Probably the biggest movie musical bomb!

[DAME]

Posted: 9/3/08 at 12:43am

I still think it should be re mastered and released on dvd.



Lost Horizon

[DAME]

Posted: 9/3/08 at 12:48am

From IMDB

"This film did so poorly at the box office, that many in film circles, it's known as "Lost Investment". It is one of the few mainstream American films of the 1970s that has never been released on home video in the United States."

[brdlwyr]

Posted: 9/3/08 at 12:48am

Who was in this movie?

[DAME]

Posted: 9/3/08 at 12:55am

Liv Ulman, Peter Finch, Bobby Van, Michael York, John Gielgud, Olivia hussey, Charley Boyer.

The music is by Burt Bacharac. It is a mess of a movie.

Updated On: 9/3/08 at 12:55 AM

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 9/3/08 at 1:08am

Where's Besty?

[miss pennywise]

Posted: 9/3/08 at 1:19am

Yeah, Besty has been lobbying for YEARS to get this released on DVD. Of course by the time it IS released, he'll be as old as Chang!

[Q]

Posted: 9/3/08 at 1:44am

Besty was the first thing that crossed my mind, as well!

I'm sure he'll be pleased to know we all associate this with him

[DAME]

Posted: 9/3/08 at 2:48am

WHO?

[JohnBoy2]

Posted: 9/3/08 at 8:39am

Like a lot of the information on IMDB, the above is incorrect. Lost Horizon was, in fact, released on laserdisc. If they meant video tape, then that's what they should say. Laserdisc was one of many home video formats.

[best12bars]

Posted: 9/3/08 at 9:56am

What do you mean WHO, Dame? Jesus!

You must have missed my 300 other posts and threads on Lost Horizon. It's my favorite "bad movie I love" of all-time.

Probably because as a 10-year-old, when it was released, I saw it 3 times in the movie theatre. I played the soundtrack to DEATH too. And I've been hooked ever since.

JB2 is right. Not only did it come out on Laser Disc, but it attempted to restore all the cut scenes and songs, adding around a half hour of footage to the movie. The only number they couldn't find was the big "fertility dance" that Olivia Hussey did outside in the main square with scads of dancers all around her.

Here's a few links to whet your appetite!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtAL0HDcNOY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxNzts_60TU&feature=related

And this one always cracks me up:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjH79mkw--0&feature=related

[best12bars]

Posted: 9/3/08 at 10:15am

Here's Bobby Van giving those Shangri-La kiddies a lesson in Show Biz pizazz!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sew4NUQ-VkI

The World Is a Circle (probably the best-known song from the movie):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ax8TJwqHyWI&feature=related

And here's a nice (really long) tribute to the film:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlE0Lb46rVE&feature=related

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 9/3/08 at 10:15am

I think "Share the Joy" is a gorgeous song.

[best12bars]

Posted: 9/3/08 at 10:17am

It is! And Olivia Hussey is georgeous singing it (well, being dubbed in it)...

And here it is with funky burned-in subtitles!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFGayvuO2Rw

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 9/3/08 at 10:18am

I still have a fondness for "The Things I Won't Miss".

Oh, and that "The World Is A Circle (But These Brats Are Square)" is a gem. Hop on the bamboo ferris wheel everyone!

[Roscoe]

Posted: 9/3/08 at 10:19am

Answer me a question!
Question me an answer!

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 9/3/08 at 10:21am

The description on Cool Cinema Trash is hysterical...especially describing Sally Kellerman's floppy dancing...
http://www.coolcinematrash.com/movies/lostHorizon.htm

[best12bars]

Posted: 9/3/08 at 10:22am

I wanted a bamboo Ferris Wheel in my backyard, BB!

And Roscoe, I always thought they should steal that for a Jeopardy commercial.

[best12bars]

Posted: 9/3/08 at 10:29am

My favorite extravagance in this movie is that they crashed a REAL DC-10 into a mountain! I had an article on it at the time from Cinematographer Magazine that described how they did it with a multi-camera set-up, and of course they had ONE TAKE to get it right.

I can't believe they did that! The sad part is that it STILL looks like a model, not a real plane!

Good God.

It's still an exciting scene, and the whole first part of the movie, before they get to Shangri-La is very good "as is."

I was watching it with a friend of mine who is very picky about films, and he said, "This is great! I don't know why it bombed!"

And my answer was, "Wait until they start singing." As soon as they get to Shangri-La, those Bacharach songs (as wonderful as they are) just don't fit! And that's what's so delightfully wrong (and right!) about this movie. It's two different films in two different genres, struggling to survive simultaneously in the same movie.

And in that tug-of-war, nobody wins! Yay!

[best12bars]

Posted: 9/3/08 at 10:35am

That article is hilarous, doodle. My favorite lines:

"Once everyone has changed into their caftans, they enjoy dinner and a floorshow."

"Finch spots school marm Liv Ullmann while on a walking tour with Gielgud. She teaches self-confidence to her class by singing (vocals by Diana Lee) the song "The World is a Circle". With lyrics that are filled out with "La-la-la-la's" and child performers who seem incapable of the most basic dance steps (rhythmic arm swinging is choreographed by Hermes Pan) the entire number unravels like a drugged out version of The Sound of Music (1965)."

"Kennedy is so inspired by Kellerman's floppy dancing that he engineers a public water project."

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 9/3/08 at 10:41am

They have mp3s of some of the songs as well on that site...including that number by Kellerman, "Reflections", complete with "ploops" of the pebbles in the water...idiotic song.

I agree that the songs dont match, but on their own they are so good musically. Lyrics...no.

I wish Bacharach would compose more.

[DAME]

Posted: 9/3/08 at 10:50am

Wow. I didn't know it had been released on Laser. My old player still works.. so on to search it out I go.

[best12bars]

Posted: 9/3/08 at 10:54am

I just checked on eBay, Dame. I don't see the laser right now. It pops up from time to time, but it usually isn't cheap... since it's the only American commercial release of the film in any format.

But I did find this!

OMG!!! I think I know what I want for Christmas now!
LOST HORIZON paper dolls!

[uncageg]

Posted: 9/3/08 at 12:08pm

best12, I remember posting in one of your threads. I LOVE Lost Horizon. I saw it a few times as a kid in a theater. I still own the vinyl LP of the soundtrack. I love the way it folds out! And I remember having a bit of a crush on Bobby Van! (I will answer with a question!)

[DAME]

Posted: 9/3/08 at 12:13pm

I didn't get that Besty = best12bars.

So sorry.. it was late last night.

[Q]

Posted: 9/3/08 at 12:31pm

"Once everyone has changed into their caftans, they enjoy dinner and a floorshow."

I didn't realize it was set in Palm Springs.