How
did this thing get made? Whose idea was it and how was it received in Europe?
What is the meaning of meaning?
Hi,
If you want the complete lowdown on this film's production, check out Scott MacGillivray's book Laurel and Hardy: From the Forties Forward (a very detailed well researched account of their post-Roach period). In a nutshell, the boys' war films were released in Europe after the war and were quite popular. They were approached by producers in Italy and France who wanted to give a boost to their film production industries after the lean war years. Laurel and his wife went to France early but Laurel was unhappy with the script and brought in a couple of people to polish it up(Monty Collins being one). Hardy arrived later and shooting eventually started late. Both Laurel and Hardy got sick from the heat and other things. Laurel lost a lot of weight but continued to film. The director apparently knew nothing about comedy and did not know how to deal with his stars. The duo filmed their scenes in English but the rest of the cast spoke in French and Italian. It took the better part of a year to film the whole thing. It was released in France and Italy in a 100 minute version (Atoll K/Atollo K) in 1951 and fairly well received. An 82 minute version made it to the UK under the title Robinson Crusoeland in 1952. Laurel was very unhappy with the result and was happy that the film would only play in Europe. After the boys appeared on "This is Your Life" in 1954, an American distributor bought the 82 minute version and retitled it Utopia and released it in New York(just before Christmas 1954) and eventually in many other US cities for the next couple of years to fair response. The film's copyright elapsed soon after and the film became part of the public domain which is why it is so readily available from so many sources.
Hope this answers some of your questions.
Thanx so much; you are obviously very interested in their careers.
Nothing is more beautiful than nothing.
Absolutely. They are comic geniuses. The MacGillivray book is absolutely worth your time and money. Because of it I have recently discovered several of their post-Roach features and have been pleasently surprised. Very much liked Air Raid Wardens. I have a soft spot for Utopia because it is so maligned and they had such a hard time shooting it. I wish people would give this film a chance. Have you seen it?
shareYes I have and even though its not top notch it still is very much one of their films. I enjoyed it with reservations.
Nothing is more beautiful than nothing.
Couldn't agree more, I'd heard so many bad things about the film, I was dreading watching it but I have always been a huge fan and had to see it, not one of their best but certainly not that bad.
In their hayday their stuff was pure genius, comparing their later stuff is a mistake, although it is still much better then most others.
There's an even better book out now called THE FINAL FILM OF LAUREL AND HARDY: A STUDY OF THE CHAOTIC MAKING AND MARKETING OF ATOLL K by Norbert Aping, published by McFarland. The film is also widely available on the internet, such as here: http://www.archive.org/details/utopia. Hope this helps.
shareBought the book thank you and I enjoyed it thouroughly. It is a meticulous, detailed breakdown of the filming and marketting of the film. A couple of changes to what I wrote earlier:
-The film was shot with Laurel and Hardy speaking their lines in English and the rest of the cast speaking in French (including the Italian actors!)
-The first scenes shot were at the port of Marseilles.
-Stan Laurel got very sick with Colitis during production and went from 165 pounds to 114 pounds(ouch)! He shot scenes as long as he could, working for 30 minutes at a time. Eventually he had to be hospitalized for 6 weeks. Production stopped from mid October 1950 until January 1951, when a still emaciated Laurel rejoined the cast. Since the film were shot out of sequence, Stan's appearance changes wildly throughout the film, looking fit in some scenes and deathly ill in others.
-Oliver Hardy had heart trouble during the production.
-Several directors worked on the film but were uncredited including John Berry.
-The film would eventually cost about $3 million dollars to produce.
This says the German version has the best picture: http://www.lordheath.com/index.php?p=1_1098_Atoll-K-DVD I wonder if the English soundtrack would sync up? If so, replacing the audio could provide a better version than the poor ones I read about.
share