Actor, stand-up comedian, and philanthropist Robin Williams of Jumanji (a 1995 movie filmed in the now-Liberty Media Capital of the world, Keene, New Hampshire) and Good Morning Vietnam fame was well known since the 1980s. He starred in Popeye, the World According to Garp, Dead Poets Society, Hook, the Fisher King, Disney's Aladdin, Mrs. Doubtfire, the Birdcage, Good Will Hunting, What Dreams May Come, Patch Adams, among others, and as the star of the Happy Days spin-off Mork and Mindy from 1978 to 1982 and in the Bobby Mcferrin music video "Don't Worry Be Happy."
The late Robin Williams will always be remembered as a talented actor who was animated in real life and had a wide range of comedic and tragic acting methods. But one hidden gem in his treasure trove of comedy is 1986's Club Paradise, written and directed by the late Harold Ramis (who wrote Ghostbusters and a slew of classic comedies of the 1980s and '90s).
The movie is about a retired, worker's-compensated firefighter (Williams) and struggling Reggae musician who buy a small piece of property in a British-owned island in the Caribbean. They open a "Club Med-style" resort which is actually a third-rate vacation spot. Though it was a bait-and-switch, they learned on the job and usually put customers first. It was a minor libertarian, market-based resort that defied the big-business people. It even attracts a rag-tag group of tourists (including two pot-heads played by Rick Moranis and Eugene Levy).
The tourists get involved in all sorts of antics. The Club Paradise owners take responsibility for their patrons, offer them advice and safety tips, and protect them from outside forces. Like libertarian-oriented business owners ambitious for profit.
The governor is British-appointed playboy who has no interest in governing, especially when a big-business developer comes to the fictional island Saint Nicholas to buy as much property as he can. The purpose is to build a casino resort for Swiss and Arabian businessmen. In true Lorrin Thurston-style* schemes, the developer tries to run the Club Paradise entrepreneurs off the island.
He even tries to enlist the help of the governor - in an attempt at a John Stevens-style* aid. When the governor clarifies he remains neutral, the developer turns to the British prime minister, another agent of the government in an antagonist role.
After his strong-arm tactics fail, the prime minister sends a military to take the island over. The confrontation results in both comedic and tragic results. With a civil war at hand, will the good guys win? Or will the government conquer another island with bloodlust?
"Club Paradise: Your Hot Spot for Fun With Guns in the Sun."
- Reference to the U.S. overthrow of the Hawaiian kingdom in 1893, where Lorrin Thurston was a U.S. businessman wanting to have a U.S.-protected sugar industry, and where John Stevens was the U.S. ambassador that helped with the overthrow. Club Paradise is like a comedic re-telling of this history.