Woods, Buck

On the Road With Bob Hope and Bing Crosby Collection (Road to Singapore/Road to Zanzibar/Road to Morocco/Road to Utopia)

They are some of the best-loved film comedies ever created. Now, four of the most popular "Road" pictures, starring the unbeatable screen duo of Bob Hope and Bing Crosby, are here together in this deluxe DVD collection. Join Bing and Bob as they travel the world and experience rollicking, fun-filled misadventures in the company of the alluring Dorothy Lamour in such screen gems as Road to Singapore, Road to Zanzibar, Road to Morocco and Road to Utopia. You'll laugh yourself silly with four of the titles that made Hope and Crosby one of the most successful comedy teams of the 1940s and which continue to charm and entertain audiences of all ages today.

Road to Zanzibar

The second Road movie from Paramount Pictures finds barnstorming con artists Chuck Reardon (Bing Crosby) and Hubert "Fearless" Frazier (Bob Hope) at liberty after their act goes haywire. (In these movies, Crosby generally lures the suckers into the tent, while Hope is always stuck getting shot out of the cannon.) A phony map to a diamond mine brings our boys into the middle of Africa, which means there's a good chance they'll end up sitting in a cauldron while natives perform a cannibal dance around them. These stereotypes would be offensive if the movie wasn't actively parodying the kind of jungle movie popular in 1941 (just as Road to Morocco would satirize the Arabian nights picture). Dorothy Lamour is along for the ride, of course, and her scene in a tight clinch with Hope established a tradition of steamy comic exchanges through the series (as she croons a love song to him, he checks to see if his wallet is still in his pocket). This is the first Road movie to actively wink at the audience; in one scene, Lamour mocks the way movies always have characters break out into song in the middle of nowhere with a full orchestra backing--which is exactly what happens next. The chatter between Crosby and Hope already feels improvised, and it should be noted that the secret of their chemistry is not a sentimental friendship but a cheerfully hostile rivalry between the two characters, a cheeky approach that must've delighted audiences used to the Andy Hardy niceness of most Hollywood movies of that era. Oh, and they do their patty-cake routine, too. --Robert Horton

Heart of the Rio Grande

Midnight Limited

A phantom criminal is at work aboard the night train from New York to Montreal, leaving his victims bound, gagged and penniless. Joan Marshall is victimized but vows to see the Phantom captured and joins forces with detective Val Lennon. Lennon is stum