With summer now officially underway, might we recommend a road trip? Well, a cinematic one anyway. Road to Bali is the first and only “Road” movie in Technicolor, making it an extra special release in the ever-funny franchise. Originally hitting theaters on November 1, 1952, the movie has American song-and-dance men Harold Gridley (Bob Hope) and George Cochran (Bing Crosby) dodging a double-barreled shotgun wedding in Australia by signing on as deep sea divers on the exotic island of Bali, Indonesia. There the fun-lovin’ pair falls in love with beautiful Princess Lalah (Dorothy Lamour) and meet a chimp that holds a strong resemblance to one well-known ski-nosed actor!
The penultimate entry in the “Road to…” series, this effort was both a critical and commercial success, bringing in a stunning for the time $3,000,000 at the box office. (A tally that was likely helped by good word of mouth for the picture and cameos from Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, and Jane Russell, who briefly appears to reprise her role as Mike “The Torch” Delroy from Son of Paleface). The film remains a favorite among fans of the free-wheeling comedy that Hope and Crosby brought to audiences in their films together, and is a delightful romp that seemingly only gets more charming with age. So what do you say? Are you ready to hit the Road to Bali?