"Lost Horizon" is a fantasy and adventure film from Hollywood's 'Golden Era'. It was directed by Frank Capra, who was one of the most successful during the 1930s and 1940s. He was eventually nominated for twelve Academy Awards, for Best Director or Best Picture. "Lost Horizon" was uncharacteristic of his populist, 'little guy makes good' style, with only token criticism of greed and capitalism.
The story has diplomat and adventurer Robert Conway (Ronald Colman) boarding a plane to escape a rebellion in China. His fellow passengers include his excitable 'problem' younger brother George (John Howard), milquetoast fossil hunter Lovett (Edward Everett Horton), gregarious swindler Barnard (Thomas Mitchell), and prostitute Gloria Stone (Isabel Jewell), who has terminal tuberculosis.
Expecting to land in Shanghai, their Asian pilot instead takes them to Tibet. There, they encounter the hidden paradise Shangri La, where all sickness is cured, people live almost forever, and everyone is happy. Well, almost everyone. Shangri La is led by an ancient, benevolent High Lama (Sam Jaffe). His assistant is equally benign and serene Chang (H.B. Warner). Robert Conway soon gets a lovely young girlfriend (Jane Wyatt), but his tantrum-prone brother wants to leave, and take Robert with him.
Praise for "Lost Horizon" often centers on the supporting cast. Howard was best known for playing Bulldog Drummond. Mitchell had key roles in some of the best films of the era ("Gone With the Wind", "Stagecoach", "The Hunchback of Notre Dame"). Horton was a veteran of dozens of Hollywood comedies, Jaffe was "Gunga Din", Warner had supporting roles in over a hundred dramas and action films dating to the early silent era. Wyatt would play Robert Young's wife in the series "Father Knows Best".
The problems with "Lost Horizon" are mostly with the characters. Howard's impulsive character forces him to overact. Jewell is likewise hysterical. Horton is a wimp, even effeminate. Jaffe and Warner appear to be on blissful tranquilizers. This leaves top billed Colman and Wyatt as the only natural characters. It also seems unlikely that Shangri La, located in Tibet, is run by Dutch missionaries who speak perfect 1930s English. The very existence of Shangri La takes a great leap of faith, with its climate, lifespan, and gold supply in complete contrast to its surroundings, and yet remaining a secret to the West. The film also has pacing problems in its second half, sometimes slow and with lengthy conversations.
"Lost Horizon" was nominated for seven Academy Awards, winning for editing and the expensive, elaborate sets. It was also nominated for Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor (H.B. Warner), Best Score, Best Sound, and Best Assistant Director (C.C. Coleman Jr.) (The Oscar for Assistant Director was awarded only between 1934 and 1938. One has to wonder how the Academy voters would know which scenes from a movie were directed by an assistant.)
"Lost Horizon" cost $2.5 million to make, nearly half the annual budget for Capra's studio, Columbia. Despite critical success, the film did not show a profit until subsequent re-releases. Sent to preview audiences at nearly three hours, Capra edited it to 132 minutes. Later reissues of the film pared it to 100 minutes.
During the 1980s, researchers searched for lost copies of the film, and restored it to the original 132 minutes. While the soundtrack was recovered intact, some scenes were missing, and photographic stills were inserted to cover the missing images.
"Lost Horizon" was remade as a musical in 1973, with disastrous financial and critical results. (59/100)
Frank Capra's timeless masterpiece is fully restored. Based on James Hilton's book five people stumble upon an idyllic valley in the Himalayas called ...More at Family Video
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