Utopia: Stan and Ollie find a new island in the Pacific where there’s uranium! The final Laurel and Hardy film.
Atoll K / Utopia (1950) starring Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy
I’ve been postponing writing this review of Atoll K (aka. Utopia, and Crusoeland) for a very long time. I’ve been a fan of Laurel and Hardy for many years — and this final film is simply heartbreaking. It’s simply not very funny. There are a lot of reasons for this – both Stan and Ollie had serious health issues during the film, they couldn’t speak with the foreign cast nor director, etc. There are comedy moments in the film, as listed below in the Highlights. But there aren’t enough of them. I can only rate it 2.5 stars.
Highlights
- Stan and Oliver in the lawyers’ office.
- On the trip to the island, Stan’s food keeps disappearing. Courtesy of the stowaway Giovanni.
- On the trip, the boat motor stops working. It’s as simple as the fuel cap being loose, but they don’t realize that. So Oliver starts disassembling it, piece by piece, and putting them on the deck. Where they promptly fall in to the ocean!
- Having ruined the engine, they need to put up the ship’s sails. Where the stowaway’s hiding!
- Stan fighting with an inflating life raft.
Product Description
Atoll K (DVD + Blu-ray set)
Directed by Léo Joannon
The feature film finale of cinema’s most-beloved comedy duo, Atoll K marked Laurel and Hardy’s long-delayed big-screen return. The two great clowns, lured back to the screen amidst the extensive stage tours of Europe that formed the poignant coda to their career, here embark upon a ramshackle sea voyage to save Stan’s Pacific-island inheritance. This ambitious attempt to invest their time-honed slapstick with a satirical edge is a testament to the duo’s indefatigable comic antics. The BFI is proud to release the longest-ever English language cut of this historically important film, presented for the first time in High Definition and showcasing a new 2K restoration by the BFI using original 35mm nitrate film elements.
Editorial review of Atoll K / Utopia courtesy of Amazon.com
Heading for a newly inherited island, the boys are shipwrecked and marooned on an atoll which has just emerged from the sea. Along with their cook, a stowaway and a girl who is fleeing her fiancé, they set up their own government on the atoll. Uranium is discovered and world powers begin fighting over ownership of the island.
Cast of characters
- Stan Laurel (Pack Up Your Troubles) … Stan (as Laurel)
- Oliver Hardy (Zenobia) … Ollie (as Hardy)
- Suzy Delair … Chérie Lamour. A nightclub singer, who is fleeing her jealous fiancé. Ollie stands up for her when one of the multitude of new immigrants tries to take advantage of her. Which leads to the violent overthrow of the government, and Stan and Ollie going to be hanged! But Cherie returns the favor & rescues them.
- Max Elloy … Antoine. The friendly, stateless refugee who acts as chef on the voyage.
- Suzet Maïs … Mrs. Dolan
- Félix Oudart … Le maire
- Adriano Rimoldi (King of Kings) … Giovanni Copini. The stowaway on the boat, hiding in the sail, until Stan and Ollie discover him. After they’ve destroyed the boat’s motor!
- Robert Murzeau … Le capitaine Dolan
- Luigi Tosi … Le lieutenant Jack Frazer. Cherie’s jealous fiancée, whom arrives at the new island and declares that it’s rich in uranium! After a fight with Cherie, he leaves, but Cherie calls him to rescue Stan and Ollie.
- Michael Dalmatoff … Alecto
- André Randall … Branwell
- Robert Vattier … Le notaire français
- Claude May … La secrétaire
- Roger Legris … Fortune hunter
- Olivier Hussenot … Un chasseur de fortune
- Vittorio Caprioli … Monsieur Paltroni, avocat italien
- Charles Lemontier … L’ambassadeur
- Guglielmo Barnabò … Le propriétaire de la palissade
Trivia
- Stan Laurel was gravely ill during production. Completion of the film was delayed while he had an operation in Paris. He fully recovered and lived for another 14 years.
- Stan Laurel was embarrassed by their final film. He hoped it would get little publicity or release. Ironically, the movie’s copyright lapsed and the film went into the public domain.
- In an interview Lois Laurel (Stan’s daughter), stated that her father never wanted to see it. And never saw the final version of this film.
- After completing this film, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy continued to make stage appearances. A proposed film project by Billy Wilder never made it to pre-production due to Hardy’s failing health.
- This film was supposed to take 12 weeks to shoot, but it took nearly a year. Not the least of the problems was that Laurel & Hardy spoke little French and director Léo Joannon spoke very little English. Due to Stan Laurel’s health problems, he could work only 20 to 30 minutes at a time. Oliver Hardy also had health problems and his weight ballooned to 330 pounds.
- By 1950 the Hollywood studios had no interest in producing Laurel & Hardy films. And the boys were struggling for work. Then they had an offer for this Independently financed film in France. They hoped it would be their big-screen comeback. But, it was so poorly received, both critically and financially, that it killed their film careers.
- Stan’s pet lobster’s name is Oscar.