This latest version of "Lost Horizon", a musical remake of the 30's fantasy about a group of people who find Shangri-La after their plane crashes, was a big, fat, juicy, and notorious flop when originally released in 1973, and has often been cited in numerous articles and books about Hollywood's celluloid mistakes. (It's said that, at the time, Hollywood's nickname for it was "Lost Investments".) Having finally seen it a few years back, thanks to the cable channel AMC (this was before they started adding commercials), I have to admit - and I am a huge, HUGE fan of bad movies! - it's not as bad as the lore would have it. Oh, sure, it's overlong and overproduced (typical of Ross Hunter productions) and some of the Burt Bacharach-Hal David songs are indeed cringe-worthy ("Living Together, Growing Together" and "The World Is A Circle", at least as they are presented here; perhaps with a different arrangement and better direction and choreography they could work) and the acting often a bit overbaked, but there ARE some positive qualities to be found: some of the cast display admirable - albeit definitely untrained - singing voices, in particular Liv Ullmann and Olivia Hussey (Sally Kellerman's is actually interesting); the cinematography and costumes are spectacular (again, typical of Ross Hunter productions); some of the music is actually pretty decent, though it sure ain't Bacharach & David's finest hour by any stretch of the imagination: while their undeniable stamp is in every note, the lyrics have that unmistakable feeling of treacly, heavy-handed 70's "self-help" running throughout. The whole film definitely belongs in that "what might have been" category: another cast, another score, another director and producer, and it may have found the success that all involved here expected. Overall, what works, works adequately, and what doesn't, doesn't at all. Still, it's worth taking a look at, though I doubt any but serious musical devotees will bother. It is, unfortunately, apparently unavailable on VHS or DVD (though it seems a Laserdisc was released in 1992); when and if it's released on DVD, it'll be interesting to see if any of the cut musical numbers and scenes will be reinstated, and presented in widescreen (AMC's showings are strictly pan-and-scan: whole musical scenes have nothing in the middle while actors remain securely to the sides - NOT a plus!). Check it out, if you get the chance.
Review of Lost Horizon
