A Masterpiece!

A different way of telling a story

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

Copyright 2 March 1937 by Columbia Pictures Corp. of California, Ltd. New York opening at the Globe, 3 March 1937. U.S. release: 1 September 1937. U.K. release: April 1937. 14 reels. 133 minutes. (Available on an excellent Sony DVD).SYNOPSIS: Survivors of an airplane crash in the Himalayas are rescued by the mysterious inhabitants of Shangri-La.NOTES: Prestigious Hollywood award, Stephen Goosson, Art Direction. Prestigious Hollywood award, Gene Havlick and Gene Milford, Film Editing. Also nominated for Best Picture (The Life of Emile Zola); Supporting Actor, H. B. Warner (Joseph Schildkraut in The Life of Emile Zola); Assistant Director, C. C. Coleman (Robert Webb for In Old Chicago); Music Score (100 Men and a Girl); Sound Recording (The Hurricane).Number 4 on the annual Film Daily poll of U.S. film critics (after The Life of Emile Zola, The Good Earth and Captains Courageous). Negative cost: $2 million.COMMENT: One of the wonders of 30s cinema, it is astonishing that "Lost Horizon" is shown so infrequently to-day, as it certainly has all the qualities so beloved of the "new" audience: an escapist plot with vigorously staged action, staggeringly innovative sets, a rousing, full-throat music score, and above all, dazzling special effects that emphasize horrific make-up. Doubtless both the theatrical and television objection is that the movie is not in color. We shall have to wait for a hideously "colorized" version. So far as Australian audiences were concerned, "Lost Horizon" was the decade's most popular movie. According to box-office statistics, every man, woman and child in the country saw the film (though the figures are distorted by the fact that a lot of people saw the movie more than once). Nevertheless, I've rarely met any reasonably mature people who didn't see "Lost Horizon". Even people like my grandfather who despised movies, considering them a penny farthing entertainment for tu'penny ha'penny people, counted "Lost Horizon" as one of his fondest pleasures. People like my mother, who rarely had the opportunity to visit a cinema during the Depression years, saw Lost Horizon. Even laid-off workers on the dole, who were forbidden to spend their benefit at the pictures, risked their entitlement. (Fortunately, most Inspectors looked the other way)."Lost Horizon" was the talk of the country. It was the high point of picture-making. It combined a gripping plot and a welcome message (with war-clouds again threatening) with wonders that stunned the eye and ear.Thanks to Capra's masterful direction, Sam Jaffe's staggering performance, Stephen Goosson's awesome sets, Ern Westmore's riveting make-up, Dimitri Tiomkin's cascading score, "Lost Horizon" has lost little of its power.

What a masterful film, filled with adventure, memorable characters, and a story that is profoundly thoughtful. During a tumultuous revolt in China, a party of Westerners, including an important British diplomat named Robert Conway (Ronald Colman), escapes by airplane, flying west through the high mountains of Asia. In this no-mans land, disaster strikes. But beyond, a peaceful kingdom called Shangri-la awaits the party, led by their guide, the wise and purposeful Chang (Oscar-nominated H.B. Warner). Much of the plot takes place in this beautiful and serene place.In Shangri-la, doctors are not needed, there is no crime, residents are content and happy. And people age very slowly, as a result of "the absence of struggle". Despite the forbidding mountains and their harsh weather that surround Shangri-la, this isolated paradise contains lush vegetation, useful minerals, a picturesque waterfall, birds and other wildlife.Most characters are appealing. I like the wise and patient Mr. Chang. The High Lama (Sam Jaffe) exudes peace and wisdom. The George character is annoying, but serves a purpose as the representative of conventional humanity. There are many lines of thoughtful dialogue. One of my favorites is a quote from Chang who talks to Conway about aging. Says Chang in a non-judgmental and soft voice: "You know, each time you Westerners celebrate your birthdays, you build another fence around your minds".B&W visuals are grainy. Lighting ranges from evocative to bad. In the outdoor adventure scenes, there are lots of interesting long shots. Sets make use of painted backdrops and miniatures. And the special effects are terrific for the era. Background music is intermittent and ranges from nondescript in early segments to ethereal in Shangra-la. Acting is adequate.Though the film tells a great outdoor adventure story, the real value of "Lost Horizon" lies in its deep spiritual themes, as expressed by Chang and the High Lama. Rarely does a film exude such wisdom. And it is mostly for this reason that, despite imperfect visuals, the film ranks among my all-time favorites.

Utopia that exists deep in every one of us. The feeling that forced few people to reconstruct this movie. This filmography treasure is seriously achievement for its time. Even the few scratches, made by the force of the passed time, ca not in no way wound its corpus because they are carefully cured by those people.The place in the soul of everyone that has to be his destination. Whether it exists or it is possible to be reached - this is the question: are you going to believe it? I believe and strongly hope the second world loss of horizon to be the last loss of horizon. That we acquired with working compass that will guide us from now on, flawlessly.Interesting will be the parallel 1937 - 1973, although we can easily stop here because such an end would be an excellent beginning!http://vihrenmitevmovies.blogspot.com/

It's almost classically simple to sit in the 21st century and analyze/pass judgment on the films of previous generations, notably films produced in Hollywood at the time a second world war was a distinct possibility and when this proved the case, during the actual conflict itself and given the setting perhaps Robert Sherwood's Idiot's Delight is a title that springs readily to mind focusing as it does on a disparate group of travellers caught in a remote mountain location - even in France they were not immune and Jacques Prevert wrote a fine screenplay which featured the two Madeleines (Robinson, Renaud) popular at the time, along with Pierre Brasseur. Ronald Coleman could hardly be bettered as the world weary diplomat more than ready to leave the rat race behind and if today even his name is fading from memory at the time the other members of the cast, Thomas Mitchell, Edward Everett Horton, H.B. Warner, Sam Jaffe would have been recognizable as solid supporting actors rather than known by name. Watching it for the first time some seventy odd years after the initial release it perhaps fails to impress as much as it would have done at the time but it is nevertheless highly watchable.