Lost Horizon (1973)

User Rating:

4.4/10   

Director:

Charles Jarrott

Writers:

James Hilton (novel)
Larry Kramer (screenplay)

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	...	To Len
Charles Boyer	...	The High Lama
John Gielgud	...	Chang
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Michael Bernal	...	School Student / Dancer
Tybee Brascia
Paul De Lucca
Larry Duran	...	Asian pilot
Sharann Hisamoto	...	School Student / Dancer
Neil Jon
Virginia Ann Lee
Hedley Mattingly	...	Col. Rawley
Jessie Salve	...	Bridegroom / Dancer
Kent Smith	...	Bill Fergunson
Miiko Taka	...	Nurse
Jackie Tom	...	School Student / Dancer
John Van Dreelen	...	Dr. Verden
Bruce Davis Bayne	...	Airline passenger (uncredited)

Directed by
Charles Jarrott

Writing credits
James Hilton		(novel)
Larry Kramer		(screenplay)

Produced by
Ross Hunter	....	producer
Jacques Mapes	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Burt Bacharach

Cinematography by
Robert Surtees

Film Editing by
Maury Winetrobe

Art Direction by
E. Preston Ames

Set Decoration by
Jerry Wunderlich

Costume Design by
Jean Louis

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Malcolm R. Harding	....	second assistant director
Russell Saunders	....	second unit director (as Russ Saunders)
Jerry Ziesmer	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Arthur Piantadosi	....	sound
Jack Solomon	....	sound
Richard Tyler	....	sound
Dan Wallin	....	sound

Visual Effects by
Matthew Yuricich	....	visual effects artist (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Bruce Surtees	....	director of photography: second unit

Editorial Department
Abe Lincoln Jr.	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Burt Bacharach	....	conductor
Burt Bacharach	....	orchestrator
Hal David	....	lyricist
Jack Hayes	....	orchestrator
Diana Lee	....	singing voice: Liv Ullmann
Leo Shuken	....	orchestrator
Dan Wallin	....	score mixer
Jerry Whitman	....	singing voice: Peter Finch
Andra Willis	....	singing voice: Olivia Hussey

Transportation Department
James Morris	....	transportation

Other crew
Wayne Fitzgerald	....	title designer
Hermes Pan	....	choreographer
Marshall Schlom	....	script supervisor
Robert Werden	....	unit publicist

Production Companies

• Columbia Pictures Corporation

Distributors

• Columbia Pictures (1973) (USA) (theatrical)
• National Broadcasting Company (NBC) (1975) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• Columbia TriStar (Brazil) (VHS)
• Pioneer Entertainment (laserdisc)

Special Effects

• Butler-Glouner

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:

The castle set from Camelot (1967) was recycled and used as the lamasery. This was the first motion picture that Columbia Pictures filmed after it moved onto the Warner Bros. Studio Lot in 1972, creating The Burbank Studios to facilitate both production companies. For "Lost Horizon's" mythical setting of Shangri-La, the medieval turrets of the Camelot castle on the studio's main back-lot were removed and replaced with Tibetan gables to simulate Himalayan Buddhist monasteries. Most of the lower levels of the castle remained intact, and the courtyard was replaced with layered steppes and fountains. This set remained on the studio's back-lot for several years before it was torn down to make way for a new office building, and it can be seen in many episodes of "Kung Fu," in which it was often used as an exterior set.

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:

Sam Cornelius: Are you an American?
Sally Hughes: No, Mongolian.
Sam Cornelius: You'll have to teach me the language some time.

Movie Connections:

Version of Lost Horizon (1937)

Soundtrack:

I MIGHT FRIGHTEN HER AWAY

Lost Possibilities

To remake "Lost Horizon", as a musical, the need for a Rodgers & Hammerstein or Lerner & Lowe type musical composition was needed. Burt Bacharach and Hal David were the wrong choice. Having said that, my favorite thing about "Lost Horizon", is its score. It's just that the score doesn't fit the piece. The cast, is made-up of mostly non-musical talents (Ullman, Finch and Hussey, were all dubbed, and still don't sound all that great).

Frankly, the novella, on which this, and the earlier non-musical film versions were based, is mediocre, at best. While the possibilities for a truly good, cinematic musical version exist, they are not realized here. The film succeeds at being a good, rainy-day vehicle, to pass the time. Otherwise, you are better off, buying the CD of its soundtrack. Only recommended as a curiosity piece, due to the film's awful reputation. I've seen much better; but I've seen MUCH worse.