{ "id": "ep70wv25wj", "slug": "road-to-singapore", "title": "Road to Singapore", "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.t1800.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.franchise-series", "label": "United States · 1800 to 1945: Franchise and series entries as standalone works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1800.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.franchise-series", "path": [ { "id": "geo.us", "label": "United States", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1800", "label": "United States · 1800 to 1945", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1800" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1800.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1800.culture" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1800.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1800.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1800.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1800.culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1800.culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1800.culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1800.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.t1800.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1800.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.t1800.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.franchise-series" } ] } ], "excerpt": "Road to Singapore (1940) is a Paramount comedy directed by Victor Schertzinger, the first of seven Road to films starring Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, and Dorothy Lamour, and the top-grossing film of 1940.", "snippet": "Road to Singapore (1940) is a Paramount comedy directed by Victor Schertzinger, the first of seven Road to films starring Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, and Dorothy Lamour, and the top-grossing film of 1940.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.franchise-series.franchise-series.teen-comedy-series-entries.entries-released-before-1990", "markdown": "# Road to Singapore\n\n**Road to Singapore** is a 1940 American black-and-white comedy from [Paramount Pictures](https://www.edgepedia.org/paramount-pictures), directed by Victor Schertzinger and starring [Bing Crosby](https://www.edgepedia.org/bing-crosby), Dorothy Lamour, and [Bob Hope](https://www.edgepedia.org/bob-hope). It was the first of the seven \"Road to\" films the trio made for Paramount, and it ranked among the top-grossing films of 1940.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/5051-ROAD-TO-SINGAPORE) • [2](https://www.tcm.com/articles/79899/road-to-singapore-1940-road-to-singapore)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Release | 22 March 1940 (New York opening the week of 14 March 1940); Paramount Pictures, Inc.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/5051-ROAD-TO-SINGAPORE) |\n| Director and writers | Victor Schertzinger; screenplay by Don Hartman and Frank Butler, story by Harry Hervey[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/5051-ROAD-TO-SINGAPORE) |\n| Principal cast | Bing Crosby (Josh Mallon), Dorothy Lamour (Mima), Bob Hope (Ace Lannigan), with Charles Coburn, Judith Barrett, Anthony Quinn, and Jerry Colonna[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/5051-ROAD-TO-SINGAPORE) |\n| Format | 84–85 minutes, black and white, aspect ratio 1.37:1[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/5051-ROAD-TO-SINGAPORE) • [3](https://kinolorber.com/film/road-to-singapore-special-edition) |\n| Working title | Follow the Sun[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/5051-ROAD-TO-SINGAPORE) |\n| Box office | Among the highest-grossing films of 1940[2](https://www.tcm.com/articles/79899/road-to-singapore-1940-road-to-singapore) • [12](https://www.whatsafterthemovie.com/box-office/language/english/year/1940) |\n| Series position | First of seven \"Road to\" pictures featuring Hope, Crosby, and Lamour, ending with The Road to Hong Kong (1962)[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/5051-ROAD-TO-SINGAPORE) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Plot\n\nJosh Mallon (Crosby), son of a wealthy shipping magnate ([Charles Coburn](https://www.edgepedia.org/charles-coburn)), and his free-spirited friend Ace Lannigan (Hope) ridicule marriage. Josh's father overrules him, committing him to an office job and an engagement to the socialite Gloria Wycott (Judith Barrett). On the eve of the engagement gala, Josh and Ace skip town after a brawl with Josh's future brother-in-law and set sail, intending to reach Singapore. Instead they land on the island of Kaigoon, poor but happy, and vow to remain bachelors.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/5051-ROAD-TO-SINGAPORE)\n\nThe vow does not last. They meet Mima (Lamour), a dancer in a local dive who is fleeing her violently jealous dancing partner, Caesar ([Anthony Quinn](https://www.edgepedia.org/anthony-quinn)). After Josh and Ace rescue her, she moves into their shack, cooks, cleans, sings, and becomes the object of a wisecracking contest for her affections, though neither man will admit he has fallen for her. Mima loves Josh, and when his father and Gloria fly to Kaigoon to retrieve him, she sacrifices her own feelings by accepting Ace's marriage proposal so that Josh will go home. Ace realizes the truth, the lovers are reunited when Josh's ship calls at the island on its way home, and the three escape together.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/5051-ROAD-TO-SINGAPORE) • [3](https://kinolorber.com/film/road-to-singapore-special-edition)\n\n## How the film came to be\n\nHope and Crosby had met in New York in 1932, when Hope, then an up-and-coming vaudevillian on Broadway, emceed a show at the Capitol Theater with the already established Crosby as the main attraction; they tossed around old vaudeville bits to an enthusiastic crowd. They met again on the Paramount lot in 1937 and performed together at a benefit at the Del Mar Racetrack near San Diego in 1939. Paramount production head William LeBaron, who attended the Del Mar performance and had both stars under contract, decided to find a vehicle to team them on screen.[4](https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/bing-crosby-and-bob-hopes-road-pictures/17321/) • [5](https://www.tcm.com/articles/296091/the-big-idea-road-to-morocco)\n\nThe vehicle had a tangled history. Paramount settled on *Beach of Dreams*, a Harry Hervey screenplay that had been reworked as *Road to Mandalay* for Fred MacMurray and Jack Oakie, who turned it down; it had earlier been considered for the husband-and-wife team [George Burns](https://www.edgepedia.org/george-burns) and [Gracie Allen](https://www.edgepedia.org/gracie-allen), who also declined. Reshaped for Hope and Crosby and retitled, it became Road to Singapore.[5](https://www.tcm.com/articles/296091/the-big-idea-road-to-morocco) • [6](https://www.cinemaparadiso.co.uk/films/collections/film-history/the-history-of-film/on-the-road-with-bob-and-bing-and-dottie) During shooting the title Follow the Sun was used, because nobody liked the alternatives; the final title seemed fitting partly because Shirley Ross had sung about \"nights in Singapore\" with Hope in \"Thanks for the Memory\" in The Big Broadcast of 1938.[6](https://www.cinemaparadiso.co.uk/films/collections/film-history/the-history-of-film/on-the-road-with-bob-and-bing-and-dottie)\n\nProduction began on 25 September 1939, and the Motion Picture Production Code office assigned the film certificate number 5839. According to materials in the MPAA/PCA files at the AMPAS Library, Columbia protested that the title was too similar to its own film *Singapore*, and the Ohio Censorship Board demanded extensive cuts to the native dancing girl sequence.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/5051-ROAD-TO-SINGAPORE)\n\n## Style and making\n\nThe film established the formula its successors refined: two small-time pals on the make in an exotic setting, a love interest both pursue, rapid-fire wisecracks and insults, and a tongue-in-cheek, self-parodying tone.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/5051-ROAD-TO-SINGAPORE) • [7](https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-film-preservation-board/documents/road_morocco.pdf) Hope often broke the fourth wall by speaking directly to the audience or commenting on the scene he was in, a technique PBS's American Masters describes as creating a sense of intimacy with viewers.[4](https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/bing-crosby-and-bob-hopes-road-pictures/17321/)\n\nThe apparent spontaneity took work. Hope and Crosby disregarded the original shooting script to a degree that became Hollywood legend, trusting their instincts and their personal joke writers rather than the page; TCM's Paul Tatara notes that the first film's timing is slightly off precisely because nobody involved knew yet where the dialogue was heading.[2](https://www.tcm.com/articles/79899/road-to-singapore-1940-road-to-singapore) [Dorothy Lamour](https://www.edgepedia.org/dorothy-lamour), who was totally lost on her first day of shooting, reportedly yelled, \"Hey, boys, will you please let me get my line in!\"[5](https://www.tcm.com/articles/296091/the-big-idea-road-to-morocco) Off screen the two leads traded barbs of their own: Hope mocked Crosby's balding head and physique with the nicknames \"Skinhead\" and \"Mattress Hip,\" while Crosby called Hope \"Ski Snoot\" and ribbed him after winning the 1944 Best Actor Oscar for Going My Way.[2](https://www.tcm.com/articles/79899/road-to-singapore-1940-road-to-singapore)\n\n## Songs\n\nThe musical numbers included \"Too Romantic,\" \"Sweet Potato Piper,\" and \"Kaigoon,\" with music by James V. Monaco and lyrics by Johnny Burke, and \"The Moon and the Willow Tree\" and \"Captain Custard,\" with music and lyrics by Victor Schertzinger and Johnny Burke. Victor Young served as music director.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/5051-ROAD-TO-SINGAPORE) The Bing Crosby estate's filmography also lists \"An Apple For The Teacher\" among the film's featured songs.[8](https://bingcrosby.com/film-tv/road-to-singapore-2/)\n\n## Reception and the Road series\n\nThe movie was, in TCM's words, a runaway smash, and Paramount quickly set about duplicating and perfecting its formula.[2](https://www.tcm.com/articles/79899/road-to-singapore-1940-road-to-singapore) It was among the top-grossing films of 1940, but later accounts indicate it was not the highest-grossing movie of that year.[4](https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/bing-crosby-and-bob-hopes-road-pictures/17321/) • [2](https://www.tcm.com/articles/79899/road-to-singapore-1940-road-to-singapore) Not every contemporary reviewer was won over: Frank Nugent of The New York Times accused the film of squandering its possibilities, calling the road it traveled \"cobbled with good intentions\" but \"altogether too uneven for regular use.\"[6](https://www.cinemaparadiso.co.uk/films/collections/film-history/the-history-of-film/on-the-road-with-bob-and-bing-and-dottie)\n\nThe series that followed sent the trio to Zanzibar (1941), Morocco (1942), Utopia (dated 1945 in a 1952 Associated Press account and 1946 by TCM), Rio (1947), Bali (1952), and finally Hong Kong (1962).[9](https://princealbertlibrary.ca/padh/1952/April/April%2030%2C1952.pdf) • [10](https://www.tcm.com/articles/79900/road-to-zanzibar-1941) • [1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/5051-ROAD-TO-SINGAPORE) All seven films featured Hope, Crosby, and Lamour, though Lamour was relegated to a minor role and [Joan Collins](https://www.edgepedia.org/joan-collins) took the female lead in [The Road](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-road) to Hong Kong.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/5051-ROAD-TO-SINGAPORE) Richard Zoglin, writing for the Library of Congress's National Film Preservation Board, credits the series with bringing a new naturalness and improvisational spirit to Hollywood comedy and calls it the greatest buddy series in movie history, with Hope as the patsy and worrier and Crosby as the cool, scheming customer.[7](https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-film-preservation-board/documents/road_morocco.pdf)\n\nA 1931 Warner Bros. film, The Road to Singapore, starring [William Powell](https://www.edgepedia.org/william-powell), shares the title but has no relation to the 1940 film.[11](https://www.tcm.com/articles/453994/the-road-to-singapore-1931)\n\n## References\n\n1. [Road to Singapore (1940), AFI Catalog of Feature Films](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/5051-ROAD-TO-SINGAPORE)\n2. [Paul Tatara, \"Road to Singapore (1940),\" Turner Classic Movies](https://www.tcm.com/articles/79899/road-to-singapore-1940-road-to-singapore)\n3. [Road to Singapore (Special Edition), Kino Lorber Theatrical](https://kinolorber.com/film/road-to-singapore-special-edition)\n4. [Lou Marrelli, \"Bing Crosby and Bob Hope's 'Road' pictures,\" American Masters, PBS (2021)](https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/bing-crosby-and-bob-hopes-road-pictures/17321/)\n5. [Frank Miller, \"The Big Idea – Road to Morocco,\" Turner Classic Movies (2010)](https://www.tcm.com/articles/296091/the-big-idea-road-to-morocco)\n6. [\"On the Road With Bob and Bing (and Dottie),\" Cinema Paradiso](https://www.cinemaparadiso.co.uk/films/collections/film-history/the-history-of-film/on-the-road-with-bob-and-bing-and-dottie)\n7. [Richard Zoglin, \"Road to Morocco,\" National Film Preservation Board, Library of Congress](https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-film-preservation-board/documents/road_morocco.pdf)\n8. [Road to Singapore, Bing Crosby official filmography](https://bingcrosby.com/film-tv/road-to-singapore-2/)\n9. [Bob Thomas (AP), \"New Road Film For Bing, Bob,\" Prince Albert Daily Herald, 30 April 1952](https://princealbertlibrary.ca/padh/1952/April/April%2030%2C1952.pdf)\n10. [\"Road to Zanzibar (1941),\" Turner Classic Movies](https://www.tcm.com/articles/79900/road-to-zanzibar-1941)\n11. [Margarita Landazuri, \"The Road to Singapore (1931),\" Turner Classic Movies](https://www.tcm.com/articles/453994/the-road-to-singapore-1931)\n12. [English Box Office 1940: Top English Movies, What's After the Movie](https://www.whatsafterthemovie.com/box-office/language/english/year/1940)\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-singapore", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/road-to-singapore.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 Singapore\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/road-to-singapore. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[Road to Singapore](https://www.edgepedia.org/road-to-singapore)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/road-to-singapore](https://www.edgepedia.org/road-to-singapore). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"Road to Singapore\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/road-to-singapore. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "Road to Singapore is a Paramount comedy directed by Victor Schertzinger, the first of seven Road to films starring Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, and Dorothy Lamour, and the top-grossing film of 1940." }