Lost Horizon, the wholly unnecessary 1973 musical remake of the classic 1937 Frank Capra film, is ponderous, plodding, and overlong, and it is further bogged down by a collection of forgettable songs written by the usually excellent team of Burt Bacharach and Hal David. Nevertheless, the film apparently has its fans and is now available in a beautiful Blu-ray release from Twilight Time.
Lost Horizon
Studio: Twilight Time/Columbia Pictures
Year: 1973
Rated: G
Program Length: 149 minutes
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 1080p
Languages: English 5.1 DTS-HD MA
Subtitles: English SDH
The Program
Lost Horizon, the wholly unnecessary 1973 musical remake of the classic 1937 Frank Capra film, is ponderous, plodding, and overlong, and it is further bogged down by a collection of forgettable songs written by the usually excellent team of Burt Bacharach and Hal David. Nevertheless, the film apparently has its fans and is now available in a beautiful Blu-ray release from Twilight Time.
The film begins promisingly. A group of westerners, including United Nations peacekeeper Richard Conway (Peter Finch), is trying to escape from an unnamed Asian country which appears to be in the throes of an armed revolt. Conway is coordinating the arrival of rescue planes which have been dispatched to get the westerners out of harm's way. When the last plane arrives, Conway goes aboard with a journalist, Sally Hughes (Sally Kellerman); an engineer, Sam Cornelius (George Kennedy); a comedian/song and dance man, Harry Lovett (Bobby Van); and Conway's younger brother, George (Michael York). However, unbeknownst to the group the plane's pilot has been waylaid and replaced by a mysterious Asian man. The plane is supposed to be bound for Hong Kong, but it is not until morning that the passengers realize that the plane is headed west, toward the Himalayan Mountains.
They have no idea why they have been hijacked or where they are being taken. The plane lands for refueling but the passengers are forced to remain aboard. When the plane takes off it begins to climb to a high altitude and everyone is forced to use oxygen tanks. Then one of the plane's engines dies in a snowstorm and the pilot is forced to make a crash landing. The impact kills the pilot but the plane is remarkably unscathed and none of the passengers are injured. They prepare to spend the night in the plane, but after darkness falls they are greeted by a procession of men bearing torches. The procession is led by Chang (John Gielgud), who was educated in England and speaks perfect English. The following morning he leads the group on a trek through the mountains until they reach Shangri-La, a land where the weather is always temperate, sickness is unknown and the people live to the age of 100 or more.
At this point, Lost Horizon suddenly turns into a romantic musical, with eleven tunes by Bacharach and David. Conway is immediately smitten when his meets Catherine (Liv Ullman), a Shangri-La schoolteacher. His brother George falls for Maria (Oliva Hussey), who sings and dances for them during their first dinner in Shangri-La. Sam is interested in Sally, but before he can get anywhere with her she has to be relieved of suicidal feelings through counseling with a Shangri-La lama, To Len (James Shigeta). Harry, meanwhile, discovers that he has an affinity for working with the children of Shangri-La. Conway finally finds out why they were brought to Shangri-La when he gets to meet the High Lama (Charles Boyer).
The story pretty much meanders along, punctuated by the occasional singing and dancing. The pop music is oddly disconcerting and none of the songs will leave you humming afterwards, although one ("Living Together, Growing Together") became a modest hit for The Fifth Dimension. The principal characters are not particularly well-developed, so it is difficult to get wrapped up in what happens to them. While Shangri-La is depicted as a paradise, the typical resident there appears to spend each day involved in menial labor, such as tending to rice paddies and toting buckets of water. Film critics of the day noted that the physical labor was left to the Asians in Shangri-La, and they pointed out that other races are notable for their complete absence. As Pauline Kael put it, "There's probably no way to rethink this material without throwing it all away."
Lost Horizon is, however, a lovely film to look at, with outstanding, colorful photography by Robert Surtees. The film was produced by Ross Hunter and is directed in a workmanlike manner by Charles Jarrot. The film was trimmed to 143 minutes after its original release, but that footage was restored before Sony released it on DVD last year as part of its MOD program. I have not seen that version, but the Blu-ray looks and sounds superb so it undoubtedly is a significant upgrade over the DVD.
As is the case with all Twilight Time releases, this Blu-ray is a limited edition of 3,000 copies. Click here for ordering information.
The Video
Sony has provided Twilight Time with another first-class Blu-ray transfer. As noted, the cinematography by Robert Surtees is spectacular. The mountain scenes (shot near Mount Hood in Oregon) are beautiful and awesome, and Shangri-La is quite colorful. The image appears to be properly framed and it is sharp and well-detailed throughout. There is no evidence of any damage or excessive digital manipulation. Film grain is intact and the overall effect is pleasingly film-like.
The Audio
The 5.1 DTS-HD soundtrack is quite good. Dialogue is mostly confined to the center channel and is clear and intelligible. There is effective use of the surround channels during some early explosions and the plane crash scene, although it does not compare with what we would expect to hear in a film made today. The audio really opens up during the musical numbers. If only they had been better songs! As is typically the case with Twilight Time releases, there also is an isolated score track. Curiously, I found the songs to be more pleasing when listening to the isolated track with the picture turned off.
The Supplements
There are more extras here than are usually seen on Twilight Time Blu-rays. Apparently these are the same extras which are found on the Sony MOD DVD.
We have the original theatrical trailer, which is introduced by producer Ross Hunter. This is followed by two teaser trailers and two television spots.
"Ross Hunter: On the Way to Shangri-La" is a vintage promotional featurette for Lost Horizon. It is framed at 4:3 and has faded colors, but is certainly watchable. It contains some spoilers, so viewers should avoid it until they have seen the feature. It has a running time of ten minutes.
There is an alternate scene with Peter Finch and Liv Ullman which is shown letterboxed. It runs for approximately two minutes.
Finally, there are recordings of Burt Bacharach singing demo versions of eight songs written for the film. He apparently accompanied himself on piano. Still frames from the film are shown while the songs are playing.
The on-screen catalogue of Twilight Time releases shows that Our Man Flint and Experiment in Terror are scheduled to be released in January.
Included with the disc is a typically insightful and informative 8-page colorful booklet written by Julie Kirgo.
The Packaging
The single disc is packaged in a standard Blu-ray keep case.
The Final Analysis
I suppose that if Lost Horizon had to be remade, it was worth the effort to turn it into something new. However, it was a box office flop and it was savaged by critics. Looking at it today, it has a certain amount of kitsch appeal, particularly a fertility dance which was cut from the roadshow version and has been restored here. Fans of Lost Horizon will certainly want to pick up this Blu-ray, because it is the definitive version of the film. Now what we need is a Blu-ray of the original Frank Capra classic.
Equipment used for this review:
Panasonic DMP-BD50 Blu-ray player
Panasonic Viera TC-P46G15 Plasma display, calibrated to THX specifications by Gregg Loewen
Yamaha HTR-5890 THX Surround Receiver
BIC Acoustech speakers
Interconnects: Monster Cable
Release Date: December 11, 2012
