Probably the biggest movie musical bomb!- Page 2

[JohnBoy2]

Posted: 9/3/08 at 12:38pm

I still contend that the score to Lost Horizon is wonderful. It's just the wrong score for the piece. It begs for a Lerner & Lowe-type score, and the one written by Bacharach and David is just wrong. But still, it remains the best thing about it!

[DAME]

Posted: 9/3/08 at 12:47pm

Is the CD out? Or is that out of print to?

[DAME]

Posted: 9/3/08 at 12:50pm

Answered my own question...
amazon

[best12bars]

Posted: 9/3/08 at 3:46pm

Diana Ross & Marvin Gaye sing "The Things I Will Not Miss" from LOST HORIZON

[best12bars]

Posted: 9/3/08 at 3:48pm

The 5th Dimension sing "Living Together, Growing Together" from LOST HORIZON

[best12bars]

Posted: 9/3/08 at 3:50pm

The Pied Pipers sing "The World Is a Circle" from LOST HORZON

[romantico]

Posted: 9/3/08 at 7:15pm

Thanks for staring this thread. I just bought the cd. I want to see this movie NOW More than ever. Lets hope its released on Blu-Ray soon!!!

I have a Question about Burt Bacharach. Is he still composing or is he more or less retired? I know he just had a Birthday not long ago, but wasn't sure if he still performs or does film scores/writes songs.

[nealb1]

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

I'm so surprised that "Lost Horizon" was never put out on video or on dvd, yet it's on laser? And, at least the laser is a partially restorted version of the original road show presentation.

I think it was about 3-4 years ago, The Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood screened a remastered/restored version of the film. It was the shortened version, not the partially restored laser version. The rep from Columbia/Sony who brought the film for the screening said that the studio has no intention of releasing it on dvd or video.

Let's add "At Long Last Love" and "Song Of Norway" to the "bad" musicals that need to come out on dvd.

[JohnBoy2]

Posted: 9/3/08 at 9:11pm

Seriously, none of them need video releases. They all stink.

[romantico]

Posted: 9/3/08 at 9:14pm

Has this ever been on TCM or any other cable network? How can people see the film? I am surprised a studio that has a film, no matter how bad, will not even consider releasing it. Usually, its all about $$$.

[JohnBoy2]

Posted: 9/3/08 at 9:17pm

I believe AMC showed it, back when it showed film without commercial interruption.

When I saw Song of Norway during its theatrical release, there were only 2 other people in the theater. When I saw Lost Horizon during its theatrical release, I was alone.

[romantico]

Posted: 9/3/08 at 10:49pm

One of the links had a clip from Biography where they said Hal David and Burt never worked again after Lost Horizon. Can anyone shed some light on that? Did Burt or Hal hold the other one responsible for the film's disappointment? How bad was their feud?

[~FloweryFriend~]

Posted: 9/4/08 at 8:11am

Drat. I thought this was going to be about "Skidoo!"

[best12bars]

Posted: 9/4/08 at 10:46am

romantico---This was the movie that caused the Bacharach and David "divorce."

A lot of things fed into it. They fought every step along the way about the songs in this movie. To me, it's obvious. There are many instances where the lyrics and the melodies don't remotely go together. At least not comfortably.

After the songs were finished, Hal walked away. (More like RAN away as fast as he could.) Burt stayed on to musically direct the entire movie, and basically he had a meltdown. He realized before it was released that it was going to be a "career killer," and he couldn't get out of it. And he couldn't fix it. And Hal and he weren't speaking. And of course, he blamed Hal for most of it, probably way more than himself. It soured everything.

Also, this was 1973... and the '60s sound of Bacharach & David was on its way out. Actually, it had already been "out" for a few years. The music biz didn't really want them anymore, and it was very difficult (if not impossible) for Burt to accept. So, Lost Horizon became his scapegoat. He blamed everything on that movie, that experience, and Hal. So, the way he survived was to "divorce" himself from the entire ugly event and move on to other things.

Kinda sad. It was far from "Shangri-La" behind the scenes.

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 9/4/08 at 10:50am

Oh, Besty...every LOST HORIZON thread makes you burst forth with beauty like a Shangri-La cherry blossom.

[Roscoe]

Posted: 9/4/08 at 10:55am

It has been shown on TV, I know I saw it at some point in the last 10-15 years, but not in a long long time.

Does anyone own the laserdisc?

[romantico]

Posted: 9/4/08 at 11:22am

Thanks Best12bars! Very helpful and sad. I really like Burt Bacharach and I like his sound.Would love for him to compose another song or musical. Quincy Jones is still composing and I think Lalo Schifrin is as well.

[best12bars]

Posted: 9/4/08 at 11:33am

"Oh, Besty...every LOST HORIZON thread makes you burst forth with beauty like a Shangri-La cherry blossom."

Don't worry, it isn't contagious. I take shots for it.

And actually, Bacharach and David have made their peace. I believe they cowrote a few songs in recent years, not that they made much of an impact on the music world.

The one moment where I thought Bacharach recaptured the magic that "once was"... "God Give Me Strength" which he cowrote with Elvis Costello for the movie Grace Of My Heart. Brilliant song, especially as dubbed by Kristen Vigard in the film. It has the feel (both musically and lyrically) of the old songs.

And Roscoe---I don't own the laser disc, but I rented it (around 15 years ago!) and made myself a VHS copy, back then. Laser Discs had no copyright protection, and were easily dubbed. So I have an old VHS of the extended movie. I love the additional songs (which were on the soundtrack album already). And it was widescreen too!

I see copies of the laser on eBay all the time.

[Roscoe]

Posted: 9/4/08 at 11:43am

I was thinking about picking the laserdisc up on ebay, but I'm sure it goes for a bunch. I'll keep an eye open, sometimes there are deals.

[Jon]

Posted: 9/4/08 at 11:44am

On Behalf of "At Long Last Love", Peter Bogdonavich, Burt Reynolds and Cybil Sheppard say, "What are we, chopped liver?"

[best12bars]

Posted: 9/4/08 at 11:47am

Roscoe---DVD copies of the Laser show up on eBay too. Not that I advocate the purchasing of "boots," or anything.

And Jon---My answer is, "Yes, you're chopped liver."

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 9/4/08 at 11:48am

Honey, if THE APPLE can be a success on DVD, so can LOST HORIZON.

[best12bars]

Posted: 9/4/08 at 11:51am

Exactly, BB!

Blackenstein is out on DVD too.

And Lost Horizon is Citizen Kane, by comparison.

[romantico]

Posted: 11/8/08 at 11:42am

I just bought this on ebay and watched it last night. The quality was fair to good because it was recorded off of AMC a few years back. Looks like it was poorly edited.I found that some of the songs were great but overall the pacing was bad. About 40 minutes into the film before anyone broke into a song. It seemed slow in some places and rushed in others,especially the ending. Like I said, it looks like it was re-cut so I may have seen an edited version. The version I got was 2 hours and 14 minutes long. I really wanted to like it was just terrible. Some films just should not be remade.Still, I am glad I saw it. For what I paid for it was about the same as if I were to rent it.

[Li'l_Devil]

Posted: 11/8/08 at 12:08pm

LOST HORIZON is one film that should be HEARD and not SEEN!