, what has become of their money, Reardon now pitches his next ‘great idea’. We cut to a scene where this threesome is engaged in sawing a woman in half – the gal in question, none other than Julia.

As with its predecessor, Road to Zanzibar is farcical nonsense; good clean fun with plenty of class, but barely enough plot to carry the picture to its foregone conclusion. As before, it doesn’t really matter that the cobbled together and threadbare plot goes nowhere, except for the jugular in all-out laughs and spectacle. On this score, the movie definitely succeeds. Given a budget twice its predecessor, Road to Zanzibar is a far more lavishly appointed movie and the production values add immensely to our enjoyment. The carnival settings are appropriately gaudy and the jungle settings – once more cobbled from rear projection mattes, studio-bound foliage, and stock footage of actual tribesmen trekking across the African landscape – are appropriately exotic, conspiring to add to the visual artifice of the piece. Ted Tetzlaff’s cinematography is darker, adding mood and gloss in appropriate dollops. If Schertzinger’s direction is looser here (as was one of the criticisms lobbed at the movie back in its day) it is only because he respects the witty banter between his two co-stars, affording them every opportunity to play up – or down – to a good solid gag. You have to admire the pace here – glacial in spots, but in service to the material as written and played out. The ‘Road’ pictures will never win any awards for being competent plot-driven spectacles. What they are, is incredibly adept at regaling us with a lot of interesting fluff and nonsense that never grows tiresome or dull, even upon repeat viewings. There is a studio-sanctioned machinery at work here, folks – and it works: spectacularly!

Road to Zanzibar arrives on Blu-ray via Kino Lorber’s alliance with Universal Home Video. While the image is plagued by intermittent dirt, scratches and other age-related damage, these occurrences are kept mostly in check. And although derived from less than perfect elements, curated several decades ago with zero clean-up performed since, the results herein are better than expected. The image is grainier, but the grain looks indigenous to its source. Occasional gate weave is still detected, but not to any egregious level that would detract from one’s viewing pleasure. The image is dark, but in keeping with Ted Tezlaff’s original intent, and with good solid contrast to boot – plus, a fairly impressive amount of fine detail evident in skin, fabrics and background information, especially in close-up.  All told, this one looks a lot more impressive in 1080p than Road to Singapore and will surely not disappoint. Could it have been better? Yes. I still wish Universal – the custodians of Paramount’s pre-fifties film output (thanks to an all-out purchase via MCA in the late 1960’s) would pay more attention to their back catalog when remastering it in hi-def. But there it is. The audio is a passable mono DTS. Kino has licensed two extras that were part of Uni’s DVD release: the first, skipping over the particulars of both Crosby and Hope’s respective careers and how they came to make the ‘Road’ pictures (the same featurette as on Road to Singapore), the second, a ‘Command Performance’ short, barely lasting 6 minutes. Otherwise, we get trailers for this and the remaining franchise. Bottom line: Road to Zanzibar is a more expensive movie. Is it a better one? Hmmmm. Let’s just say, it finds Crosby and Hope in good spirits; the boys, able to convey as much to their audience for a very good time to be had by all. This Blu-ray, while imperfect, is nevertheless an improvement over the aforementioned and already reviewed Road to Singapore. Judge and buy accordingly.

FILM RATING (out of 5 – 5 being the best)

3.5

VIDEO/AUDIO

3.5

EXTRAS

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