{
 "id": "ep25pvs81s",
 "slug": "road-to-bali",
 "title": "Road to Bali",
 "updated": "2026-11-01",
 "topic_path": [
  {
   "id": "culture",
   "label": "Arts and culture",
   "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture"
  },
  {
   "id": "culture.performance",
   "label": "Screen and stage",
   "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance"
  },
  {
   "id": "culture.performance.screen",
   "label": "Film and television",
   "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen"
  },
  {
   "id": "culture.performance.screen.films",
   "label": "Films and standalone screen works",
   "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films"
  },
  {
   "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works",
   "label": "Individual films by title and year",
   "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works"
  },
  {
   "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.franchise-series",
   "label": "Franchise and series entries as standalone works",
   "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.franchise-series"
  },
  {
   "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.franchise-series.franchise-series.teen-comedy-series-entries",
   "label": "Teen and comedy series film entries",
   "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.franchise-series.franchise-series.teen-comedy-series-entries"
  },
  {
   "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.franchise-series.franchise-series.teen-comedy-series-entries.entries-released-before-1990",
   "label": "Entries released before 1990",
   "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.franchise-series.franchise-series.teen-comedy-series-entries.entries-released-before-1990"
  }
 ],
 "geo": [
  {
   "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.franchise-series.franchise-series.teen-comedy-series-entries",
   "label": "United States · 1946 to 2000: Teen and comedy series film entries",
   "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.franchise-series.franchise-series.teen-comedy-series-entries",
   "path": [
    {
     "id": "geo.us",
     "label": "United States",
     "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us"
    },
    {
     "id": "geo.us.t1946",
     "label": "United States · 1946 to 2000",
     "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946"
    },
    {
     "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture",
     "label": "Arts and culture",
     "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture"
    },
    {
     "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance",
     "label": "Screen and stage",
     "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance"
    },
    {
     "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen",
     "label": "Film and television",
     "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen"
    },
    {
     "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films",
     "label": "Films and standalone screen works",
     "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films"
    },
    {
     "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works",
     "label": "Individual films by title and year",
     "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works"
    },
    {
     "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.franchise-series",
     "label": "Franchise and series entries as standalone works",
     "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.franchise-series"
    },
    {
     "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.franchise-series.franchise-series.teen-comedy-series-entries",
     "label": "Teen and comedy series film entries",
     "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.franchise-series.franchise-series.teen-comedy-series-entries"
    }
   ]
  }
 ],
 "excerpt": "Road to Bali (1952) is a Paramount musical comedy directed by Hal Walker, the sixth of seven Road to... films and the only one in Technicolor, starring Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, and Dorothy Lamour as vaudevillians diving for treasure; it fell into the public domain after a failed copyright renewal.",
 "snippet": "Road to Bali (1952) is a Paramount musical comedy directed by Hal Walker, the sixth of seven Road to... films and the only one in Technicolor, starring Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, and Dorothy Lamour as vaudevillians diving for treasure; it fell into the public domain after a failed copyright renewal.",
 "node": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.franchise-series.franchise-series.teen-comedy-series-entries.entries-released-before-1990",
 "markdown": "# Road to Bali\n\n**Road to Bali** is a 1952 American musical comedy film directed by Hal Walker and starring [Bing Crosby](https://www.edgepedia.org/bing-crosby), Bob Hope, and [Dorothy Lamour](https://www.edgepedia.org/dorothy-lamour), the sixth of the seven \"Road to...\" pictures the two comedians made for [Paramount Pictures](https://www.edgepedia.org/paramount-pictures) and the only one filmed in Technicolor.<sup>[1](https://kinolorber.com/film/roadtobali)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/50634-ROAD-TOBALI)</sup> It was the first Road picture since *Road to Rio* (1947) and the last to co-star Lamour.<sup>[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/50634-ROAD-TOBALI)</sup>\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Release | US premiere November 19, 1952; Los Angeles opening December 25, 1952; New York opening January 29, 1953<sup>[3](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045094/releaseinfo/)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/50634-ROAD-TOBALI)</sup> |\n| Director and writers | Hal Walker; screenplay by Frank Butler, Hal Kanter, and William Morrow, story by Butler and Harry Tugend<sup>[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/50634-ROAD-TOBALI)</sup> |\n| Lead cast | Bing Crosby as George Cochran, Bob Hope as Harold Gridley, Dorothy Lamour as Princess Lala, Murvyn Vye as Prince Ken Arok<sup>[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/50634-ROAD-TOBALI)</sup> |\n| Color process | Three-strip Technicolor, the only Road film in color; aspect ratio 1.37:1 (presented at 1.33:1 on home video)<sup>[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/50634-ROAD-TOBALI)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[4](https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Road-to-Bali-Blu-ray/173531/)</sup> |\n| Runtime | 91 minutes (the AFI Catalog lists 89 or 91)<sup>[1](https://kinolorber.com/film/roadtobali)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/50634-ROAD-TOBALI)</sup> |\n| Production companies | Bing Crosby Enterprises, Hope Enterprises, and Paramount Pictures, a three-way venture whose cast and crew received paychecks from all three entities<sup>[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/50634-ROAD-TOBALI)</sup> |\n| Copyright status | Fell into the public domain after a copyright renewal problem, reported as 1980 by one account and as an improper renewal in 1981 by another<sup>[5](https://www.inkl.com/news/my-streaming-gem-why-you-should-watch-road-to-bali)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[6](https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/72245)</sup> |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Plot\n\nThe film strands American vaudevillians George Cochran (Crosby) and Harold Gridley (Hope) in Melbourne, Australia, where they flee a music hall to escape the fathers of two country girls they have romanced.<sup>[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/50634-ROAD-TOBALI)</sup> To avoid the marriage proposals, the two sign on as deep-sea divers for Prince Ken Arok (Murvyn Vye), who wants them to recover a chest of jewels.<sup>[1](https://kinolorber.com/film/roadtobali)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[7](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/road_to_bali)</sup> They meet the prince's sister, Princess Lala (Lamour), and both compete for her affections.<sup>[1](https://kinolorber.com/film/roadtobali)</sup> After Harold tangles with a giant squid and retrieves the treasure, the trio is shipwrecked on an island populated by cannibals, while [Ken Arok](https://www.edgepedia.org/ken-arok) schemes to steal both the jewels and Lala's throne.<sup>[6](https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/72245)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[7](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/road_to_bali)</sup>\n\n## Production\n\nThe working title was *The Road to Hollywood*.<sup>[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/50634-ROAD-TOBALI)</sup> Production ran from late April to late June 1952, with George Barnes as cinematographer, [Edith Head](https://www.edgepedia.org/edith-head) on costumes, and production design by Hal Pereira and Joseph McMillan Johnson.<sup>[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/50634-ROAD-TOBALI)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[8](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045094/fullcredits/)</sup> The film was shot on Paramount soundstages and at Iverson Ranch in Chatsworth, California, with stock-footage establishing shots standing in for the South Seas.<sup>[8](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045094/fullcredits/)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[5](https://www.inkl.com/news/my-streaming-gem-why-you-should-watch-road-to-bali)</sup>\n\n**Why it was not filmed in Bali.** The producer explained that the studio avoided shooting on the island because, in his words, \"our political relations with Indonesia are too touchy. We don't want the picture to do anything that would make them worse... Censorship has gotten to the point where the only villain you can identify on the screen is an American.\"<sup>[9](https://dash.harvard.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/bdb9329d-eb1a-419f-ae9c-aba5d449435c/content)</sup> A large Balinese dance group touring the United States in 1952, produced by John Coast, spent a day on the set during filming; the scholar Matthew Isaac Cohen notes that the film's representations of Balinese dance are hokum, and that the producer, sensitive to postcolonial politics, intended Dorothy Lamour's first entrance as the only dance scene with any clear trace of Balinese traditional movement.<sup>[10](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13639810701233722)</sup>\n\n## Comedy style and cameos\n\n[The Road](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-road) pictures were among the earliest comedies to regularly break the fourth wall, with cast members addressing the audience and trading in-jokes about themselves, other actors, and Paramount itself.<sup>[6](https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/72245)</sup> In *Road to Bali*, Bob Hope addresses the audience directly throughout, and in the final scene he tries to shove the \"The End\" title card off the screen; when he fails, the card changes to \"Positively The End.\"<sup>[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/50634-ROAD-TOBALI)</sup> Running gags target Hope's nose and his supposed ambition to win an Oscar, and the pair once again resort to their signature \"patty cake\" routine to escape a jam.<sup>[6](https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/72245)</sup>\n\nThe film is dense with celebrity cameos: Paramount stars [Dean Martin](https://www.edgepedia.org/dean-martin) and [Jerry Lewis](https://www.edgepedia.org/jerry-lewis) appear briefly in one scene; [Jane Russell](https://www.edgepedia.org/jane-russell) appears dressed as her character from *Son of Paleface* (1952); Bing Crosby's bandleader brother Bob Crosby plays himself; and footage of Humphrey Bogart as Charlie Allnut from *The African Queen* (1951) is intercut with shots of Hope and Crosby, during which Hope picks up an Oscar statuette \"dropped\" by Bogart and begins an acceptance speech.<sup>[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/50634-ROAD-TOBALI)</sup>\n\nThe songs were written by the team of Jimmy Van Heusen and Johnny Burke, including \"Moon Flowers,\" sung by Lamour, and \"To See You,\" sung by Crosby.<sup>[6](https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/72245)</sup> A title song, \"The Road to Bali,\" was recorded for the picture but was not heard in the final film.<sup>[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/50634-ROAD-TOBALI)</sup>\n\n## Reception and afterlife\n\nContemporary and later critical response has been mixed. On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a 75% Tomatometer from 8 critics and a 64% audience score from more than 2,500 ratings.<sup>[7](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/road_to_bali)</sup> Reviewers have generally ranked it below the series' high points: James Plath calls it a good starting place for families because it is in color, while Phil Hall judged that by this point \"the fun has become thin and repetitive.\"<sup>[7](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/road_to_bali)</sup> The film historian Stuart Galbraith IV, reviewing Kino Lorber's 2017 Blu-ray, called the [Technicolor](https://www.edgepedia.org/technicolor) photography generally excellent and the film a Collector Series title, though he described it as more leisurely and less innovative than the earlier entries.<sup>[6](https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/72245)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[4](https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Road-to-Bali-Blu-ray/173531/)</sup>\n\nBecause of the failed copyright renewal, *Road to Bali* (along with *Road to Rio*) entered the public domain, and for years it circulated in widely available but poor-quality prints; multiple cheap DVD editions and online copies exist, making it the most accessible film in the series.<sup>[6](https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/72245)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[5](https://www.inkl.com/news/my-streaming-gem-why-you-should-watch-road-to-bali)</sup> Kino Lorber, in conjunction with Fremantle Media, issued a restored Blu-ray on July 4, 2017, with a commentary by film historians Michael Schlesinger and Mark Evanier.<sup>[4](https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Road-to-Bali-Blu-ray/173531/)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[6](https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/72245)</sup>\n\nThe seventh and final Road picture, *The Road to Hong Kong* (1962), was released through [United Artists](https://www.edgepedia.org/united-artists) and starred Hope, Crosby, and [Joan Collins](https://www.edgepedia.org/joan-collins), with Lamour in a minor role.<sup>[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/50634-ROAD-TOBALI)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[6](https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/72245)</sup>\n\n## References\n\n1. [Road to Bali, Kino Lorber Theatrical](https://kinolorber.com/film/roadtobali)\n2. [Road to Bali (1953), AFI Catalog of Feature Films](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/50634-ROAD-TOBALI)\n3. [Road to Bali (1952) Release info, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045094/releaseinfo/)\n4. [Road to Bali Blu-ray, Blu-ray.com](https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Road-to-Bali-Blu-ray/173531/)\n5. [My streaming gem: why you should watch Road to Bali, Inkl](https://www.inkl.com/news/my-streaming-gem-why-you-should-watch-road-to-bali)\n6. [Road to Bali review by Stuart Galbraith IV, DVD Talk](https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/72245)\n7. [Road to Bali, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/road_to_bali)\n8. [Road to Bali (1952) Full cast & crew, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045094/fullcredits/)\n9. [Middle Cinema: Navigating art, commerce, and politics in Indonesian film, Harvard DASH](https://dash.harvard.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/bdb9329d-eb1a-419f-ae9c-aba5d449435c/content)\n10. [Matthew Isaac Cohen, Dancing the Subject of 'Java': International Modernism and Traditional Performance, 1899–1952, Indonesia and the Malay World](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13639810701233722)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Franchise and series entries as standalone works › Teen and comedy series film entries › Entries released before 1990*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n",
 "same_as": [],
 "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/road-to-bali",
 "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/road-to-bali.md",
 "license": {
  "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0",
  "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license",
  "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.",
  "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0"
 },
 "credit": "\"Road to Bali\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/road-to-bali. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.",
 "credit_md": "\"[Road to Bali](https://www.edgepedia.org/road-to-bali)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/road-to-bali](https://www.edgepedia.org/road-to-bali). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).",
 "credit_html": "\"<a href=\"https://www.edgepedia.org/road-to-bali\">Road to Bali</a>\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), <a href=\"https://www.edgepedia.org/road-to-bali\">https://www.edgepedia.org/road-to-bali</a>. <a href=\"https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\">Edgepedia Community License 1.0</a>.",
 "speakable": "Road to Bali is a Paramount musical comedy directed by Hal Walker, the sixth of seven Road to... films and the only one in Technicolor, starring Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, and Dorothy Lamour as vaudevillians diving for treasure; it fell into the public domain after a failed copyright renewal."
}