Saturday, July 11, 2009

Lost Horizon: Frank Capra's Shangri-La



When director Frank Capra read James Hilton's best-selling fantasy adventure novel Lost Horizon, about a Utopian valley high in the Himalayas, he took it to Columbia boss Harry Cohn, as a potential vehicle for the studio. On Cohn's approval production began and the roles started to be cast. Capra wanted sophisticated and urbane actor Ronald Colman to play the lead role. From the beginning, the director felt Colman was born to play the intelligent and deep thinking Robert Conway. Indeed, just as many felt Clark Gable was the perfect fit for Rhett Butler in Gone With The Wind, Colman wore the role of Conway like a glove.

Lost Horizon (1937) is an enchanting and mesmerizing film. Even if you have no idea what the film is about, the beginning sucks you in with a scene of total chaos somewhere in the Orient. Turns out all the hub bub is a revolution in the war-torn Chinese city of Baskul and the British diplomat to the area, Robert Conway is trying to evacuate all people of western origin by airplane. He and his brother, George (John Howard), board the last plane out with the remaining three refugees; a stuffy paleontologist (Edward Everett Horton), a crooked industrialist who's running from the law (Thomas Mitchell) and a tuberculosis plagued American prostitute (Isabel Jewel) who's living on borrowed time.

Little do they know they are being kidnapped until they are well on their way. They are taken higher into the Himalayas and it is there that their plane crashes, their pilot/kidnapper killed. Before they have a chance to devise a plan for survival in the snowy, frozen mountain range, a small party approaches the plane, led by an Asian fellow named Chang. He announces that he is from a valley, not too far, but a very arduous journey away. The group makes the treacherous trek and is stunned when they finally reach their destination. They literally go from the bitter, blinding wind and snow, through a chasm in the mountain, into a gorgeous valley where the sun is shining, birds fly in droves and beautiful bodies of water abound. In total amazement, they are led to a grand white building, its architecture of large scale and clean design, which they find later to be a lamasery, a place of spiritual enlightenment.

With Chang acting as their host, they are offered rich comforts in the form of exquisite foods, comfortable oriental style clothing and luxurious lodgings within the lamasery. As their mysterious circumstances for being there have yet to be revealed, all but the elder Conway, who is intrigued by the adventure, get antsy to get back to "civilization." The distinguished diplomat is then taken to see the High Lama (Sam Jaffe), the kind and aged spiritualist who oversees everything Shangri-La. Conway learns that he has been brought to the mountain Eden to take over for the ancient Lama. He also learns the Lama is more ancient than he realized being 200 years old! It seems lack of stress and the overall purity of the paradise is conducive to extremely long life there, a virtual fountain of youth.

As Robert Conway, Colman gives an elegant and poetic portrayal, one of the many highlights of his career. Young actress Jane Wyatt, best known for her role as Margaret Anderson in the popular TV series Father Knows Best (sadly, fewer and fewer know her from this show as more years go by) is cast as the enlightened young woman who is the impetus for Conway's presence in Shangri-La and his love interest once he arrives there. As one of the film's (and book's) more compelling though lesser characters is Mexican actress Margo (Mrs. Eddie Albert). She plays Maria, who by all outward appearances is a young Russian woman, no more than 20 years old, who falls for the younger Conway, George. Hers is a pivotal role in the history of the Utopian community and she does well with her part.

Lost Horizon was one of the most expensive films "poverty row" Columbia Studios had produced up to that time. But along with other Frank Capra/Columbia collaborations, it would help that organization rise above its lowly status. Alot was riding on its success, including Capra's reputation. Its anti-war sentiment got some flack by certain political view points and some of its footage hit the editing room floor upon its re-release but after all was said and done and a semi-complete restoration in more recent years, Lost Horizon has stood the test of time to become a bonafide classic in Hollywood annals.

16 comments:

  1. I first saw this film when I was a kid and it was on "Saturday Night at the Movies" - imagine! only one movie a week on tv! I loved it - and never got a chance to see it again until it was run on TCM. It was just as magical as I remembered it being. I was just as susceptible as I was when I was a youngster!

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  2. Always an education...thank you. :)

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  3. Thanks for the post!
    Hilton's novel was adapted ever so elegantly, as was Random Harvest, and this film remains one of my personal favorites.

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  4. Overjoyed that you spotlighted this gem that I first saw as a kid and was so haunting that it's a vivid memory to this day. The premise remains timeless and as relevant today. Consider how much the TV show "Lost" owes to this movie. Here's yet another example of a movie that didn't need a remake but got one in the 1970s--and a musical version at that! It was a cheesy bomb. Not this. And you gotta love Ronald Colman-a real actor.

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  5. Great review! Weirdly enough, this was my first Capra-film to see - and I bought it on DVD on an internet sale, taking a chance. And boy, was it worth it! Wonderful, surreal escapist film, that made me fall in love with both Capra and Colman.

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  6. Hey man, check out the film blogs group, you're a blog of the month. Keep up the great work!

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  7. Rupert, I enjoyed your take on Lost Horizon. It is not one of my favorite Capra's, but maybe I will take another look at it. It has always seemed to me a little dull. I think my fave is Meet John Doe--it is not the funniest but it is the most profound and, at times, even confusing.
    frnkstricker@aol.com

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  8. Rupert, I read the book when I was in high school but didn't see Capra's movie version until a few months ago. The movie is goofy in its way, but I loved it. It along with "It Happened One Night," "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" and "It's a Wonderful Life," are my favorite Capra movies. For me it has aged much better than his popular message comedies of the 30s and early 40s. That the light of Shangri-La in the outdoor scenes was so obviously that of Southern California and the indoor decor so baroquely ornate just made this Himalayan paradise seem all the more otherworldly. The movie shows how good Capra was at telling a story (without trying to oversell a message) and such a genius at casting actors who were perfect for their roles. A great post about a truly entertaining movie.

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  9. Nice post about a really interesting film. I agree with the comment by Antonyed that this was the better version, more fey and mystical.

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  10. A very fine film and ten times better than the remake with Peter Finch which I saw on the big screen as a kid. Ronald Colman is truly one of the greats, from his roles as Bulldog Drummond, to A Stolen Life and the wonderful, Random Harvest with Greer Garson at her best. And there is always room for wonderfully goofy films that just make you happy...

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  11. Rupert! Great great review. One of my all time favorite movies. I adore Ronald colman and this is one of my favorites of his if not my top fave. It is mystical. Yes fantasy and wouldn't you love to be a place like this. I know I would. You are right he was right for this part. I loved your review my friend! this is one of those movies that I have watched over and over and over again and never get tired of. I am so glad you reviewed it.

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  12. I'm not sure of it was the buildup of the film, or the name Capra (I'm a huge fan), or the stills placed in the film was the restored version doesn’t possess the original cells, but this film didn't thrill me as I expected. It was certainly a good film, and it was well acted and directed and there were some mesmerizing scenes; yet overall it was not among my favorites. I did enjoy your review.

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  13. I'm trying to find the musical movie of Lost Horizon. I saw it as a child. It was in color so I know it wasn't the remake of the original. (Which I have seen.) I thought it was released in the 60's? It was in an oriental setting. I would love to get this movie as it was beautiful. I can't imagine it not being avalible. The songs are the same (I have the piano music) but unfortunately I don't know the actors. I would appreciate any help. boomer_no7@hotmail.com

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  14. Hi boomer,

    Thanks for stopping by CLASSIC MOVIES DIGEST.
    The film was a musical remake of the 1937 classic and starred among others, Peter Finch, Liv Ullmann and Olivia Hussey.
    Here is a link which will tell you much more.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_Horizon_(1973_film)

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  15. Although the movie 2012 was released in November 2009, I didn't see it until January 2010, and have been looking for someone to discuss a certain aspect of it. But by the time I saw it, all the folks who saw it when it was first released have gone on to discuss Avatar and so there's no one left to talk about this.

    In these folks' posts, they list a lot of movies that 2012 borrowed from, mentioning various disaster movies that Roland Emmerich used, including his own The Day After Tomorrow. But not one of these posters ever mentioned Lost Horizon, either the book or the movie (I looked, believe me!) I suspect that none of them have ever read the book or seen either of the movies.

    2012 is more than 2 1/2 hours long, and at the 2-hour mark I thought the movie was ending. You see, John Cusack and his group had flown in an airplane from the US to Tibet to get on the arks to escape the destruction of Earth. They run out of fuel and the plane crashes in the Himalayas, near a monastery. Sound familiar?!

    I wish the movie had ended there. Cusack and the other survivors could have tried to get to the arks, but for some reason don't get on them, go back to the monastery, and start civilization over there. In MY version of 2012, the waves would never have reached up that far in the mountains, and so the monastery and the town would have survived. I'm sure there would have been plenty of other people still up there besides the movie characters!

    I first read Lost Horizon in sixth grade (almost 40 years ago) and it's still one of my favorite fantasy novels. I finally saw the movie in the 1990s and I consider it my favorite "old" movie. I saw the 1973 remake on TV in the late 1970s.

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  16. Rupert,
    Do you see a similarity between Lost Horizon and Last of the Dogmen ?

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