PHOTOS OF THE DAY: BING IN THE 1960S

The 1960s was a decade of change in Bing Crosby's life. For three decades, Bing was the biggest star in the history of entertainment. Now with the dawn of rock 'n' roll, Bing was suddenly a relic of a bygone era. Meanwhile, Bing had a younger family so he moved away from the front of the entertainment world to raise this new second family. However, here are some Bing photos from the 1960s, which showed Bing at the age of 57-66...

Bing dressed in drag for HIGH TIME (1960)

With golfer ARNOLD PALMER

With Dorothy Lamour and Bob Hope from the last Road movie - THE ROAD TO HONG KONG

With Maurice Chevalier on Bing's TV special

GUEST REVIEWER: THE ROAD TO HONG KONG

Bing Crosby guru is back with another one of his fine reviews. This time up he reviews the last "Road" movie that Bing and Bob Hope made - The Road To Hong Kong (1961). The Road was getting a little beat up by the time that this movie was made...

This turned out to be the end of a great cycle of comedy films. Two mega-individual stars, pooling their talents to come up with comedy classics.

Since this was the only Road picture not done on the Paramount lot it has a whole different feel to it and not for the better. Unfortunately the decision was made to dump Dorothy Lamour from her traditional role as sex object for Crosby and Hope to pant over. Joan Collins was years away from her career role as Alexis Carrington. Here she's just not into the same spirit of things that Dotty was. Dotty was brought in and did one of her numbers Warmer Than A Whisper towards the end of the film.

It's been pointed out that 29 year old Collins looked ridiculous falling for 58 year old Crosby. I can see the case for it, but I would remind everyone that four years earlier, Bing in fact took as his second wife, a woman with just such an age difference.

One of the inside jokes of the film was that Hope's name in the film was Chester Babcock which is the birth name of Jimmy Van Heusen who wrote so many film scores for Crosby. Van Heusen and Sammy Cahn contributed a ballad for Bing dueted with Collins called Let's Not Be Sensible. And Bob and Bing get two patter numbers, Teamwork and the title tune. There's a lot less music in this outing and that's not for the better of the film.

Still the film has some good comedic moments the best of which involve a hilarious scene in a Hindu doctor's office with an unbilled Peter Sellers as the doctor. The doctor advises Hope to take a cure for amnesia at a hidden lamasery, a la Shangri La, where they find David Niven committing Lady Chatterley's Lover to memory. And at the end when the boys and Collins arrive on another planet in a surreal ending they find Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin waiting for them.

Among the rest of the supporting cast Robert Morley as a mad scientist and chief villain and Felix Aylmer as the Grand Lama stand out.

Before Crosby died in 1977, he Hope and Lamour and signed to do still another film entitled Road to the Fountain of Youth. I wish it had been done. Road to Hong Kong is all right, but not up to the standards of those wacky days at Paramount...

BRUCE'S RATING:6 OUT OF 10 STARS

MY RATING: 5 OUT OF 10 STARS

BING'S MEMORABILIA

Bing Crosby wore this hat in the 1962 film The Road to Hong Kong, the last of the seven-film Road to… series starring himself and his longtime friend Bob Hope. Instead of Dorothy Lamour, Joan Collins starred in this film. Lamour appeared in a cameo. There was to be an eighth film, Road to the Fountain of Youth, but this was derailed by Crosby’s death in 1977.

This hat is a part of the Bing Crosby Collection at Gonzaga University in Washington.

A BING SONG: TEAMWORK

TEAMWORK
(Sammy Cahn / James Van Heusen)

Of the many great teams -- meat and potatoes, hot dogs and mustard, liver and onions -- few could match the perfect hand-in-glove fit of Bing and Bob Hope. Bing and Bob recorded more than a dozen songs together for commercial release, beginning in 1944 with "Road to Morocco" and "Put it There, Pal" and ending in 1961 with "Teamwork" and "The Road to Hong Kong." Although many show business teams have parted on less than friendly terms (Martin and Lewis, Abbott and Costello, Lennon and McCartney), Bing and Bob stuck together until parted by death. One more road picture and an album of duets was planned for the duo in 1978 until fate intervened...

When two guys pull together it's teamwork.
In foul or sunny weather it's teamwork.
What does it take to make any business climb?
You'll find it takes teamwork every time.

Incidentally, your jokes will kill the yokels it's teamwork.
I love your hokey vocals it's teamwork.
Like Fred Astaire and Ginger yet twice as chic
We'll give them that teamwork, cheek to cheek.

Here we are, just like in Zanzibar
Still nothin, still a star.
That's quite a stab from old flab.
They always pay us plenty for teamwork.
We split it 80-20 -- that's teamwork?
(Yours is tax free.)

When others start to part and go off the beam.
Like siamese brothers we'll be on each other's team.

No fuss about the billing it's teamwork
The smallest type is thrilling it's teamwork.
Although we hold each other in low esteem
We're loaded with teamwork!
Hey now!
What's life without teamwork?
Go boy!

Unless you got teamwork there's no team.

SOURCE

NEW BING CD FROM SEPIA RECORDS

I am so glad Sepia is keeping up with their Bing Crosby issues. The movies Say One For Me (1959) and The Road To Hong Kong (1961) were pretty dreadful, but the soundtracks were actually better than the movies!

This is the full track listing, taken from the Sepia Records site http://www.sepiarecords.com/sepia1216.html

THE ROAD TO HONG KONG / SAY ONE FOR ME (SEPIA 1216)

1. “THE ROAD TO HONG KONG'' OVERTURE Robert Farnon & Orchestra
2. LET’S NOT BE SENSIBLE Bing Crosby, Joan Collins
3. MOON OVER HONG KONG Robert Farnon & Orchestra
4. TEAM WORK Bing Crosby, Bob Hope
5. THE ONLY WAY TO TRAVEL Robert Farnon & Orchestra
6. THE CHASE Robert Farnon & Orchestra
7. THE ROAD TO HONG KONG Bing Crosby, Bob Hope
8. LET’S NOT BE SENSIBLE BLUES Robert Farnon Orchestra
9. RELUCTANT ASTRONAUTS Robert Farnon Orchestra
10. WARMER THAN A WHISPER Dorothy Lamour
11. LAMASERY CHANT Robert Farnon Orchestra

12. “SAY ONE FOR ME'' MAIN TITLE Lionel Newman Orchestra
13. SAY ONE FOR ME Bing Crosby, Debbie Reynolds
14. SAY ONE FOR ME Lionel Newman Orchestra
15. YOU CAN’T LOVE ’EM ALL Debbie Reynolds, Robert Wagner
16. SAY ONE FOR ME (Orchestral Reprise) Lionel Newman Orchestra
17. THE GIRL MOST LIKELY TO SUCCEED Debbie Reynolds, Robert Wagner
18. YOU CAN’T LOVE ’EM ALL (Orchestral Reprise) Lionel Newman Orchestra
19. THE NIGHT THAT ROCK AND ROLL DIED (ALMOST) Lionel Newman Orchestra
20. I COULDN’T CARE LESS Bing Crosby Accompanied By Buddy Cole
21. I COULDN’T CARE LESS (Hangover Scene) Lionel Newman Orchestra
22. THE NIGHT THAT ROCK AND ROLL DIED (ALMOST) Judy Harriett
23. SAY ONE FOR ME Bing Crosby
24. CHICO’S CHOO-CHOO Debbie Reynolds, Robert Wagner
25. THE SECRET OF CHRISTMAS Bing Crosby
26. I COULDN’T CARE LESS (Pop Version) Bing Crosby
27. SAY ONE FOR ME (Pop Version) Bing Crosby
28. THE SECRET OF CHRISTMAS (Pop Version) Bing Crosby

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