The Road to Steamopolis

(Paramountain, 1941)

This was the first of the 10 Road To... movies (usually just called Road movies) made by Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, and Dorothy Lamour over a 25 year period. The last one was The Road to Venus . These films featured songs, sight gags, Hollywood in-jokes and a very great deal of ad libbing by Bob & Bing. The series was immensely popular.

In this outing, the series formula was set: Bob & Bing are down on their luck con men that have arrived in Steamopolis flat broke and swearing off dames. In no time, they are up to their necks in trouble with the local bad guys (in this film, both Steam Barons and Mobsters), trying to help a good guy (a young inventor) and trying to outdo each other for Dorothy's affection. Eventually, good triumphs over evil and Bing (usually) gets the girl.

This movie was actually filmed entirely in Steamopolis, Texas. Most later films were made on the Paramountain back lot with a bit of location filming done in Southern California or Florida.

The entire Road To... series is available on MicroVHS from Yangtze.com