''The Road to Hollywood'' is a 1947 American film released by

Astor Pictures Astor Pictures was a motion picture distribution company in the United States from 1930 to 1963. It was founded by Robert M. Savini (29 August 1886 – 29 April 1956). Astor specialized in film re-releases. It later released independently m ...

that is a combination of several of

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, musician and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwide. He was a ...

Educational Pictures Educational Pictures, also known as Educational Film Exchanges, Inc. or Educational Films Corporation of America, was an American film production and film distribution company founded in 1916 by Earle (E. W.) Hammons (1882–1962). Educational pr ...

short subject A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

s. The title was designed to draft off

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

' " Road to..."

film series A film series or movie series (also referred to as a film franchise or movie franchise) is a collection of related films in succession that share the same fictional universe, or are marketed as a series. This article explains what film series are ...

starring Crosby,

Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was a British-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer and dancer. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in more than 70 short and feature films, with 5 ...

, and

Dorothy Lamour Dorothy Lamour (born Mary Leta Dorothy Slaton; December 10, 1914 – September 22, 1996) was an American actress and singer. She is best remembered for having appeared in the '' Road to...'' movies, a series of successful comedies starring Bing ...

; Hope and Lamour do not appear in the film.

Plot

Bud Pollard narrates a biography of Bing Crosby stringing together the following short subjects: * "

I Surrender Dear "I Surrender Dear" (sometimes written as "I Surrender, Dear") is a song composed by Harry Barris with lyrics by Gordon Clifford, first performed by Gus Arnheim and His Cocoanut Grove Orchestra with Bing Crosby in 1931, which became his first s ...

" (1931) * " One More Chance" (1931) * "

Billboard Girl ''Billboard Girl'' is a 1932 Educational-Mack Sennett Featurette (No. S2709) starring Bing Crosby and directed by Leslie Pearce. This was the fourth of the six short films Crosby made for Mack Sennett and which helped launch his career as a sol ...

" (1931) * " Dream House" (1931)

Cast

as Himself (archive footage) *

Luis Alberni Luis Alberni (October 4, 1886 – December 23, 1962) was a Spanish-born American character actor of stage and films. Early years Alberni was born in Barcelona, Spain, on October 4, 1886. He acted in stock theater for four years in Marseille ...

as The Marquis, from ''

'' (archive footage) *

Bud Pollard Bud Pollard (born John Evelyn Godson; May 12, 1895 – December 17, 1952) was a Canadian-American film director, screenwriter, film producer and actor. Pollard is known for such films as '' It Happened in Harlem'', '' The Black King'', '' Tall, ...

as Himself (Host / Narrator) * Ann Christy as Betty Brooks, from ''Dream House'' (archive footage) *

Patsy O'Leary Patsy O'Leary (born Patricia O'Day, September 8, 1910, date of death unknown) was an Irish-American actress known for her work on Mack Sennett comedies in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Biography O'Leary was born in County Cork, Ireland, to ...

as Ethel Bangs, from '' One More Chance'' / Mrs. McCullough, from ''I Surrender Dear'' (archive footage) *

George C. Pearce George C. Pearce (June 26, 1865 – August 13, 1940) was an American stage and film actor, primarily of the silent film, silent era. He appeared in more than 130 films between 1914 and 1939. He was born in New York, New York, and died in Los ...

as Mary's Father, from ''

'' (archive footage) * Arthur Stone as Ethel's Uncle Joe, from ''One More Chance'' / Jerry, Bing's friend from ''I Surrender Dear'' (archive footage) *Dick Stewart as Jerry, Bing's Chum from ''Billboard Girl'' (archive footage) *

Lincoln Stedman Lincoln Stedman (May 18, 1907 – March 22, 1948) was an American silent film actor. Biography Stedman was born in Denver, Colorado, the only child to Marshall Stedman and silent film beauty Myrtle Stedman. Stedman had a career in films dat ...

as Whitman, Mary's Fiancé, from ''Billboard Girl'' (archive footage) *

Kathrin Clare Ward Kathrin or ''Katrin'' or ''Kathryn'' or ''Kathrine'' is a female given name. Persons with the name * Ann-Kathrin Kramer (born 1966), German writer and actress * Ann-Kathrin Linsenhoff (born 1960), German athlete in equestrian * Kathryn Adams (18 ...

as Mother Brooks, from ''Dream House'' (archive footage) *

James Eagles James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

as Mary's Brother, from ''Billboard Girl'' (archive footage) *

Matty Kemp Matty Kemp (September 10, 1907 – December 12, 1999) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 50 films between 1926 and 1943. After retiring from acting, Kemp produced many musical short films. In 1954, he contributed the story ...

as Percy Howard, Bing's Rival, from ''One More Chance'' (archive footage) * Eddie Phillips as Reginald Duncan, from ''Dream House'' (archive footage) * Marion Sayers as Peggy, Bing's Sweetheart, from ''I Surrender Dear'' (archive footage) * Julia Griffith as Ethel's Mother, Bing's Future Mother-in-Law, from ''I Surrender Dear'' (archive footage) * George Gray as George Dobbs, from ''I Surrender Dear'' (archive footage) *

Vernon Dent Vernon Bruce Dent (February 16, 1895 – November 5, 1963) was an American comic actor, who appeared in over 400 films. He co-starred in many short films for Columbia Pictures, frequently as the foil and the main antagonist and ally to The Thr ...

as A Film Director, from ''Dream House'' (archive footage) * Alice Adair as Ethel Dobbs, from ''I Surrender Dear'' (archive footage) *

Marjorie Kane Marjorie Kane (April 28, 1909 – January 8, 1992) was an American film and stage actress born in Chicago. She appeared in more than 60 films between 1929 and 1951, occasionally under the name Babe Kane. Career Kane appeared on stage for 11 ...

as Mary Malone, from ''Billboard Girl'' (archive footage)

Soundtrack

All sung by Bing Crosby From "I Surrender Dear" * "

" * "

At Your Command "At Your Command" is a 1931 song recorded by Bing Crosby on June 24, 1931 with piano accompaniment by Harry Barris. The lyrics were written by Bing Crosby and Harry Tobias, The music was composed by Harry Barris. The song was released as a Brunsw ...

" * " Out of Nowhere” * "A Little Bit of Heaven" (

Ernest R. Ball Ernest Roland Ball (July 22, 1878 – May 3, 1927) was an American singer and songwriter, most famous for composing the music for the song "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling" in 1912. He was not himself Irish. Early life and education Born in Cl ...

J. Keirn Brennan J. Keirn Brennan (November 24, 1873 – February 4, 1948) was an American songwriter. He joined ASCAP as a charter member in 1914 and collaborated with many notable songwriters. He is probably best known for co-writing the 1929 in film, 1929 film '' ...

) From "One More Chance" * "Just One More Chance" * "Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams" * "

" (parody) * I'd Climb the Highest Mountain From "Dream House" * "Dream House" (

Earle Foxe Earle Foxe (born Earl Aldrich Fox; December 25, 1891 – December 10, 1973) was an American actor. Early years Foxe was born in Oxford, Ohio, to Charles Aldrich Fox, originally of Flint, Michigan, and Eva May Herron. He was educated at Ohio Sta ...

/ Lynn F. Cowan) * "It Must Be True" (

Harry Barris Harry Barris (November 24, 1905 – December 13, 1962) was an American popular singer and songwriter. He was one of the earliest singers to use "scat singing" in recordings. Barris, one of Paul Whiteman's Rhythm Boys, along with Bing Crosby and ...

Gus Arnheim Gus Arnheim (September 4, 1897 – January 19, 1955) was an American pianist and an early popular band leader. He is noted for writing several songs with his first hit being "I Cried for You" from 1923. He was most popular in the 1920s and 1930s. He ...

/ Gordon Clifford) * "When I Take My Sugar to Tea” (

Sammy Fain Sammy Fain (born Samuel E. Feinberg; June 17, 1902 – December 6, 1989) was an American composer of popular music. In the 1920s and early 1930s, he contributed numerous songs that form part of The Great American Songbook, and to Broadway theatre. ...

Irving Kahal Irving Kahal (March 5, 1903, Houtzdale, Pennsylvania – February 7, 1942, New York City) was a popular American song lyricist active in the 1920s and 1930s. He is best remembered for his collaborations with composer Sammy Fain which started in 19 ...

/ Pierre Norman) From "Billboard Girl" * "Were You Sincere?" (

Vincent Rose Vincent Rose ''(né'' Vincenzo Cacioppo; 13 June 1880 Palermo, Italy – 20 May 1944 Rockville Centre, New York) was an Italian-born American violinist, pianist, composer, and bandleader. Career Rose holds one of the longest histories as a band ...

/ Jack Meskill) * " For You”

References

External links

* * 1947 films 1947 musical comedy films American musical comedy films American black-and-white films 1940s English-language films 1940s American films {{musical-comedy-film-stub