Lost Horizon
Ronald Colman and Jane Wyatt star in this lavishly produced classic about the enchanted paradise of Shangri-La where time stands still.
Frank Capra's enduring masterpiece, Lost Horizon had a running time of 132 minutes upon its initial release in 1937. For a World War II re-issue, 24 minutes were cut to tone down the films pacifist message. Film preservationist Robert Gitt, working over a period of twenty-five years, has utilized footage found all over the world to restore a number of missing scenes. With extraordinary art direction, the set of Shangri-La is considered the largest ever built in Hollywood - winning designer Stephen Goosson a 1937 Academy Award. Furthermore, the budget for the picture was staggering and cost almost four times the amount of any Columbia film at the time; an equivalent cost of approximately $30-$40 billion today. Lost Horizon is considered an exception among Capra's work for its deviation from his usual upbeat "American" theme - and continues to capture the imagination of the viewing public today.
Member Reviews
Dreamy and evocative - RobBC
Released just as WWII was gathering on the horizon it is easy to appreciate the film’s call for non-violence even though the American Military added some anti-Japanese propaganda to the opening scenes which were thankfully removed for this restored version. The plane passengers themselves provide a small cross-section of greater society’s ills, from the skeptical scientist and oily conman to the weary prostitute and George, Conway’s brother, who ends up being the proverbial snake in Eden. Groundbreaking for the time, the cinematography and Oscar-winning set design use refrigerated sound stages, rear projection and life-sized plane models for realism while the clever use of miniatures and stage lighting adds a touch of magic. A pipe dream perhaps, but produced with a great deal of flair and intelligence.Boring and unbelievable - rnhaas
Not being a Capra fan, I have trouble seeing what the restoration adds to the film. Playing the recovered dialogue over stills may be fine for people who are desperate to see something as close to Capra's cut as possible, but these additions don't appear to help those of us already bored with the movie. For one thing, it's totally silly: the sets, the white people playing Chinese/Tibetan, the dialogue. The whole thing is ridiculous. This should be seen as a precursor to all our ridiculous blockbusters and not as some kind of classic.30's Idealism - Gregg
The story of a small group of people that find themselves spirited away to Shangri-La a utopian society hidden deep in a valley high up in the Himalayas. While this society and the idyllic existence may offer some of them everything they have been looking for in life, not all of them are content with this paradise.
The film was directed by Frank Capra for whom it was a very personal project. The themes of pacifism and a communal society were interpreted by some as communism and resulted in some of the many edits that the film would go through even after its release. The film was also enormously expensive for the era and had a very long production cycle. The themes of the story and the films budget caused it to not be a commercial success and the resulting edits brought about a longstanding disaggrement between the studio and Capra.
The performances are a mix, some are quite good and others are more obviously dated or just not as strong. That being said Ronald Colman, Jane Wyatt, Thomas Mitchell, Edward Everett Horton, H.B. Warner and Sam Jafee aquit themselves well.
While the print has suffered badly great efforts have been made to restore and preserve as much of Capra's original vision as possible.
To a modern audience there are some now obvious racial overtones that relect the reality of the period in which the film was made.
Member Reviews
Read All...
Dreamy and evocative - RobBC
Released just as WWII was gathering on the horizon it is easy to appreciate the film’s call for non-violence even though the American Military added some anti-Japanese propaganda to the opening scenes which were thankfully removed for this restored version. ...Boring and unbelievable - rnhaas
Not being a Capra fan, I have trouble seeing what the restoration adds to the film. Playing the recovered dialogue over stills may be fine for people who are desperate to see something as close to Capra's cut as possible, but these additions don't appear ...30's Idealism - Gregg
The story of a small group of people that find themselves spirited away to Shangri-La a utopian society hidden deep in a valley high up in the Himalayas. While this society and the idyllic existence may offer some of them everything they have been looking ...