Despite the commercial
failure of its 1937 adaptation, which was directed by Frank Capra, Columbia
Pictures took another shot at bringing James Hilton’s 1933 novel Lost Horizon to the screen. The bloated 1973
version, featuring twee songs by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, fared just as
poorly at the box office as its predecessor. Key among the 1973 movie’s
problems is the way the songs clash with everything else onscreen. For
instance, the first properly sung-through number doesn’t appear until nearly an
hour has elapsed, which has the effect of suddenly changing the picture from a straightforward
drama to a ridiculous musical spectacle. The remaining 90 minutes of Lost Horizon boast such attributes as an
inherently compelling storyline and some vivid performances, but it’s impossible
to take the movie seriously.
Lost Horizon
begins with diplomat Richard Conway (Peter Finch) fleeing a war-torn country in
the Far East, accompanied by several other refugees. The group’s getaway plane
is hijacked by a mysterious stranger, who crashes the vessel in the snowy peaks
of the Himalayas. Soon afterward, Richard’s party is rescued by the enigmatic
Chang (John Gielgud), and then escorted to the glorious realm of Shangri-La.
Despite its storm-tossed surroundings, Shangri-La is a tropical utopia where
people live in seemingly perfect harmony. Friction divides Richard’s party.
Some, including Richard’s swaggering brother, George (Michael York), want to
leave Shangri-La in order to resume their old lives. Others, including troubled
reporter Sally (Sally Kellerman), embrace the chance to start anew. Meanwhile,
Richard is introduced to Shangri-La’s spiritual leader, The High Lama (Charles
Boyer), who explains that Richard has the opportunity to fulfill a special role
in Shangri-La.
Narratively and thematically, this is fascinating stuff, even
though pundits have spent years parsing political (and even racist) messages
from the source material. Ironically, the strength of the storyline is what
makes the intrusion of songs so absurd. Had the songs added anything, the
result would have been different. Alas, the tunes merely express infantile
notions, as when Kellerman and costar Olivia Hussey warble the line “different
people look at things from different points of view” during the spirited duet
“The Things I Will Not Miss.” As for the movie’s performances, they’re all over
the place, an issue compounded by the use of professional singers to lip-sync
vocals for many of the actors. Finch is expressive and regal; leading lady Liv
Ullmann is luminous, within the constraints of an underwritten role; York is
impassioned; and dignified costar James Shigeta is as welcome a presence as
ever. Boyer and Gielgud acquit themselves well despite outrageous miscasting. Hussey,
Kellerman, and costar George Kennedy, however, play their roles so
melodramatically that the actors come across as cartoonish.
On a technical
level, director Charles Jarriot and cinematographer Robert Surtees shoot the
movie quite well, providing scope and splendor even if their presentation of
singing-and-dancing nonsense feels indifferent. In the end, Lost Horizon is a bizarre mess, though
patient viewers can conceivably power through the musical sequences and latch
onto the dramatic scenes, which are vastly superior. FYI, the screenplay for Los Horizon is a minor credit for the
important writer Larry Kramer, whose activism and creativity coalesced in his
iconic play The Normal Heart (1985),
which was endured through celebrated revivals and an Emmy-winning 2014
television adaptation.
Lost Horizon: FUNKY
