Road to Utopia (1945)

At the turn of the century, Duke and Chester, two vaudeville performers, go to Alaska to make their fortune. On the ship to Skagway, they find a map to a secret gold mine, which had been ... See full summary »

Director:

Hal Walker

Writers:

Norman Panama (original screenplay), Melvin Frank (original screenplay)

Stars:

Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, Dorothy Lamour

Nominated for 1 Oscar.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Bing Crosby	...	Duke Johnson / Junior Hooton
Bob Hope	...	Chester Hooton
Dorothy Lamour	...	Sal Van Hoyden
Hillary Brooke	...	Kate
Douglass Dumbrille	...	Ace Larson
Jack La Rue	...	LeBec (as Jack LaRue)
Robert Barrat	...	Sperry
Nestor Paiva	...	McGurk
Robert Benchley	...	Narrator

Storyline

At the turn of the century, Duke and Chester, two vaudeville performers, go to Alaska to make their fortune. On the ship to Skagway, they find a map to a secret gold mine, which had been stolen by McGurk and Sperry, a couple of thugs. They disguise themselves as McGurk and Sperry to get off the ship. Meanwhile, Sal Van Hoyden is in Alaska to try and recover the map; it had been her father's. She falls in with Ace Larson, 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.

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Plot Keywords:

road movie | map | ship | alaska | vaudeville | 

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Genres:

Adventure | Comedy | Family | Musical

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 March 1946 (USA)

Also Known As:

Der Weg nach Utopia

Filming Locations:

June Lake, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Bob Hope recalled that during the scene where he and Bing Crosby were bedding down beside their cabin in the Klondike, they were to be joined by a bear. They were told that the bear was tame and its trainer would always be nearby. Against their better judgment they went along with it. However, when the cameras started filming, the bear ambled over to Hope and, instead of lying down next to him like it was supposed to, the animal sniffed him and started growling. Hope and Crosby immediately stopped the scene and refused to work with the bear any longer, despite the trainer's protestations that it was tame and harmless. The next day the bear attacked its trainer and tore his arm off.

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Quotes

Sal Van Hoyden: Don't be facetious!
Chester Hooton: [confused] Oh, keep politics out of this!

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Crazy Credits

Narrator Robert Benchley credits himself orally in a precredit sequence.

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Connections

Follows Road to Morocco (1942)

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Soundtracks

Sunday, Monday or Always
(1943)
Music by Jimmy Van Heusen
Lyrics by Johnny Burke
Played on a radio and sung by Bing Crosby

User Reviews

Thanks for the laughs,Bob!

At the turn of the century two vaudeville performers Chester (Bob Hope) and Duke (Bing Crosby) go to Alaska to make their fortune.On the way they run in all kind of weird and funny stuff, like talking animals. Road to Utopia from 1946 is one of the 'Road' films with Hope and Crosby and it's very good.These two worked really good together.Bing Crosby (1903-1977) does a very fine job in the lead.Bob Hope was a very funny man.This great comedian passed away last July of pneumonia.He had turned a hundred years last May.He had a great life and a great career and all the fans of Bob will miss him very much.He was one of the kind. Dorothy Lamour (1914-1996) is brilliant as Sal van Hoyden.This movie is filled with great gags.I recommend it to all comedy lovers out there.