Lost Horizon (1937)

Lost Horizon (1937)

THIS VERSION OF THE MOVIE::
In 1973, the American Film Institute initiated a restoration of the film. The project was undertaken by the UCLA Film and Television Archive and Columbia Pictures and took thirteen years to complete. Although all 132 minutes of the original soundtrack were recovered, only 125 minutes of film could be found, so the seven minutes of missing film footage were replaced with a combination of publicity photos of the actors in costume taken during filming and still frames depicting the missing scenes.
# Actors: Ronald Colman, Jane Wyatt, Edward Everett Horton, John Howard, Thomas Mitchell
# Directors: Frank Capra
# Writers: James Hilton, Robert Riskin, Sidney Buchman
# Producers: Frank Capra, Harry Cohn
# Format: Black & White, DVD, NTSC
# Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)

Brief Synopsis:

British diplomat Robert Conway and a small group of civilians crash land in the Himalayas, and are rescued by the people of the mysterious, Eden-like valley of Shangri-la. Protected by the mountains from the world outside, where the clouds of World War II are gathering, Shangri-la provides a seductive escape for the world-weary Conway.

Synopsis (from TCM)

Robert Conway, a diplomat and author who is likely to become England's next Foreign Secretary, rescues ninety British citizens from a Chinese revolution. He, his brother George Conway, paleontologist Alexander P. Lovett, fugitive industrialist Henry Barnard, and tuberculosis-stricken Gloria Stone barely escape on the last Shanghai-bound airplane, but their plane is hijacked, and after a long journey, they crash in the mountains of Tibet. With their pilot dead, the group despairs of rescue, but soon, Chang, a lama of Shangri-La, arrives with porters and takes them to Shangri-La, a mysterious valley paradise. That night, Chang tells them that Shangi-La has no communication with the outside world except for the porters, who appear infrequently. The others are nervous, but Robert immediately feels at home, and enjoys a conversation with Chang, who tells him that Shangri-La was founded over two hundred years ago by the wise Belgian Father Perrault. At dinner that night, George rages about their kidnapping, then runs off with a gun to find Chang. Robert stops him, but when Chang appears, they threaten to hold him prisoner until he reveals the truth, and so Chang takes Robert to see the High Lama. Robert is both horrified and fascinated when he realizes that the High Lama is Father Perrault, now over two-hundred-years old, but quickly becomes inspired by Perrault's description of Shangri-La's mission of spreading brotherly love and saving the world's treasures from destruction. The next day, Robert goes to the Valley of the Blue Moon and finds Sondra, a beautiful resident of Shangri-La, who confirms Perrault's suggestion that it was her idea to kidnap Robert, as his books are rich with the same idealistic principles upon which Shangri-La is based. As the weeks pass, all of the group happily fit into the community, except for George, who has begun a friendship with lovely, young Maria. Robert learns from Chang that Maria is actually over sixty-years-old and that she will lose her youthful vigor if she ever leaves Shangri-La. As Robert and Chang discuss Maria, George bursts in, telling Chang he knows that the porters have been bribed not to help the kidnapped travelers, but that he is going to leave anyway, by whatever means necessary. Robert, torn between staying in Shangri-La or helping his brother, goes to Perrault for advice, but instead is given command of Shangri-La by the old priest just before he dies. George, meanwhile, tries to convince Gloria, Barnard and Lovett to leave, but they are content and wish to stay. George approaches Robert again, telling him that the porters are ready and they can leave immediately. Robert explains the philosophy behind Shangri-La, but George counters by summoning Maria, who confirms George's insistent belief that she was kidnapped by the insane lamas and has been forcibly kept in Shangri-La. Her story disturbs Robert, and so he leaves with them. As their arduous journey progresses, the porters leave Robert, George and Maria further and further behind, and even use them for target practice. The porters' cruelty backfires, however, when their gunfire starts an avalanche that buries them. The trio pushes on until, far outside Shangri-La, Maria reverts to her true age and dies. George, on the verge of madness after Maria's grotesque transformation, plunges off a cliff to his death, but Robert continues, eventually reaching a village. Through a series of cables to the prime minister in London, it becomes apparent that Robert, while being escorted to England by Lord Gainsford, had amnesia, but after regaining his memory, he escaped to return to Shangri-La. After ten months of searching for Robert, Gainsford gives up the chase and returns to London. He tells his fellow club members about Robert's amazing adventures as he attempted to find his lost horizon. As the men toast Robert's success, he climbs the mountains once more, in sight of the pass to Shangri-La, where he will rejoin Sondra and realize his dream of peace.

Cast & Crew

Frank Capra Director
Ronald Colman as Robert Conway
Jane Wyatt as Sondra
Edward Everett Horton as [Alexander P.] Lovett
John Howard as George Conway
Thomas Mitchell as [Henry] Barnard
Margo as Maria
Isabel Jewell as Gloria [Stone]
H. B. Warne as Chang
Sam Jaffe as High Lama
David Torrence as Prime minister
Hugh Buckler as Lord Gainsford

Release Date 1 Sep 1937
Color/BW Black and White
Sound Mono
Production Dates 23 Mar--17 Jul 1936 retakes Dec 1936.
Duration (in mins) 118, 125, 130 or 133
Duration (in feet) 12,094
Duration (in reels) 14

Premiere Information San Francisco premiere: 2 Mar 1937; New York opening: week of 3 Mar 1937; Los Angeles premiere: 10 Mar 1937
Distribution Company Columbia Pictures Corp. of California, Ltd.
Production Company Columbia Pictures Corp. of California, Ltd. Company: Frank Capra Company: Harry Cohn
Country United States


PRODUCTION

Frank Capra had read the James Hilton novel while filming It Happened One Night, and he intended to make Lost Horizon his next project. When Ronald Colman, his first and only choice for the role of Robert Conway, proved to be unavailable, Capra decided to wait and made Mr. Deeds Goes to Town instead.

Harry Cohn authorized a budget of $1.25 million for the film, the largest amount ever allocated to a project up to that time. According to a 1986 Variety interview with Frank Capra, Jr., his father had wanted to shoot the film in color, but because the only suitable stock footage, such as scenes from a documentary about the Himalayas, he intended to incorporate into the film was in black and white, he was forced to change his plans.[2] In 1985, Capra, Sr. claimed the decision to film in black and white was made because three-strip color was new and fairly expensive, and the studio was unwilling to increase the film's budget so he could utilize it.
Alternate poster by James Montgomery Flagg

From the beginning, Capra ran into difficulties that resulted in serious cost overruns. Principal photography began on March 23, 1936, and by the time it was completed on July 17, the director had spent $1.6 million.

Contributing to the added expenses was the filming of snow scenes and airplane interiors at the Los Angeles Ice and Cold Storage Warehouse, where the low temperature affected the equipment and caused lengthy delays. The Streamline Moderne sets representing Shangri-La, designed by Stephen Goosson, had been constructed adjacent to Hollywood Way, a busy thoroughfare by day, which necessitated filming at night and heavily added to overtime expenses. Many exteriors were filmed on location in Palm Springs, Lucerne Valley, the Ojai Valley, the Mojave Desert, the Sierra Nevada Mountains, and in what is now Westlake Village, adding the cost of transporting cast, crew, and equipment to the swelling budget.

Capra also used multiple cameras to cover every scene from several angles, and by the time shooting ended, he had used 1.1 million feet of film. For one scene lasting four minutes, he shot 6,000 feet, the equivalent of one hour of screen time. He spent six days filming Sam Jaffe performing the High Lama's monologues, then reshot the scenes twice, once with Walter Connolly because it was felt Jaffe's makeup was unconvincing and he looked too young for the role. A total of forty minutes of footage featuring the High Lama eventually was trimmed to the twelve that appeared in the final cut.

Filming took one hundred days, thirty-four more than scheduled. The film's final cost, including prints and promotional advertising, was $2,626,620, and it remained in the red until it was reissued in 1942.

The first cut of the film was six hours long. The studio considered releasing it in two parts, but eventually decided the idea was impractical. Working with editors Gene Havlick and Gene Milford, Capra managed to trim the running time to 3½ hours for the first preview in Santa Barbara on November 22, 1936. Following a showing of the screwball comedy Theodora Goes Wild, the audience was not receptive to a drama of epic length. Many walked out, and those who remained laughed at sequences intended to be serious. The feedback was mostly negative, and Capra was so distraught he fled to Lake Arrowhead and remained in seclusion there for several days. He later claimed he burned the first two reels of the film, an account disputed by Milford, who noted setting the nitrate film on fire would have created a devastating explosion.

Following the disastrous preview, Capra made extensive cuts and, on January 12, 1937, reshot scenes involving the High Lama written by Sidney Buchman, who declined screen credit for his work, which placed more emphasis on the growing desperation of the world situation at the time. Still unhappy with the film's length, Harry Cohn intervened; he cancelled the February 1 opening and edited the film himself. When it premiered in San Francisco on March 2, it was 132 minutes long. During the film's initial release in selected cities, it was a roadshow attraction, with only two presentations per day and tickets sold on a reserved-seat basis. Because the box office returns were so low, the studio head deleted an additional fourteen minutes before the film went into general release the following September. Due primarily to the cuts made without his approval, Capra later filed a lawsuit against Columbia, citing "contractural disagreements," among them the studio's refusal to pay him a $100,000 semi-annual salary payment due him. A settlement was reached on November 27, 1937, with Capra collecting his money and being relieved of the obligation of making one of the five films required by his contract. In 1985, the director claimed Cohn, whom he described as the "Jewish producer," trimmed the film simply so theaters could have more daily showings and increase the film's chance of turning a profit.


NY TIMES Historic film review published: March 4, 1937
Lost Horizon (1937)
NYT Critics' Pick This movie has been designated a Critic's Pick by the film reviewers of The Times.
March 4, 1937
LOST HORIZON
By Frank S. Nugent
Published: March 4, 1937

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer has no corner on the large-scale production market as Columbia Pictures proved last night when it presented its film of James Hilton's Lost Horizon at the Globe. There, and for the balance of its two-a-day run, is a grand adventure film, magnificently staged, beautifully photographed, and capitally played. It is the second outstanding picture of the season