LOST HORIZON 1973 - The Complete Version (1 Viewer)

[ahollis]

Originally Posted by GMpasqua /t/315277/lost-horizon-1973-the-complete-version/60#post_3860937





I saw "Grease" on opening day in 1978 at the Lowes State 1 in New York - it was a 70MM blow up and stereo surround etc ...a few weeks later I saw it again at the mutlipelx - it was 35mm stereo - but I don't believe it was 6 channel or anything like that. By the way, the 35mm version looked awful compared to the 70MM blow up. After a film played in stereo at a first run theater the second run theaters sometimes got mono prints.



Some theaters never even got the full version of many roadshow films which were cut by the time the opened in their cities.

The 35mm Grease stereo would have been Dolby Stereo (4-channel) which was introduced to theatres in 1977. A Star Is Born was the first film to use the 4-channel stereo, but it was Star Wars that really got it noticed. The theatre circuit that I was with at the time, put in five Dolby Systems just for Grease in their busier complexes, but only one auditorium, the big one, got the system. The smaller towns and second run theaters along with smaller auditoriums in the complexes that had Dolby Stereo when the print was moved down would have played it mono since the systems were not prevalent. The Dolby Stereo prints were backward compatible so they could play in a theatre with a Dolby Processor or on an old RCA tube sound processor at the Strand Theatre in Sulligent, AL.

It actually was not until the early 90's that major theatre circuits would equip all their screens in new complexes with some type of stereo system.

 

[plinfesty]

The roadshow version has TWO verses

Where was the film roadshowed? The day after the World Premier, the film ran regular continous performances in two L.A. theatres (National, Hollywood Cinema) and a week later opened in NYC at the State and Tower East theatres, also on continous performances. With the showtimes listed, I doubt there was even an intermission used. It opened its engagements on March 7 in L.A. and March 14 in NYC.

I saw "Grease" on opening day in 1978 at the Lowes State 1 in New York - it was a 70MM blow up and stereo surround

Actually, Grease only opened in 35mm Dolby Stereo at the State in NYC. It wouldn't be until August 16 of that summer that a 70mm 6-Track Diolby Stereo print would appear at the Ziegfeld. (Grease had been planned for release in excluisive engagements during Memorial Day weekend, all in key markets in 70mm...post production delays caused this plan to be cancelled and the film went wide instead in June. A second 70mm print was booked in Los Angeles that August at the Village in Los Angeles). Thanks to Michael Coate's research that confirmed my memories on this.

 

[plinfesty]

One memory I have of LOST HORIZON was the TV coverage of the premiere in L.A. M.C. Merv Griffin asked Liv Ullman if this was just the biggest and best movie she had ever made. She kind of stumbled through an answer that said something like, "well, it was certainly the most expensive."
As for me, I saw the movie that summer in Bakersfield at the late, great 1230 seat Valley Plaza Cinema, a 70mm house showing a 35mm MONO print (WERE there any stereo prints of this film? Two other "BIG" Columbia releases in this time frame, 1776 and Young Winston, were only released in mono!

 

[Cineramic]

I got my LOST HORIZON today. It's beautiful. Details that I'm not use to seeing. Sounds gorgeous and the added material is essential. Why would they cut that fertility dance? You can understand what everyone was talking about. No matter what your opinion of it is, that dance is mesmerizing. You can't keep your eyes off it. It IS the best part of this DVD. I was struck that the I COME TO YOU sequence on the laserdisc was actually an outtake, which I prefer to the one in this version, which I suppose is what audiences saw back in 1973. It's nice too, but I like when Finch gets up and walks towards the Malibu mountain and turns around to Ullmann. At least they have it on here as an outtake. Burt Bacharach singing I COME TO YOU is very wonderful. The alternative LIVING TOGETHER on the teaser trailer is a wonderful arrangement of that song. MISSING however is the instrumental track, so for that reason, the laserdisc remains a collectable.

 

[Cineramic]

Wow, watching this version of LOST HORIZON is affecting me more than I thought it would. The inserted restored scenes deepen the performances and work in a way they never did in the laserdisc version. Burt Bacharach is a genius. The songs are alive and moving. The color timing is different than how I'm use to watching this film, but this story remains powerful. Ross Hunter made some classic memorable films, but LOST HORIZON, AIRPORT and IMITATION OF LIFE are his masterpieces.

 

[Joe Caps]

Cineramic, you are amazing in this thread.
The new version affects you more than it ever did on Laser. Thats your opinion. I Come to You is the best song - says you !!
the old laser version of that song is an outake - says you!! How the hell would you know either way.
wonderful pronunciamentos from someone who did not A work on the Film B restore the laser C. restore the dvd. D. was at opening night inNew York for the uncut showing with Intermission.

 

[Phoebus]

I recall watching Lost Horizon back in the early 70s, finding it very absorbing, and rather unexpectedly moving towards the end. Completely ignorant of the capra version, of course.
Now I have the Capra on dvd and find shangri-la to be just a set of 20s/30s california buildings with an art deco flavour, which rather loses the magic for me.
Yet Lost Horizon remains a guilty pleasure for me, a blast of colour and gentle music in my memory.
Not sure whether I'll aim for this disc or hold out for a later edition without a mono soundtrack. Very pleased to know it is available on dvd!

 

[Cineramic]

Joe Caps, I see you took your bitchy pill today.
You may have worked on the laser disc but you had nothing to do with this latest DVD release. Moreover, you bragged to everyone about laying in your own singing voice in the Share the Joy number on the laser disc which is a load of crap and you told me at that you stoled the isolated instrumental track to the film, so you're a shady character.

 

[Joe Caps]

I many have worked on the LASERDISC? I produced it and my name is on it.l
As for other accusations- prove it- I stole the music only track. Hardly worth doing when its on every laserdisc produced of this film
Seeing as you have seemed to join this forum only to talk about Lost Horizon, you doing pretty good. I did NOT take a bitchy pill. I call them as I see them.

 

[Matt Hough]

I finally found the time to watch Lost Horizon this afternoon.

The DVD video quality is simply spectacular, and it upconverts beautifully. This is one of the very best DVD (DVD-r included) releases I've seen in a long, long time in terms of the video quality. Clean image with excellent sharpness and rich, rich color. Good black levels and little to no sign of wear and tear. I was really, really surprised and delighted by the picture quality.

The sound is, alas, Dolby Digital 2.0 mono. It's clean audio but rather flat sounding, I thought. The Sony Home Entertainment logo at the beginning of the disc IS in Dolby Digital 5.1. Perhaps that's why the press release said that codec was featured on the disc. It is, for about 10 seconds.

As for the film, it's a decent version of the Lost Horizon story, but I didn't think the performances were that special (I liked Sally Kellerman best), and some like Liv Ullmann really lack that prime essential for a musical: charm. The director didn't show much fluidity with the camera during the musical numbers, and they mostly seem static and lifeless.

I also do not much like the score. I wish Lerner and Loewe had been asked to tackle it (they were alienated from one another but did regroup for The Little Prince one last time). And if L&L wouldn't do it, perhaps Bock and Harnick might have worked well with the material. I think the score is mostly forgettable.

 

[Professor Echo]

Let's all join Cineramic and Joe Caps in a group sing... Living together, working together, just being together....

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Take all continued personal jabs at each other to private PM or email.

Do not continue such discussion in this thread. Thank You.

 

[Joe Caps]

Apologies to all concerned.

 

[Cineramic]

MATTH, There are a few shots that I thought could have used a little contrast and deeper colors. The glass shot of Shangri-la is a little too washed out. It should be a little darker in tone. Still it all matches up once they get down to ground zero with those blazon red monk costumes against the stone. That was pretty stunning.
I'm surprised how well IF I COULD GO BACK and WHERE KNOWLEDGE ENDS FAITH BEGINS works in the picture.

 

[Cineramic]

MattH, Yes, I have heard of HAIR, but that was not a fantasy. A buddy of mine who was friends with the director George Cukor told me that both of them saw HAIR at the Cinerama Dome in hollywood. Halfway through that film Cukor stood up off his seat and loudly said, "THIS IS SHIT" and walked out.
The film musical HAIR suffers from being made so long after the fact. The pixie dust had worn off the property by the time it had reached the screen, much like EVITA. Shoot the film while the property is fresh. It makes for a better film. One that is alive and not in the past tense.

 

[Matt Hough]

Originally Posted by Cineramic /t/315277/lost-horizon-1973-the-complete-version/90#post_3861332
MattH, Yes, I have heard of HAIR, but that was not a fantasy. A buddy of mine who was friends with the director George Cukor told me that both of them saw HAIR at the Cinerama Dome in hollywood. Halfway through that film Cukor stood up off his seat and loudly said, "THIS IS SHIT" and walked out.
The film musical HAIR suffers from being made so long after the fact. The pixie dust had worn off the property by the time it had reached the screen, much like EVITA. Shoot the film while the property is fresh. It makes for a better film. One that is alive and not in the past tense.

I'm not quite sure why you're singling me out to talk about Hair. Someone else mentioned it as an antiwar musical. And I reviewed the Blu-ray release of the musical here, so I'm very aware of its shortcomings (as well as its strengths).

I have infinite respect for the career of George Cukor, but I'm sure more than a few people muttered something similar about his film of The Blue Bird not a few years before the release of Hair.

 

[Chuck Pennington]

I have infinite respect for the career of George Cukor, but I'm sure more than a few people muttered something similar about his film of The Blue Bird not a few years before the release of Hair.  

I uploaded this montage of some of the best moments from THE BLUE BIRD, a complete classic in every way.

 

[Bob Cashill]

THE BLUE BIRD was intended to bring the US and the USSR closer together, but probably only complicated matters.

 

[HarleyDog]

MattH, Yes, I have heard of HAIR, but that was not a fantasy.

Oddly enough, I remember reading somewhere (not sure if it was director Milos Forman or another member of the production) that one of the reasons the film failed to find an audience was because people failed to realize the film was a fantasy.

 

[Michael1]

"The lyrics for most of the songs are very good, particularly SHARE THE JOY, I COME TO YOU and IF I COULD GO BACK. I will agree that the lyrics for QUESTION ME AN ANSWER are really silly and the song is not one of my favorites, but outside of that one, I think the rest are fine. The only real bit of silly choreography is the giggling on the rock Sally Kellerman move."
Really, Cineramic? I strongly disagree. And I also disagree with your comments about the film of HAIR.