Lost Horizon (1973)

Director:

Charles Jarrott

Writers:

Larry Kramer (screenplay)
James Hilton (original novel)

Release Date:

17 March 1973 (USA)

Genre:

Fantasy | Musical | Adventure | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Come to Shangri La!

Plot:

This retelling of the classic tale of James Hilton's Utopian lost world plays out uneasily amid musical production numbers and Bacharach pop music...

Plot Keywords:

Shangri La | Diplomat | Lamasery | Dancing | School

Cast

Peter Finch	...	Richard Conway
Liv Ullmann	...	Catherine
Sally Kellerman	...	Sally Hughes
George Kennedy	...	Sam Cornelius
Michael York	...	George Conway
Olivia Hussey	...	Maria
Bobby Van	...	Harry Lovett
James Shigeta	...	Lenn's brother
Charles Boyer	...	The High Lama
John Gielgud	...	Chang
Kent Smith	...	Bill Fergunson
John Van Dreelen	...	Dr. Verden
Larry Duran	...	Asian pilot
Miiko Taka	...	Nurse
Tybee Brascia

Runtime:

150 min (original release)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | Mono (35 mm prints)

Certification:

UK:U | Iceland:L | Finland:K-12 | Sweden:11 | USA:G

Filming Locations:

Backlot, Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

Originally, there was a fertility dance number, but it was cut from the final print because preview audiences laughed at it.

Goofs:

Miscellaneous: The library at Shangri-La is supposed to be a repository for the world's great literature. There is a number of "Readers Digest Condensed Books" on its shelves.

Quotes:

George Conway: You are more beautiful than the women of Thailand; more feminine that the women of France; more pliable than the women of Japan; more -
Maria: Stop, stop. I don't want to hear about all these other women. What I want to hear is that you won't leave me.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Liv Ullmann scener fra et liv (1997)

Soundtrack:

QUESTION ME AN ANSWER

Those Dancing Fools

As Bette Midler used to say, "I never miss a Liv Ullman musical". Here is a film which attempts to inspire and uplift, and I guess it succeeds, if for reasons quite different from those intended.

Unless they attempt a musical version of "Schindler's List" this will probably be the all time champion in the "Play it straight" stakes. James Hilton's novella, heaven knows, was a piece of fluff which tantalised rather than explored its themes. The 1937 film was a winner because, hey, what Frank Capra film in the '30s wasn't?

But if we had to have a musical version, wouldn't it have been a good idea to hire a couple of musical stars?! Okay, at a push Bobby Van passes muster, and thank God that he's meant to be that annoying, because after five minutes the idea of him being lost in a snowdrift seemed eminently satisfying. But as for the rest - George Kennedy, Peter Finch, Sally Kellermann, John Gielgud, Olivia Hussey - well we aren't going to see them in a revival of "42nd Street" now are we? My favourite definitely has to be Kellermann and Hussey thumping around a library, the former looking bored, the latter very pregnant, singing what seems to be a 70s New Age version of the "Green Acres" theme.

But its Liv who suffers most. Swinging those bovine limbs of hers, singing some nonsense about the world being a circle which never ends - an apt description of the song - she seems light years away from Bergman. Actually she bears a striking resemblance to Bill Clinton in some of her long shots.

Only Michael York emerges with any credibilty. And that's mainly because his character keeps nagging everybody to run away. And who could blame him?