Tonight's Movie: Road to Utopia (1945) - A Kino Lorber Blu-ray Review

This weekend I've returned to the great Road Movie Blu-ray collection from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

As a refresher, the On the Road with Bob Hope and Bing Crosby set contains all seven Road movies on Blu-ray. To my knowledge it's the first Blu-ray collection gathering the entire series in one release.

I've previously reviewed ROAD TO SINGAPORE (1940), ROAD TO ZANZIBAR (1941), and my favorite to date, ROAD TO MOROCCO (1942).

I circled back to the set to watch ROAD TO UTOPIA (1945), the last of the series to be filmed during the World War II years.

Although it was made during late 1943-early 1944, the movie didn't have its U.S. release until early 1946, following UK releases in the fall of 1945. A number of well-known films had releases delayed by two or more years due to the amount of movie product available during the war, so I'm assuming the delay may have been for that reason.

It's rather ironic ROAD TO UTOPIA didn't come out sooner, as the Road movies were perfect entertainment for the war years: Giddy, amusing, and fairly mindless. Though one might miss a joke if not paying close attention, the movies' undemanding stories were probably welcome for audiences stressed with wartime issues.

While ROAD TO UTOPIA isn't quite as good as ROAD TO MOROCCO, it comes close and provides a fun 90 minutes.

Bing and Bob play Duke and Chester, who end up pretending to be bad guys in the Yukon during the Gold Rush.

When the movie opens, Chester (Hope) and Sal (Dorothy Lamour) are elderly marrieds unexpectedly visited by their old pal Duke (Crosby).

Most of the film takes place in an extended flashback, with the older versions of the characters returning for the final scene and a very amusing closing joke.

Attempting to describe more of a Road Movie plot is always a challenge, given the thin stories. That said, this film has more than its share of good jokes and is recommended for that reason.

My favorite gimmick in ROAD TO UTOPIA was humorist Robert Benchley periodically popping onto a corner of the screen, breaking the "fourth wall" with running commentary on the film. It's an inspired touch which was also quite original in its day.

There are plenty of other fun moments with funny lines about movie-making, sponsors, and the like. These bits fly by, so the film merits close attention for this reason, even though the plot itself isn't much.

Think of it as a wild live-action cartoon, where the perils and violence never really matter and "Whiz! bang! pow!" moments alternate with sly jokes and music. It's even got a talking bear and a drop-in from Santa Claus (Ferdinand Munier)!

ROAD TO UTOPIA was directed by Hal Walker and filmed in black and white by Lionel Lindon. The original screenplay was by Norman Panama and Melvin Frank. The score is by Jimmy Van Heusen and Johnny Burke.

The supporting cast includes Hillary Brooke, Douglass Dumbrille, Jack La Rue, Robert Barrat, and Nestor Paiva, with small roles filled by Will Wright, Stanley Andrews, Jerry Colonna, and more.

Kino Lorber's Blu-ray print is sharp, with a good soundtrack. This is an excellent way to enjoy the film.

Disc extras consist of a commentary by Greg Ford and Will Friedwald, carried over from an earlier release; the trailer; and three additional Road movie trailers.

Coming in the future: Reviews of the last three films in the set, ROAD TO RIO (1947), ROAD TO BALI (1952), and THE ROAD TO HONG KONG (1962).

Thanks to Kino Lorber for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray collection.

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