The way to Hong Kong
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The way to Hong Kong |
| Original title | The Road to Hong Kong |
| Country of production | Great Britain |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1962 |
| length | 91 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 6 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Norman Panama |
| script | Norman Panama, Melvin Frank |
| production | Melvin Frank |
| music | Robert Farnon |
| camera | Jack Hildyard |
| cut | Alan Osbiston |
| occupation | |
And without mentioning in the opening credits: Harry Baird , Victor Brooks , Jerry Colonna , Zsa Zsa Gabor , Robin Hughes , Dave King , Tutte Lemkow , Peter Madden , Dean Martin , David Niven , Pat O'Brien , Nosher Powell , Peter Sellers , Bob Simmons , Frank Sinatra and Sheree Winton | |
The Road to Hong Kong , original title The Road to Hong Kong , is a British comedy film in black and white from 1962. Directed by Norman Panama based on a script he had written with Melvin Frank . The main roles were played by Bob Hope , Bing Crosby and Joan Collins . It is the seventh and final film in the series Der Weg nach… .
action
The US secret service office in Hong Kong is at a loss. How do two American speaking men get into space? Diane explains: It was not the Soviet Union or the United States that sent her there, but a very dangerous organization to which she was still a member until the day before. The two are the fraudsters Harry Turner and Chester Babcock, wanted in many countries, who are now in mortal danger. She is not believed, and so she tells the whole story.
During a demonstration of a flying machine in Calcutta , Chester falls and loses memory. Because he is the one who knows where their money is hidden, they decide, on the advice of two doctors, to go to a Buddhist monastery in Tibet , because there amnesia is being cured. At Calcutta Airport, Chester accidentally takes someone else's suitcase with him. This serves as an identifier for the handover of a formula for the composition of secret rocket fuel. Believing he was her contact, Diane gave Chester the information. When she realizes her mistake, Chester and Harry are already on the plane. In the monastery, Chester is healed quickly. The two learn from the lama that there is a second drug that imparts photographic memory . This memory can only be accessed under the influence of the drug. Anyone who has taken any of the drugs must stay in the monastery for the rest of their life. So Chester and Harry flee, taking the second drug with them. The Lama sends Jhinnah after them; he should bring the drug back, but non-violently.
Back in Calcutta, Harry immediately tries the drug on Chester. To do this, he briefly shows Chester the formula he just found for the fuel and then asks him to repeat individual lines. Then he burns the notes. Shortly thereafter, Diane comes to them to get the notes back, but only finds the ashes. With an offer of 25,000 dollars it brings Harry and Chester to fly to the headquarters of the Organization in Hong Kong. On the flight, Jhinnah manages to secretly exchange the bottle with the medicine. In Hong Kong, Chester cannot tell the leader of the organization the formula. According to the goal of attaining world domination from the moon, the leader and his chief scientist Dr. Zorbb already developed a rocket with which they wanted to send two monkeys to the moon and bring them back again. Chester and Harry are forced or tricked into flying instead. The project succeeds, but the sight of the moon causes Chester to present the fuel formula. This goes unnoticed, but Diane's earrings have the same effect when they are triumphantly received. So the leader and Dr. Zorb the two firmly again, albeit very comfortably. They want to get the formula from Chester. After that, they plan to autopsy Chester and Harry. Diane, who now likes them, is appalled and therefore no longer tries with all her might to get the formula from them. Therefore, she is classified as a traitor by the leader and should be killed. Chester and Harry, who watched the scene, free her and flee with her into town. There you can find Dr. Zorbb and many of his helpers did not escape and therefore decide to split up. Chester and Harry are supposed to leave Hong Kong, Diane wants to alert the American secret service. She gives them a key to a locker with money to cover the flight costs, but the two of them quickly lose the key. In the search for it, they are surrounded and flee to a theater where their old friend Dorothy Lamour appears. She tries to hide them on the open stage, but they are stopped by Dr. Zorbb recognized. With a moon out of the decoration, this brings Chester to the surrender of the formula. Then he rushes back to headquarters. Now Chester and Harry are chasing him, because that's the only way they can save the world. Shortly after arriving at headquarters, Diane and the US agents join them. The agents quickly take over the headquarters. Nevertheless, Chester, Harry and Diane have to throw the astronauts ready for launch from the rocket. However, the three get caught in it. The leader of the organization starts it just before he is overwhelmed. Diane is able to prevent the landing on the moon. Instead, the three end up on the planet Plutonium, on which they can survive but cannot leave it.
production
Production company
The Way to Hong Kong was produced by Melnor Films .
Cast & crew
The main actors Bob Hope and Bing Crosby initially showed little enthusiasm for The Road to Hong Kong . So Bob Hope only agreed when it was clear that the film would not interfere with his television show. Bing Crosby had guarantees that there would be no overlap with his golf tournament or different fishing seasons.
There was excitement about the cast of the female lead. In all of the other The Road To ... films, Dorothy Lamour played this one. Dorothy Lamour, born in December 1914, was in the opinion of the producers and Bing Crosby (born in May 1903, as well as Bob Hope ) too old for the woman for whom the two main roles should fight. Bing Crosby initially wanted Brigitte Bardot , later Gina Lollobrigida for the role, and Sophia Loren was also under discussion. Finally, Joan Collins was chosen . Dorothy Lamour was initially ignored; she found out about the film from the newspaper. She then turned to the producers. In response to public pressure and also because Bob Hope stood up for her, she got the offer for a cameo . She asked for a bigger role and got it.
Model April Ashley also played a small role . Shortly after filming was over, on November 19, 1961, a newspaper outed her as a transsexual . This immediately ended her career as a model. According to her own statements, her back was only briefly visible in The Road to Hong Kong .
As in the previous film The Road to Bali , there were several cameos in The Road to Hong Kong . So were Zsa Zsa Gabor , David Niven and Bob Hope's radio partner Jerry Colonna to see; Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin made an appearance as space travelers on the planet Plutonium just before the end of the film. The greatest sensation, however, caused the cameo of Peter Sellers as an Indian doctor.
Anthony Mendleson was responsible for the costumes in The Way to Hong Kong , and Roger K. Furse and Maurice Fowler for the film construction .
Filming
The route to Hong Kong was filmed from July 31 to November 2, 1961. The film was shot at Shepperton Studios in Shepperton , England .
music
The soundtrack for The Way to Hong Kong was composed by Robert Farnon . Jimmy Van Heusen (music) and Sammy Cahn (text) wrote the songs Teamwork , Let's Not Be Sensible , It's the Only Way to Travel , We're on the Road to Hong Kong and for the usual vocal interludes in the Der Weg nach… series Warmer than a whisper . In 1962, Liberty Records released the original soundtrack for the film.
Premiere
The Way to Hong Kong premiered in London at the end of April 1962 . The film was released on video on December 3, 2002. It was distributed as the only film in the series by United Artists (the others were all by Paramount Pictures ).
The German-language premiere took place on May 24, 1962.
synchronization
The following were involved in the synchronization of The Way to Hong Kong :
| role | actor | Voice actor |
|---|---|---|
| Harry Turner | Bing Crosby | Paul Klinger |
| Chester Babcock | Bob Hope | Georg Thomalla |
| Diane | Joan Collins | Gisela Peltzer |
| leader | Robert Morley | Erich Fiedler |
| Dr. Zorbb | Walter Gotell | Heinz Petruo |
| The great lama | Felix Aylmer | Alfred Balthoff |
| Jhinnah | Roger Delgado | Erich Poremski |
| Dorothy Lamour | Dorothy Lamour | Gisela Trowe |
reception
Reviews
The reviewers found mixed reviews on The Road to Hong Kong . There are clearly negative remarks such as "laborious and incredibly humorless", "shabby imitation of the other six [films]", "[L] oath comical infusion", the hint that the film had some laughs, but not enough for 91 Minutes or that apart from a few good gags, it was very crunchy. But it also means that the film is not a failure and just as good as the weaker films in the series, it is actually very funny and a lot of fun, even if it makes no sense to be discovered. It is much better than its reputation, and also better than anything that Bing Crosby or Bob Hope did later. There are even critics who see the nostalgic side and describe The Road to Hong Kong as one of the best films in the series.
The many self-referencing gags are also noticed. It's not enough to be annoying, but even for one film in the series The Road to ... too many. The opening credits, however, were successful.
The script is quick and funny, satirical and adapted to the strengths of the main actors. In general, Norman Panama and Melvin Frank make a considerable contribution to the fun that The Way to Hong Kong makes.
Of course, the selection of the female lead is also discussed. Joan Collins is the biggest disappointment and seems out of place. Although she tries hard, she is no substitute for Dorothy Lamour. In addition, she is not believable as a target of the jokes of Bob Hope and Bing Crosby and makes the two look even older because she is too young. Dorothy Lamour would have been a better match for the two of them in terms of age, the big age difference was just disturbing. Incidentally, it is a shame and unfair that Dorothy Lamour does not play the female lead.
The very good or brilliant cameo by Peter Sellers is praised. You can see that the next generation has already taken over.
The way to Hong Kong is also seen as a parody of James Bond. Stewart Galbraith IV says no. The movie came too early for that because James Bond - 007 is chasing Dr. No , the first Bond film, was released six months later.
Financial result
Like all films in the series, the Hong Kong route was financially very successful; the film was even among the ten most successful films of 1962.
Web links
- The way to Hong Kong in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d The way to Hong Kong. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed September 12, 2018 .
- ↑ a b c d e f g The Road to Hong Kong (1962). In: American Film Institute . Retrieved September 12, 2018 .
- ↑ a b c d e f Lang Thompson: The Road to Hong Kong (1962). In: Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved September 12, 2018 .
- ^ A b Tom Vallance: Obituary: Dorothy Lamour . In: Independent . September 24, 1996 ( online in Independent.co.uk [accessed September 12, 2018]).
- ↑ a b c d e f Stuart Galbraith IV: The Road to Hong Kong (Blu-ray). In: DVD-Talk. February 17, 2015, accessed September 12, 2018 .
- ↑ a b c d Raymond Strait: Bob Hope: A Tribute . Crossroad Press, Jefferson 2016, ISBN 978-1-370-11952-3 (English, limited preview in Google Book Search [accessed September 12, 2018]).
- ↑ a b Life After Surgery. In: Museum of Liverpool. Retrieved September 12, 2018 .
- ↑ Stephen Gilmore, Jonathan Herring, Rebecca Probert: Landmark Cases in Family Law . Bloomsbury Publishing, London 2011, ISBN 978-1-84731-787-2 , Corbett v Corbett: Once a Man, Always a Man? (English, limited preview in Google Book Search [accessed September 12, 2018]).
- ↑ April Ashley: the first Briton to undergo a sex change . In: The Independent . February 2, 2006 ( online at Independent.co.uk [accessed September 12, 2018]).
- ↑ John Preston: Elvis, John Prescott and me: an interview with April Ashley, Britain's first transsexual . In: The Telegraph . September 25, 2013 ( online on The Telegraph [accessed September 12, 2018]).
- ^ Personal Journalism . In: Harrison's Reports . August 5, 1961, p. 79 (English, online at Archive.org [accessed September 12, 2018]).
- ↑ Sammy Cahn And Jimmy Van Heusen * / Robert Farnon - The Road To Hong Kong (Original Soundtrack Album). In: Discogs . Retrieved September 12, 2018 .
- ↑ The road to Hong Kong at Rotten Tomatoes (English) , accessed on 12 September 2018th
- ↑ a b c d e Jeffrey Kauffman: The Road to Hong Kong Blu-ray Review. In: Blu-ray.com. February 4, 2015, accessed September 12, 2018 .
- ↑ The Road to Hong Kong (1962). In: synchronkartei.de. German dubbing file , accessed on September 12, 2018 .
- ↑ The way to Hong Kong. In: Cinema . Hubert Burda Media , accessed on September 12, 2018 .
- ^ A b c Derek Winnert: The Road to Hong Kong ** (1962, Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, Joan Collins) - Classic Movie Review 6981. In: Derek Winnert. April 29, 2018. Retrieved September 12, 2018 .
- ^ A b c d Graeme Clark: Road to Hong Kong. In: The Spinning Image. Retrieved September 12, 2018 .
- ↑ a b c d e Craig Butler: The Road to Hong Kong (1962). In: All Movie. Retrieved September 12, 2018 .
- ^ A b “The Road to Hong Kong” with Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, Joan Collins, Dorothy Lamour, Robert Morley . In: Harrison's Reports . May 26, 1962, p. 79 (English, online at Archive.org [accessed September 12, 2018]).
- ^ Richard Scheib: The Road to Hong Kong. In: Moria. Retrieved September 12, 2018 .
- ↑ a b c The Road To Hong Kong. In: Variety . Retrieved September 12, 2018 .