The Road to Hemet--this is the famous "lost" Bob Hope/Bing Crosby flick isn't?

An ARS critic writes:

Bob and and Bing play the dual (should we say dueling) personalities of an out-of-work Sci-fi writer turned conman, fresh from the navy and out to make a bundle. These two mix up magic and adventure as they stumble from broad to fraud, right into the gold-mine idea of starting a wacky California religion. It's a hoot. While they're lapping up the bucks, you'll be doubled over with yuks.

Crosby and Hope put the "pair" in paranoia in their portrayal of this bonko cult leader. Dorthy LaMour plays the irrepressible Mary Sue, whose dizzy hi-jinx land her in the pokey by the end of the third reel. The 3 Stooges do a sizable stint as the Religion's "legal department." In fact, an argument can be made that it is really their movie. They certainly have the best of the movie's many delightful songs -- the comic gem, "So, Sue Me" (So sue me, Mary Sue -- Go ahead and sue me / I'd rather have you sue me than do me!) Seldom has litigious larceny been so laughable.

Bowery Boys Leo Gorcey and Huntz Hall add just the right touch of mayhem as the leaders of the Religion's special paramilitary unit. It's slapstick with a real slap attached. These pranksters really know the meaning of hard sell. Unfortunately, their songs "Winning at All Costs," "Clearing the Planet, One Mark at a Time," and "It Takes a Little Patience to Frame a Journalist," are not particularly funny.

Other songs of note: the Hope/Crosby duet, "Make money, more money, more money," is a real screamer. Lamour has the film's only touching moment with the tear-jerker, "How do I know you won't treat me like all of the others that came before?" She balances this off with the hysterical ball-breaker, "Any twit can run a copy machine."

The only real problem with this fast-paced, laugh-a-minute flick is that the religion created by this Wizard-of-Odd con man is far too wacky to sustain credibility. No one could ever, in a billion years, fall for a scam like this.

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