Main Cast: Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, Dorothy Lamour, Robert Benchley, Hillary Brooke, Douglas Dumbrille
Release Year: 1946
Country: US
Run Time: 90 minutes
Plot
The first "Road" picture in three years (the last was The Road to Morocco), Road to Utopia is set during the Alaskan gold rush. Bob Hope and Bing Crosby play a pair of third-rate San Francisco entertainers, Chester Hooton and Duke Johnson, who are obliged to skip town in a hurry. They book passage on a ship to Alaska, where they run afoul of escaped murderers Sperry (Robert H. Barrat) and McGurk (Nestor Paiva). Through a fluke, Chester and Duke overpower the killers, then get off the ship in Skagway disguised as Sperry and McGurk so that they themselves can evade the authorities. The boys can't understand why everyone is so afraid of them, nor why saloon owner Ace Larson (Douglas Dumbrille) and Larson's moll Kate (Hillary Brooke) are so chummy. It turns out that Sperry and McGurk had stolen a deed to a valuable gold mine before escaping to Alaska. Sal Van Hoyden (Dorothy Lamour) is the rightful owner of that deed, thus she too shows up in Skagway, hoping to extract the document from Chester and Duke. Whenever the plot threatens to become too difficult to follow, narrator Robert Benchley shows up to explain things -- which of course only adds to the confusion. At any rate, the whole affair ends up with Chester, Duke, and Sal running through the snowy wastes, with the villains in hot pursuit. Duke nobly stays behind to fight off the bad guys himself, handing the deed to Chester and Sal and wishing them Godspeed. Flash-forward to 1945: Chester and Sal, both old and wealthy, are reunited with their equally aged pal Duke, who wasn't killed after all. Sal tells Duke that Chester has been a wonderful husband and father. Yes, father...and wait till you see who plays their child ("We adopted him!"). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
The fourth of the "Road" pictures, Road to Utopia is a zany and engaging entry in the series. Indeed, while the previous Road projects had certainly been wacky and loose, Utopia takes these qualities up to a new level. Robert Benchley's interrupting narrations, self-referential asides and gags, and a man wandering into the film merely because he is looking for the soundstage of a different film can all be found here; fans of deconstructionist comedy could have a field day with Utopia. But those just in the mood for a fast and furious "odd couple with gal pal" comedy will have an even better time. Sure, some of jokes fall flat and the plot gets too complicated (as Benchley points out), but the chemistry between Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, and Dorothy Lamour is what the Road pictures are all about, and that chemistry is top-notch here. Utopia also features the requisite musical numbers, with Lamour's smashing "Personality" a standout here. Director Hal Walker pretty much just gets out of the way of his trio of stars, but that's probably the best course he could have taken. It's quite silly, and in places quite dated, but Utopia is a lot of fun. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
The film is the only Road to... film without a real place in its title though Alaska with its gold mines is referred to as "Utopia" several times in the film. Bob Hope, Bing Crosby and Dorothy Lamour starred, as they did in all but one of the series. The film is also the only "Road" film that did not take place in contemporary times though the film begins and ends with the cast made up to look older who flashback to the past. As a “narrator”, humor essayist Robert Benchley provides some wry commentary that is interspersed throughout the movie. There are also jabs at Paramount Pictures (the studio that originally released the film) and a reference to Frank Sinatra, not to mention many instances of "breaking the fourth wall" and general wackiness. In her autobiography, Dorothy Lamour said that the release of Road to Utopia may have been delayed by Paramount to not jeopardise the public's and Academy Awards committee's acceptance of Crosby as Best Actor for playing a priest in Going My Way.[1]
Plot summary
From left to right: Lamour, Crosby, and Hope at the end of the film.
At the turn of the century, Duke Johnson (Bing Crosby) and Chester Hooton (Bob Hope), two vaudeville performers, go to Alaska to make their fortune in the gold rush. On the ship to Skagway, they find a map to a secret gold mine, which had been stolen by McGurk (Nestor Paiva) and Sperry (Robert Barrat), a couple of thugs.
Meanwhile, Sal Van Hoyden (Dorothy Lamour) is in Alaska to try and recover the map; it had been her father's. She falls in with Ace Larson (Douglass Dumbrille), who wants to steal the gold mine for himself. Duke and Chester, McGurk and Sperry, Ace and his henchmen, and Sal, chase each other all over the countryside, trying to get the map and the gold.
This is the last of the original four "Road" pictures that now reside with EMKA, Ltd./NBC Universal (which holds Paramount's pre-1950 library). The film's copyright was renewed in a timely manner by the company which had acquired it. Originally registered for copyright as LP159 with a declared publication date of March 22, 1946, the continuation of copyright was contingent upon renewal between the 27th and 28th anniversaries of that date. Renewal occurred March 29, 1973, number R548937. Although the film opened February 27, 1946, the renewal is still timely even if the earlier date were considered publication date. Renewal was filed by EMKA, Ltd., and thus Universal Pictures now is the distributor for all media. The copyright is now scheduled to run until 95 years after the publication date (2041). The film has not entered the public domain.
