Road to Utopia

• Directed by Hal Walker
• February 27, 1946

Two vaudeville performers at the turn of the twentieth century go to Alaska to make their fortune and on the way find a map to a secret gold mine.

Road to Utopia is certainly from a different era. Like any old movie it needs to be viewed in the context of the times. It doesn’t mean you have to find it funny or laugh but you need to approach with some understanding.

I can see some of the humor offending modern audiences such as when the main duo meets Santa Claus (Ferdinand Munier) and he’s trying to give them a gift with the gift turning out to be two beautiful women. The kicker is that he says he will give them to somebody else. Why was this not released at Christmas?

One thing I have enjoyed about the Road to… film series as it goes on is that it gave more movies for those behind these to joke about. No film is a direct sequel to the other though each one references its predecessors either specifically or generally. That moment of the characters being aware they are in a film always entertains.

There are some great songs and good gags. Though this is currently owned by Universal Pictures the films are originally produced by Paramount. Bob Hope as Chester Hooton fits in a nice joke stating that a mountain in the distance looks like butter (as in ‘bread and butter’) with the following visual being the Paramount logo.

Dorothy Lamour as Sal Van Hoyden is the woman that both guys fight over. In a bookending scene we learn that Chester is the one that ended up with her. The story itself is how the couple came to believing that their friend Duke Johnson (Bing Crosby) had been dead for 35 years. Never wrote?

It involves a map to a gold mine and assumed identities. Duke and Chester are on the run from two criminals who were after the map to the mine that they have that is rightfully Sal’s. They assume the identities of these two criminals which causes them vastly more problems. It’s all because they have no money. Never said these movies were not formulaic.

American humorist Robert Benchley plays this movie’s narrator who gives a lot of asides and verbal assistance like someone describing an unfinished film. He doesn’t add too much to the movie before the whole schtick disappears by the end of the movie. Road to Utopia would’ve worked just fine without it though now that I reflect there would’ve been some dead spots that could not be overcome otherwise.

As with all these movies the baddies get their comeuppance with the characters played by Bing and Bob not really evil or even terrible people. Maybe just a little ethically easily misguided at times. The reveal at the end of Chester and Sal’s son junior (Bing Crosby) was a bit of a surprise and a punchline to the whole movie.

The banter with the scripted antics and any improvisation that may have occurred blend easily. Either they re-shot or Bob and Bing got their rhythm down to the point they could blend the adlibbed with the written much smoother. It comes across as a trio of friends that had their goofing around filmed. This is light comedy with very few hard laughs. It puts a smile on your face as it leaves you feeling good.

Road to Utopia is a great addition to the Road to… film series. It’s fun and silly and everything you love about the others. Worth watching.