Funny movie quotes from Road to Singapore – the first of the ‘On the Road’ movies starring Bob Hope, Bing Crosby and Dorothy Lamour
Joshua Mallon IV (Bing Crosby): You seem to think the world is just some sort of a three-ring circus, and all you’ve got to do is to run around and have fun.
Ace Lannigan (Bob Hope): I just want you to stand there and admire me for a while. I just got an idea that’s gonna make us a fortune. I don’t know how I do it.
Dorothy Lamour: Josh! Josh! She’s got Josh!
Ace Lannigan (Bob Hope): Josh? Gosh!
Joshua Mallon IV (Bing Crosby): Where are you going?
Ace Lannigan (Bob Hope):Oh, I … I need some air.
Joshua Mallon IV (Bing Crosby): Night air is bad for you, Junior. Back in the net.
Ace Lannigan (Bob Hope):[missing his rendezvous with a beautiful woman] Now I know how a salmon feels.
Ace Lannigan (Bob Hope): [from the trailer – snuggling with a beautiful girl] Oh … say, you remember those gorgeous gals they had in Waikiki Wedding? They were slower than Crosby’s horses compared to these Singapore sirens. Where were we? [continues snuggling and kissing]
[In a nightclub, with Bob Hope and Bing Crosby watch, Dorothy Lamour has a lit cigarette cut in half with a whip as part of her act]
Joshua Mallon IV (Bing Crosby): I think he wants her to give up cigarettes.
Editorial review of Road to Singapore | Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Dorothy Lamour, courtesy of Amazon.com
Here’s the first trip in what would become one of Paramount Pictures’ most profitable film series of the ’40s. When this comedy was released in 1940, Bing Crosby and Bob Hope had separately achieved stardom, though Crosby was an established power and Hope still a hot comedian new to movies. In fact, Hope is billed third in Road to Singapore, below Der Bingle and Dorothy Lamour. The script establishes what would be a constant in the Road series: a ramshackle plot, a handful of songs, and plenty of irreverent banter between the two boys. Crosby plays Josh Mallon, scion of a wealthy family, who prefers the vagabond life to his stuffy family; his pal Ace Lannigan (Hope) is only too happy to escape.
They end up sharing a waterfront shack in Singapore and vying for the affections of a sarong-clad local (Lamour), amidst stabs at conning the natives with a dubious elixir variously known as ‘Spot-O’ (stain remover) and ‘Scram-O’ (cockroach killer). Singapore isn’t as loose as some of the wacky subsequent entries in the series, but it already shows Crosby and Hope grooving to each other’s perfectly timed burlesque rhythms in scenes that clearly depart from the script. They specialized in muttered asides, show-biz in-jokes, and gratuitous insults–and this one’s got a song and dance number with an ocarina. No wonder it became a franchise. —Robert Horton
Trivia about Road to Singapore starring Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Dorothy Lamour
- After Fred MacMurray and George Burns turned down the chance to make this film, producer Harlan Thompson offered it to Bob Hope and Bing Crosby, whom he’d seen clowning on the Paramount lot and who it seemed to him got along well.
- Originally written as ‘Beach of Dreams’ for George Burns and Gracie Allen. Later retitled “Road to Mandalay” for Fred MacMurray and Jack Oakie before receiving its final title and cast.
- The soap suds used for Ace Lannigan’s stain removing product Spot-O were special heavy duty suds created by the prop department to hold up under the hot lights.
- During a lunch break, Bob Hope threw a handful of the soap suds at Dorothy Lamour and soon Bing Crosby became involved. The fight ended when Lamour cornered Hope and Crosby and threw all she had at them. The director was not particularly pleased because it would take hours to repair their hair, makeup, and clothing.