Road to Rio Road to Rio Road to Rio is a 1947 American semi-musical comedy film directed by Norman Z. McLeod and starring Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, and Dorothy Lamour. Written by Edmund Beloin and Jack Rose, the film is about two inept vaudevillians who stow away on a Brazilian-bound ocean liner and foil a plot by a sinister hypnotist to marry off her niece to a greedy fortune hunter. "Road to Rio" was the fifth of the ""Road to …"" series. Scat Sweeney and Hot Lips Barton, two out-of-work musicians, travel the United States trying to find work and stay away from
The Ford Road Show Featuring Bing Crosby were not confined to Bing Crosby exclusively. The advertising technique, devised by the ad agency J. Walter Thompson was to keep Ford cars in front of the public by radio “saturation.” Thus, five-minute segments were sponsored for news and commentary as well as for entertainment. The other Ford Road Shows featured Rosemary Clooney, chit chat by Arthur Godfrey and news by Edward R. Murrow. The Ford sponsorship covered 21 shows a week for a total of $3.5 million. Rosemary Clooney's Road Shows also employed Buddy Cole and His Trio, which later led to a merger of Crosby and Clooney's shows