Whenever I'm discussing films with friends, family, colleagues, acquaintances etc and the 'Road' franchise is mentioned it is always Morocco that seems to be emblematic of the series. Chronologically it was the third out of seven but the first one acknowledged by the Front Office to BE part of a franchise. Singapore was intended as a one-off and Zanzibar was a last-minute reworking of a project designed for other talents but by 1942 the Paramount movers and shakers had conceded that Hope, Crosby and Lamour plus wacky situations and three or four songs equalled big Box Office. Having experimented with featuring Hope and Crosby as performers in 'Zanzibar' the studio discarded it this time around in favour of having them stow away on a liner that was subsequently sunk and being cast adrift on a makeshift raft. They did, however, retain the idea of Crosby consistently exploiting Hope so that this time around he actually sells him into slavery which serves to kickstart what little plot there is. As always patrons came to see the gags, both verbal and sight, the 'in' jokes, put-downs and ultimately the songs by Johnny Burke and Jimmy Van Heusen which were always very good to excellent. Morocco contains arguably the most durable of them all in Moonlight Becomes You but also yields a ballad for Lamour, Constantly, the upbeat Crosby solo Ho Hum and the great title song performed as a duet. Ho hum? Yes and no but on balance more ho than hum.
Review of Road to Morocco
