In Defense of the Musical Lost Horizon

A glimpse of Shangri-La.

It was a boxoffice bomb and savaged by critics. It barely recouped 25% of its budget, leading the movie industry to label it "The Lost Investment." Time hasn't been kind to it. Rather than becoming a cult film, it has been lambasted in books such as The Fifty Worst Films of All Time. And, sadly, it's sometimes listed as a key reason for the breakup of the songwriting team of Burt Bacharach and Hal David.

But don't listen to all the naysayers about the 1973 musical version of Lost Horizon. Granted, it's not a good movie, but it's not a horrible one either.

Peter Finch as Conway.

The plot adheres pretty closely to the classic 1937 adaptation of James Hilton's popular novel. En route to Hong Kong, a plane carrying five passengers is hijacked and crash lands in the Himalayas. The pilot dies, but the others survive and are rescued by a mysterious man named Chang. He escorts them to Shangri-La, a paradise sheltered on all four sides by the mountains.

The passengers include: a diplomat named Conway (Peter Finch), his journalist brother George (Michael York), a businessman (George Kennedy), a comedian (Bobby Van), and a photo journalist (Sally Kellerman). Except for George, each one finds meaning to his or her life in the tranquil city and choose not to return to civilization. Unfortunately, George is desperate to leave Shangri-La with a "young" woman named Maria. He refuses to listen to his brother, who warns him of the consequences of his actions.

Liv Ullmann.

Most of the songs are integrated naturally into the plot. Maria sings the haunting "Share the Joy" as entertainment for the new guests. "The World Is a Circle" is performed by teacher Liv Ullmann and her class of children as part of a lesson (the number looks like an homage to The Sound of Music, so it's no surprise that Julie Andrews was first offered Ullmann's role). "Living Together, Growing Together" is presented as part of a ceremony (and unfortunately wastes the singing talents of James Shigeta).

The producer of Lost Horizon, Ross Hunter, is one of many who has disparaged the score. Personally, I thought there were a handful of strong songs: the title tune, "Share the Joy," and "The Things I Will Not Miss." Yes, I cringed during "The World Is a Circle" and "Question Me an Answer," though Bobby Van at least delivers the latter with his usual showmanship. While Van and Sally Kellerman actually performed their vocals, the singing voices were dubbed for Finch, Ullmann, and Olivia Hussey. Finally, it's worth noting that The Fifth Dimension recorded "Living Together, Growing Together" and turned it into a Top 40 hit in the U.S.

Olivia Hussey and Sally Kellerman.

The dancing is another matter, as it's uniformly dreadful except for Van's number. There is a reason why Olivia Hussey and Sally Kellerman did not become dancers!

Lost Horizon was originally conceived as a roadshow presentation, meaning that its extended running time meant that theaters could only show it two or three times daily. However, the studio mandated that it be shortened and 23 minutes, including three songs, were cut from the film (it's still over two hours long).

Burt Bacharach was displeased with the treatment of the score during the editing of Lost Horizon. Some sources claim that Hal David didn't support Bacharach and that led to their breakup. However, in a 2013 interview with The Telegraph, Bacharach says that he wanted to split their profits 60-40 and David refused to accept the lower number, leading to their split and years of legal disputes.

Charles Boyer as the High Lama.

Music aside, Lost Horizon is a by-the-numbers remake of Frank Capra's 1937 version. Peter Finch makes an adequate lead. The film's best scene is the first encounter between him and an unrecognizable and surprisingly good Charles Boyer as the High Lama. Sally Kellerman brings some pathos to her character and Van does what he can with an underwritten role. The rest of the cast looks pretty lost, especially Liv Ullmann, who no doubt hoped to move out of Ingmar Bergman's shadow.

Don't ignore the chance to see Lost Horizon just because it's become vogue to trash it. Watch it and make up your own mind, especially if you're a fan of Burt Bacharach's music. There are better ways to spend two hours...but then I could say that about a lot of other movies, too.