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 Lost Horizon (1973)
Rated: This film is not rated by the MPAA.
Runtime: 150 mins.
Director: Charles Jarrot
Writer: James Hilton (novel); Larry Kramer (screenplay)
Cast: Peter Finch; Liv Ullman; George Kennedy; Michael York... complete cast
Memorable Quote: "I'm somebody flying in a strange plane with a lunatic pilot and I'm trying to find out why - that's who I am!"
Release Date: March 17, 1973
Genre: Fantasy/Musical Adventure
Studio: Columbia Pictures
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| Reel commentary: ... an experience, a passionate examination of life concepts and the selfish and materialistic way we choose to live our lives. It considered alternatives, and provided them in a musical extravaganza. ... full review |
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By Jenny Sullivan
Just sometimes in our life, a book or a movie can have such an impact on our lives, that we are changed in some small way forever. When I was ten years old, I experienced one of those movies. I remember sitting mesmerized from the moment the screen opened on to the amazingly picturesque snow scene, and I was tempted with the concept of a dream. The movie asked me had I ever dreamed of a place far away from it all, where the sound of guns doesn't sound in my ears any more? My little ten-year-old self screamed yes inside my heart. I look back now and wonder how I could have been so wise beyond my years. A world where children play in fields of green. Many miles from yesterday before I reach tomorrow, where the time is only just today, there's a Lost Horizon waiting to be found. I wish.
Now I am much older I reflect on that wonder filled movie and recognize how ahead of its time it was. The world wasn't ready to consider the concepts presented. Oh, except of course a child, who could consider the unbelievable and believe in it.
Lost Horizon, directed by Ross Hunter was more than just a movie; it was an experience, a passionate examination of life concepts and the selfish and materialistic way we choose to live our lives. It considered alternatives, and provided them in a musical extravaganza.
It’s not surprising that the critics of the day could not recognize the movie's value. Those critics were living proof of what the movie sought to unpackage. The cynicism, the criticism, the bitterness and the inflexibility of the viewers who picked the movie to pieces was even more of a justification for the movie's existence.
At ten years old, and even more so now, I am mature enough to consider that there could be another way, that life does not have to be this shallow, mundane, chaos we have created.
Lost Horizon was a gift to me very early in my life. I never forgot the story of Shangri La and the inspirational music that accompanied the movie. I have shared the experience with my children, although at this stage and for no apparent reason I have not actually been able to show the movie to them, because the movie is so difficult to find. A bit like any good treasure I suppose, I will need to search in a quest to seek it out. But it will be worth it.
Do yourself a favor, and watch Lost Horizon the musical. Cast away your doubts just long enough to enjoy the immense relief that somewhere there might be a better place and that someone some time had the insight and the foresight to bring it to the screen. Thank you Burt Bacharach and Ross Hunter wherever you are.
Jenny Sullivan
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| 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 |
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