Pity the poor motion picture which ever again sets forth on a perilous (?) African safari, now that Bing Crosby and Bob Hope have traversed the course! For the cheerful report this morning is that the Messrs. Crosby and Hope, with an able left-handed assist from a denatured Dorothy Lamour, have thoroughly ruined the Dark Continent for any future cinematic pursuits. Never again will be hear those jungle drums throbbing menacingly but what we envision Bing and Bob beating a gleeful tattoo upon them. And never again will we behold a file of natives snaking solemnly through the trees without seeing in our mind's eye the gangling Crosby-Hope expedition as it ambles in and along the Paramount's "Road to Zanzibar," which arrived at that house yesterday. Yessir, the heart of darkest Africa has been pierced by a couple of wags.
Or perhaps we should really say it is pierced by a steady barrage of gags, for the quantity and quality of these account for the principal joy in this footloose film. Maybe Director Victor Schertzinger had a map of sorts when he started out, but the travelers on the "Road to Zanzibar" make little use of it. Taking as a mere point of departure the assumption that Bing and Bob are a couple of carnival performers cast adrift in a land far from home, they and the picture seem to follow the line of least resistance and most fun. Somewhere along the way they pick up Una Merkel and Miss Lamour, also a couple of shysters whose "pitch" is selling Miss Lamour as a slave. And together the four set out on a tour of the hinterland, running afoul of romance and trouble, which are indistinguishable. The limitations of time rather than ingenuity finally call a halt.
And all along things happen with the most casual and refreshing spontaneity. Miss Lamour and Bing go boat-riding on a jungle pond. They laughingly remark how motion pictures put an orchestra in the middle of the woods when occasion calls for a song. An orchestra forthwith plays, and Bing goes into his act. Or again, when a group of painted cannibals begin debating the gastronomic potentialities of Bing and Bob, the chattered dialogue is translated by amusing subtitles. And both of the boys are ever ready with a fast quip to keep the farce going.
Needless to say, Mr. Crosby and Mr. Hope are most, if not all, of the show—with a slight edge in favor of the latter, in case any one wants to know. Miss Lamour, who is passingly amusing in her frequent attempts to be, assists in the complications and sings a couple of songs. And Miss Merkel and Eric Blore do well in minor roles. Farce of this sort very seldom comes off with complete effect, but this time it does, and we promise that there's fun on the "Road to Zanzibar." This time, as Mr. Hope puts it in one of his pungent phrases, they're cooking with gas...
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