At the airport, Chester mistakenly picks up a suitcase with a marking designed to be a point of contact between agents of a SPECTRE-type spy organization called "The Third Echelon."

Chester and Harry observe as great works of Western literature in the manner of Fahrenheit 451 are committed to memory; one giggling lama (David Niven) memorizes Lady Chatterley's Lover.

On the way to Hong Kong, an agent of the High Lama replaces the stolen Tibetan herbs with a similar bottle containing ordinary tea leaves.

Filming in England at Shepperton Studios, the regular Road picture stars Crosby and Hope returned for one last go, but the leading lady was now Joan Collins rather than Dorothy Lamour.

[5] Other cameos are provided by David Niven, Peter Sellers, Roger Delgado, Jerry Colonna, Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin.

Hope and Crosby are up against a SPECTRE type organization called "The Third Echelon" who have their own underwater secret headquarters and are led by Robert Morley with James Bond film regular Walter Gotell as "Dr. Zorbb" and Bob Simmons as an astronaut.

Some critics felt that the 59-year-old Hope and Crosby couldn't pull off the part credibly at their age and that it was unfair for them to dump their old partner Lamour (with whom they had excellent screen chemistry) for the more youthful Collins.

Others thought the decade-long gap since the last Road movie wrecked the momentum of the series and that Peter Sellers came off as more fresh and funny than the aging stars of the film.

Bosley Crowther of The New York Times welcomed it saying, inter alia: "Age may have withered somewhat the glossy hides of Bing Crosby and Bob Hope, and custom may have done a little something to stale their brand of vaudeville.

But the old boys still come through nicely in another turn in the old “Road” act by which they were jointly elevated to international eminence about twenty years ago...But practically every moment spent with Bing and Bob is good for consecutive chuckles and frequent belly-deep guffaws.

For their former travel agents, Norman Panama and Melvin Frank, who have not only written this picture but produced and directed it, have provided them with the gags and business to make for much humorous verbal give-and-take and an almost unending succession of crazy and corny contretemps.

"[9] Variety provided a positive review as well, stating: "The seventh “Road” comedy, after a lapse of seven years, should cause a seven-year itch among tab buyers to get in at the laughs.