I was flipping through the channels the other night with the volume down when I skipped past what appeared to be a documentary on Nepal or Tibet. I flipped back to see a beautifully photographed religious procession of oriental monks of some sort who were singing as they marched. Curious, I turned up the volume, and heard - to my disbelief - what appeared to be the outtakes from a recording session by the 'Mamas and the Papas' on a bad day, being sung by these monks. The combined sight & sound was unbelievable. Unable to avert my eyes, I watched, fascinated, in the same way one watches a train wreck.
This was "Lost Horizon", a mid 70's stinker that deserves a place among the top flops of all time, and could replace 'Plan Nine from Outer Space' as the worst movie ever made. It stars Peter Finch [sic!], John Gielgud (must have been desperate for work at the time), George Kennedy, Sally Kellerman, Liv Ullman , Michael York and Charles Boyer (his last - understandably - film). It is a MUSICAL based on the James Hilton novel about a band of westerners who discover the idyllic land of Shangri-La in the Himalayan mountains. Boyer plays the aged monk who founded the place; his makeup looks like wood putty applied with a trowel.
The costumes are by the people who just missed getting the contract for "Sgt. Pepper". The dialogue is like 'Brigadoon' meets 'The King and I' by way of 'Hair'. The big question is how they held back their laughter at the final screening.
The real stunner, however, is the musical score. I did not catch Burt Bachrach's name in the credits, and I can understand why he would want to be anonymous, but he is the perpetrator. These tunes are as easily remembered as the index to a software manual, and the lyrics sound like an unimaginable cross between Timothy Leary and Eleanor Roosevelt (with Leary straight and Eleanor strung out).
This film is SO bad it is worth seeing. Only then can you believe it. As Newsweek said at the time: "It cannot be enjoyed even as camp."
This was "Lost Horizon", a mid 70's stinker that deserves a place among the top flops of all time, and could replace 'Plan Nine from Outer Space' as the worst movie ever made. It stars Peter Finch [sic!], John Gielgud (must have been desperate for work at the time), George Kennedy, Sally Kellerman, Liv Ullman , Michael York and Charles Boyer (his last - understandably - film). It is a MUSICAL based on the James Hilton novel about a band of westerners who discover the idyllic land of Shangri-La in the Himalayan mountains. Boyer plays the aged monk who founded the place; his makeup looks like wood putty applied with a trowel.
The costumes are by the people who just missed getting the contract for "Sgt. Pepper". The dialogue is like 'Brigadoon' meets 'The King and I' by way of 'Hair'. The big question is how they held back their laughter at the final screening.
The real stunner, however, is the musical score. I did not catch Burt Bachrach's name in the credits, and I can understand why he would want to be anonymous, but he is the perpetrator. These tunes are as easily remembered as the index to a software manual, and the lyrics sound like an unimaginable cross between Timothy Leary and Eleanor Roosevelt (with Leary straight and Eleanor strung out).
This film is SO bad it is worth seeing. Only then can you believe it. As Newsweek said at the time: "It cannot be enjoyed even as camp."