I was a script writer for Bob Hope in the 70s and 80s and from our earliest production meetings in preparation to tape our historic 3-hour special, we all agreed that Hope's opening musical number ---  written by producer Jim Lipton ala "The Road to Morocco" --- should be filmed atop the Great Wall.  Since China had only recently been opened to the West --- Hope was the first American entertainer to be granted permission to tape a TV special there --- there were few tourists, so we were able to obtain permission from the Chinese government to use the Wall, empty save for Hope, as far as the camera's lens could see. (The few tourists there were agreed to remain hidden in a tower during the filming.)  As Hope, in sports shirt and slacks and carrying a 3-wood as a walking stick, proceeded to strut down the ancient cobblestones, he lip synched to a pre-recorded music track from speakers set up out of sight behind him.  This article is excerpted from THE LAUGH MAKERS: A Behind-the-Scenes Tribute to Bob Hope's Incredible Gag Writers (c) 2009 by Robert L. Mills and published by Bear Manor Media.  www.bearmanormedia.bizland.com/id370.html

(This article is read by the author.)