TBJCSKCNRRQTreviews This was part of a 3-DVD box-set, and it came with the Laurel and Hardy shorts Mud & Sand, Just Ramblin' Along, Oranges and Lemons, and the Three Stooges ones Brideless Groom and Sing a Song of Six Pants; it also came with another feature, Flying Deuces. The disc this was on came with The Tree in a Test Tube & Malice in the Palace. I haven't watched an awful lot of the duo, and other than the aforementioned ones, it has been years since I did. Not sure why this has such a low rating; it is genuinely funny and clever at its best(honestly, few of the light, goofy and, at times, cartoon-style slapstick gags fall flat), and it seldom, if ever, drags, for the 82 minute running time. It makes fun of politeness, taxes, and other everyday subjects, in spite of the unusual plot of a deceased eccentric uncle(always popular) leaving them an island. Inbetween clumsiness, knocking stuff over, falling, and other natural occurrences that are not presented as if they hurt, weepy Laurel(who looks so old and worn here) and dominating Hardy also explore social issues and government. Is that a good thing? Well, a lot of the way, the treatment of it is great. I don't think they quite keep up the quality all the way, though. Near the end(when this gets "big", with "action", as expected), this gets somewhat unrealistic, employs a sort of deus ex machina, and the conclusion has darkness to it. The FX are decent. Editing and cinematography are fine. A nice amount of laughs, and not boring. I recommend this to big fans of the two. 6/10

Petri Pelkonen Stan Laurel (1890-1965) and Oliver Hardy (1892-1957) are together in film for the last time in Atoll K (1951), which is also known as Utopia.This comedy duo, that had the thin Stan and the heavy Ollie, worked together as a team since 1926 (even though they appeared together in a movie five years earlier).And this was their last collaboration.In 1955 the pair had contracted with Hal Roach Jr., to produce a series of TV shows based on the Mother Goose fables.Unfortunately Hardy's stroke prevented that from happening.Also Billy Wilder had a plan to make a film with the boys.So in the early 50's they went to France to shoot this French/Italian film, which took a whole year to make.In the beginning the pair is in the offices of a London law firm, where Laurel is to inheritance left by a wealthy uncle.He inherits an island, so the boys head for the island on a rickety yacht.On the yacht with them they have a stateless refugee and a stowaway.A storm breaks and they shipwreck on an atoll, which they name Crusoeland.The island gets a new resident from Chérie Lamour, a nightclub singer who is fleeing her jealous fiancée, a naval lieutenant.Hardy becomes the president of the island while Laurel represents "the people".The place seems like a paradise at first, a place without taxes or legal fees.But then Chérie's fiancée finds uranium deposits from the island.People keep coming from all over the world.The new immigrants start a rebellion and want to hang the original inhabitants.Is this the end of Laurel and Hardy? As the movie's director is credited Léo Joannon, but much of the work was done by the blacklisted director John Berry.This movie was painful to make for Laurel and Hardy.They both had some major health issues.Stan even required hospitalization.But the boys still got their job done, and what a great job they did.The on-screen chemistry is still there, and the capability to make 'em laugh.The leading lady of the movie is played by French singer/actress Suzy Delair (b.1917).She does a wonderful job as Chérie Lamour.The rest of the casting is also good.Max Elloy plays Antoine, the cook.Adriano Rimoldi is Giovanni Copini, the stowaway and a bricklayer from Italy.Luigi Tosi is Lt. Jack Frazer.The movie has pretty much of good stuff and great gags.It's funny when the boys are enjoying a meal and Stan's food keeps disappearing from his plate.The stowaway keeps reaching down and taking it.Stan blames Ollie and that means an argument.The storm sequence is amazing to watch.Stanley struggles with the life raft, crying and screaming for help.And he shrieks when those bats arrive.The ending is pretty much a perfect ending for a Laurel and Hardy movie.Boys have arrived to the right island, when their land and supplies are impounded for failure to pay back taxes.Ollie says to Stan "That's another fine mess you've gotten me into."And what does Stan do? He starts to cry, of course.This movie is better than most people give it credit for.Of course the boys came up with better than this in their earlier years.One of those nine stars is for the life and work of Laurel and Hardy.There will never be a comedy team like Laurel and Hardy.

MikeF-6 This was Laurel and Hardy's last film and, of all their features, the one with probably the worst reputation. I can give it the left-handed compliment of saying, "It is not as bad as you have heard it is." The boys are caught in a storm at sea but are saved when a submerged island rises up under their boat. Along with a few other misfits, they establish a cooperative society. Then, the outside world shows up, discovers uranium on the island and the rush is on. What is unique is the level of satire that is present in the movie's last third, even though it is genial rather than sharp. Laurel looks thin and old (he was, in fact, quite ill during filming), but gamely takes his pratfalls. There is plenty of the usual shtick between Stan and Ollie. I find it funny no matter how many times I've seen it so I laughed several times. For L&H fans.

knsevy ***SPOILERS FOR THE SPOILED***'Utopia' (AKA 'Atoll K') is widely reviled by Laurel & Hardy fans. Being a fan of the Boys, myself, I had to find this stinker and see what was wrong with it. For the most part, very little is wrong, except for atrocious overdubbing, and Stan's appearance. He filmed this movie while in the throes of illness, and it really shows. He looks horribly drawn - actually, he looks drawn and quartered - but he soldiers on, playing the man-child character we know him best as. Similarly, while Babe Hardy is definitely aging and carrying more weight than in the team's glory days, his characterization is just as wonderful as ever.There are plenty of instances in this film where classic L&H humor takes over, such as the dinner scene in the cabin of the boat, or the cargo-loading sequence. The Boys are consistently in-character and deliver their lines with their usual spark.Knowing the story of the production of Utopia, it's amazing to me that they managed to grind out a movie, at all, let alone one that stayed true to Laurel & Hardy's long-established characters. As bad is it is, Utopia captures, for the last time on film, the essential sweetness of the Boys, and while I wouldn't recommend it as a 'great' Laurel & Hardy film, I wouldn't warn people away from it.My only real problem is with the ending. I'm one who does get tired of the stereotypical happy ending, but this is a COMEDY. The bad guys should get their comeuppance, and the good guys should win in the end. That's the way of comedy. Even the Great Stone Face, Buster Keaton, played to this rule. Though his characters sometimes wound up losing the game, you got the sense that they weren't daunted or hurt by it. In Utopia, our sweet girl winds up marrying the smarmy jackass she was running from, our stowaway stone mason winds up with his dreams crushed, building fences, the man who only wanted a country to call his own winds up killed and eaten, and the Boys themselves are stranded on an island with all their food and supplies stolen. It's just too sad, for a comedy.This film is usually found in the bargain bin, and it's worth that kind of price to see the Boys' last film, together. Don't expect miracles, but I found quite a few laughs in it.