Road to Morocco

film by Butler [1942]

Written by Lee Pfeiffer

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Article History

Road to Morocco, American screwball comedy film, released in 1942, that was the third and most acclaimed of the “Road” movies featuring Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, and Dorothy Lamour.

Jeff Peters (played by Crosby) and Orville (“Turkey”) Jackson (Hope) accidently blow up the ship they have stowed away on and are shipwrecked on the coast of Africa. They subsequently travel to Morocco, where they are stranded in the desert, are kidnapped, and must outrun and outfox various threats, all while Orville and Jeff in turn become engaged to the beautiful Princess Shalmar (Lamour).

The six other “Road” movies, beginning with Road to Singapore (1940), also featured Hope and Crosby as two Americans adrift in exotic locales who stumble into precarious situations that allow them to compete for the attentions of a beautiful local woman played by Lamour. Though there is nothing exceptional about the plot or direction, Road to Morocco provides the venue for a host of snappy one-liners from one of Hollywood’s most legendary comedy teams. The film spawned a memorable title song.