After hearing about it's wonderful awfulness for years, I finally was able to see Ross Hunter's Lost Horizon on HDTV. Ouch! Everything I had heard proved to be true; the songs were dreadful, the acting fourth rate, the casting ridiculous and on and on and on. The only saving grace for me (especially in HD) was the beautiful photography of Bruce Surtees. Otherwise, disaster.
One thing that disturbs me about this film is that it is often lumped together with the O'Toole/Clark Goodbye,Mr.Chips and Star as the three films that drove the nail into the coffin of the once popular musical film genre. Star, though overlong and somewhat clunky, has a certain charm and some wonderful music, and Goodbye,Mr. Chips, to me,is quite wonderful, working on every level. (I think Chips got crucified mainly because it just happened to be an old fashioned musical in a time that was thriving on being "Mod.") Lost Horizon, on the other hand, had no redeeming features(except for Surtees) and was just terrible.
Producer Ross Hunter gets the blame for this dreadful mess, but lest we forget, he was also the guiding force for the wonderfully entertaining Throughly Modern Millie. He should have quit when he was ahead!
One thing that disturbs me about this film is that it is often lumped together with the O'Toole/Clark Goodbye,Mr.Chips and Star as the three films that drove the nail into the coffin of the once popular musical film genre. Star, though overlong and somewhat clunky, has a certain charm and some wonderful music, and Goodbye,Mr. Chips, to me,is quite wonderful, working on every level. (I think Chips got crucified mainly because it just happened to be an old fashioned musical in a time that was thriving on being "Mod.") Lost Horizon, on the other hand, had no redeeming features(except for Surtees) and was just terrible.
Producer Ross Hunter gets the blame for this dreadful mess, but lest we forget, he was also the guiding force for the wonderfully entertaining Throughly Modern Millie. He should have quit when he was ahead!