I couldn't agree more. After 50 years of watching cinema it is still my favorite movie of all time. And truly one of the most spiritually profound movies ever made. It's absolutely wonderful.
Hands down, no questions asked, one of my all-time favorite movies I've ever watched. I got an opportunity to watch it in part just last week, and oh what a joy to relive happy memories. Loved the music
The music from the collaboration of Burt Bacharach and Hal David made the movie, giving it all it's feeling. Bobby Van was taken from us too soon, but Liv Ullman, Sally Kellerman, Olivia Hussey and michael York are still with us.
It's amazing how variations of this experience run through the history of both film and theater. When Stephen Sondheim, and the other members of the cast and creative team of "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum", took the show on its pre-Broadway tryout tour in 1962, it laid one egg after another, in one city after another. ("We played one matinee to fifty people", Sondheim recalled later.) Finally, in desperation, he decided to write a new opening number. Up until then, the show had opened with a duet between the two young lovers, "Love Is In The Air": a charming, but low-key song. Once the rousing, vaudevillian "Comedy Tonight" was put in the opening slot -- giving Zero Mostel, who played Pseudolus, the chance to reach out and grab the audience by its collars -- the show began selling out, and was well on its way to a Broadway run of more than two years, and a shelf full of Tony awards. Sometimes a single adjustment of a work's chemistry can make all the difference.
I first saw this magnificent film when I was about 10 on LA television. I was enthralled. Since that day (I'm 60 now) I've wanted to be Conway (Ronald Colman) and go to Shrangri-La. When I saw that the high lama (Jaffe) was 200 years old, I was blown away. Got my first whiff of Spirituality from this film & sense it more strongly each time I see it. Saw a fully-restored print at the Stanford Theatre in Palo alto (2011). It was even more meaningful and beautiful. There's no other film like it.
I believe it does exist on this planet. Inner earth. I'm 62 also, and when I was a young adult in college in California I was lead to this movie. It's as if the cosmos sat me down an said, "watch this, it's true". I have never been the same.
I watched this movie in the Marquesas Islands after a 25 day sail from Hawaii. Another boat gave me the film a month after we settled into one of the remote villages in Nuku Hiva. The movie had a profound impact on me in such an epic location. I love this film.
James Hilton's novel is a small masterpiece, much of which couldn't be filmed in 1937. (For one thing, the character Maria in the film, played by Margo, is an elegant, refined Chinese woman named Lo-Tsen in the novel. But of course, in 1937, this ruled her out as the love interest of a white man). It's undeniably eerie that, in a novel written in 1931, a cataclysmic world war in the near future is foretold by the High Lama.
It s interesting you should bring up the inter-racial love angle. In 1933, Capra madde a truly beautiful film called "The Bitter Tea of General Yen," which featured a love story between a white Missionary (Barbara Stanwyck) and a Chinese general (Nls Asther). Capra had made a whole string of hits for Columbia before this film. However, it was banned in the British Empire and ended up losing money.
@@williamsnyder5616 You're absolutely right; "The Bitter Tea of General Yen" is a fascinating film. Among its many virtues is the presence of Barbara Stanwyck, who, even at that early date in her career, was a talent to be reckoned with. I am quite certain that the only reason it got made at all is that the Production Code went into effect that year, and it slipped through at the last second. "King Kong", which also came out in 1933, was also a last-second beneficiary of that timing: MANY scenes in it were cut and not seen for many years (fortunately they weren't destroyed), including the woman hurled to her death from her apartment, and Kong taking part of Ann's clothing off, and then sniffing his fingers! It's fascinating that the interracial romance in the novel "Lost Horizon" didn't lead to it being banned anywhere that I know of. (Could this have anything to do with the fact that Lo-Tsen never speaks in the novel?). America's hangup on this subject persisted for many years. In 1956, Ingrid Bergman in "The Inn of the Sixth Happiness" had to be given the strapping German Curt Jurgens as a love interest; in real life, and in the book "The Small Woman" on which the film was based, the man was Chinese.
@@tadimaggio I can tell you're a real film buff. Good details. Stanwyck's rise to fame was amazing. She apparently had bombed initially at Warners when her husband talked Capra into giving her a try for a film called "The Miracle Woman." It was based on a Broadway play called "Bless You Sister" which Robert Riskin had written before Harry Cohn recruited him for Hollywood. It had tones of Sinclair Lewis' "Elmer Gantry." I think its on RU-vid if you haven't seen it, as is one she did for Lionel Barrymore (as a director!) called "Ten Cents a Dance."
@@williamsnyder5616 Thanks so much for the heads-up on "The Miracle Woman"; I've been trying to see it for years, and was never able to run it to ground. It's based on the life of Aimee Semple MacPherson, a female evangelist (or should I say "sheep shearer"?) in the 1920s. (It is precisely BECAUSE I am a Christian that I am disgusted by those who don't know the difference between being a man or a woman of God on the one hand, and a carnival barker on the other). You and I are definitely of one mind on the subject of Barbara Stanwyck. As much as I admire Bette Davis, I've always thought that the title of "Greatest Hollywood Actress Of The Golden Age" properly belongs to Stanwyck. She could take material that was pure tear-jerker melodrama ("Stella Dallas"), and make you FEEL a mother's pain and devotion through it, as if it were "Anna Karenina". She could freeze your blood with a portrayal of evil ("Double Indemnity"), and then split your sides with rollicking comedy ("Ball of Fire"). And, it should be added, she was apparently a lovely human being in real life; the crews she worked with adored her (she always learned their names, and their families'). Frank Capra once said: "If there were a contest for Most Popular Person In Hollywood, Barbara would win in a landslide every year." Which makes the Academy's failure to ever award her a competitive Oscar all the more baffling.
"Lost Horizon" was an interesting film in the history of Columbia Pictures, in that while it initially lost money for the studio, it, nevertheless, proved that Columbia had the ability to make an expensive spectacle. Before LH, the studio was thought of---for the most part---as home to either comedies or inexpensive contemporary films. But "Lost Horizon" was an expensive film---budgeted at over $2M with a top-line notable cast, elaborate Oscar-winning sets and superb film editing. Capra even coaxed Cohn to borrow probably the top composer of the day, Max Steiner, from Warners just to conduct Dimitri Tiomkin's score. Eventually in re-release, LH turned a profit, but it nearly doomed a great studio in its infancy.
My father, Eddie Hall also worked on the film. my mother told me that he had done stunt work down at the Los Angeles Ice House in downtown Los Angeles. Dad was also friends with and stand in for Edward Everett Horton, whom was friends with my dad until his death in 1963. I think EEH mentored my dad who did bit player work until 1948. Iften wordered what work my dad did on LH,wonder if he made it to the film that was discradrd. Now-a-days, such film would NEVER be destroyed--just filed away.
George Burns (paraphrasing): "Your audience always lets you know what works and what doesn't." Look at the panel at 5:27... Peter Bogdanovich, Mel Brooks, and I think that the guy on the far left is Robert Altman, all listening to Frank Capra... THIS is the way late-night talk used to be.
You are so right. Late-night television is simply a vehicle for promoting the latest in American schlock-fest cinema, buoyed by an interminable list of "stars" who appeal today's most coveted demographic: anyone who finds themselves "culturally aware" within the last five seconds, but no longer than eight seconds after that. No one has patience anymore for anything that can't be satisfied by the "I want it ... yesterday" mentality. But that's progress for you. Heh. And they say people like us are out of touch.
The DVD of the restored Lost Horizon has a special feature that goes into some detail about the two reels that Capra destroyed. It was a framing story, making most of the movie a flashback. But it portrayed the main character (Conway, played by Coleman) as dazed and weak, making the audience less interested in him. So goes the commentary in the DVD, at least. The DVD also has an interesting commentary track for the main feature.
Yes a great DVD by Columbia. I wish Trump would watch Lost Horizon. Its theme - that competition and global aggression is the road to ruin - more relevant than ever. I can't think of a film that better combines thrilling action sequences and spectacular scenery with great characterisations articulating a crucial moral philosophy. The only thing that disappointed me about the commentary track was some impatience with the dialogue expounding that message. One for the ages but phew a close call.
Just as a reminder---- The Lost Horizon movie begins with the drama of a revolution taking place, with chaos in China on display. Very dramatic and engrossing.
Lost Horizon in tied with Random Harvest for second as my favorite Ronald Colman movie. The movie in first is The Prisoner of Zenda ,but if they find some more lost footage for Lost Horizon and restored it and put it on Blu Ray it could move up.
I wish those 1st 2 reels still existed, so I could judge for myself. I also wish all of the film Greed by Erich Von Stroheim still existed. But, the USA was never great at preserving its' cinema heritage.
This story is much disputed. See Joseph McBride 's book. The truth seems to be that SIX reels were cut, some of the opening moved to the end, some reshooting occurred, and a general tightening up. The part about incinerating the nitrate negative is particularly disputed. Makes a good story.
And isn't that what movie makers are all about? A good story? (It also is suspicious that it worked out so perfectly that it was exactly two reels that could be hacked just like that with no harm to the story. Surely the movie was reviewed again, a decision make to cut out the "forestory", and it was edited appropriately. But told that way isn't nearly as entertaining.)
This interview is a load of hogwash. In reality, Capra was so upset over Harry Cohn's recutting of the picture that he sued Columbia over it. And the lawsuit was over the original cut they put out, never mind the later ones that were even shorter and had reshot title cards. As for said cut that Robert Gitt has been trying to put back together for what seems like five decades now (it's good to have low goals, since it's impossible to restore Capra's director's cut), who even knows what it actually was. He claims it was 132 minutes because that's the soundtrack he found. But Variety reviewed it on March 10, 1937 -- from the first week it was in release at the Globe in NYC, only the fourth theater in the U.S. to open it -- and gave the runtime as 125 minutes. They had a tendency to round down, but not 7 minutes down. Were the two scenes they can't find the picture elements of ever even to shown to audiences beyond the test screenings in California?
One wonders sometimes the level of truth as an old man gets older. Capra was angry about Cohn re-cutting LH, but that wasn't the only reason Capra sued Cohn and Columbia...at least according to Capra'a book, "The Name Above the Title." Capra says he was going to Russia to interview Sergei Eisenstein when he stopped off at Columbia's London office to chat with friends. While looking over the studio's books, he noticed an ad for a Columbia film called "If You Only Cook," a comedy advertised as "a Frank Capra production," but a film Capra had nothing to do with. So, Capra sued in London, but couldn't get anywhere with it. He brought suit in the U.S. and claims he had Cohn over a barrel until Cohn agreed to get the great Broadway play,"You Can't Take It With You" for Capra. Now, that's what Capra claims.
There is some truth to what Capra says. The original cut contained a lot of expository scenes that were probably not capturing the audience’s attention. Capra decided to chuck them in favor of starting the film where people are being evacuated by plane. This was far more exciting and effective at hooking the audience into the story. The first cut of any feature is much longer than the release version. It’s possible Lost Horizon started out well over two hours. But I doubt it was 3 & 1/2 hour’s as Capra claims. I knew Gene Milford who was one of the film editors on the picture. Yes, Cohn ordered it cut down, but only after it had played first run in select theaters. Once it went citywide, and after Cohn looked at the poor box office receipts realizing it was going to lose money, he had around ten minutes removed. The movie really never did earn its $3 million-dollar production cost plus another $175,000 for prints and advertising. As for Capra being blacklisted, that’s utter crap. Capra went right from Lost Horizon to You Can’t Take it With You (Oscar winner for Best Picture & Best Director) then right onto the hugely successful Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, both for Columbia Pictures. Capra then went to Warner Brothers to make Meet John Doe which he co-produced through his own production company. After that he worked for the government making propaganda shorts during WW II. After the war ended, Capra resumed feature directing with such classics as It’s a Wonderful Life and State of the Union. The 1950s di
The film was released at 132 minutes (and it remains so today on DVD and Blu-Ray). As for the 125 minute running time? That's what we have left today; so, the missing scenes w/ Lovett and Bernard in the Valley, Isabel Jewell sick in her room talking to Chang before the 1st dinner scene in the lamasery and a few other bits were taken out in the 1st few weeks in 4 markets...that's why you have that 125 running time. Now, the complete 14 reels of picture and 14 reels of sound made it to Europe and that's why they've found bits in England and France. I still hold out hope that the complete 132 minute version will turn up...
@youvebeenthunderstru Good point, but just look at the guests! Bogdanovich, Altman, Capra.....could you possibly even get that many great directors today on a single talk show actually talking? Not pimping movies, just actually talking about their work?
Opinions are like backsides everyone has one--Yes Tallulah said that but just a little differently. I like the ending that he was forced to put on the film Not the one that has been restored to the end of the film.
The book is a better story. He added two characters to his story, and they were more comical (silly) than the books characters. I don't believe he threw out two reels. Who does that? Colombia would've had the rights to them., after so much invested in the film, and after shooting, editing etc. no. Very odd interview.
I've got a feeling he may have only been referring to the work print. Maybe it was just for the sake of catharsis he would've done something like that. But I doubt he would even have had easy access to destroying the negative. He is telling the "public story", which, as per many such professionals, are often greatly simplified for the sake of brevity/for the sake of the public's attention span, to spare them all of the minutia of "long-winded" insiders' level of detail.
Great filmmaker but a very hurried and badly nervous talker...and of course he knew what was in those first two reels...but in those days before dvd's and the internet a lot of hokum stories could be peddled on talk shows without anyone questioning anything..
