This version of Lost Horizon pretty much finished the job Rex Harrison's Doctor Doolittle began: that of burying the Movie Musical for years. But the question is, why? What exactly went wrong with this production? Well, the answer is... a lot.
Let's put it in context. We're dealing with the cynical Nixon years and Watergate and Vietnam are both dragging. Here's a film with a message about how terrible life is, and how the planet is falling apart, save for one small place that no one can reach... Shangri-La. That's probably not a message anyone wanted to hear at that moment.
OK. If the theme doesn't put you off, the stars probably would. Granted, casting non-singers in a musical and having them dubbed is a long standing Hollywood tradition. But who thought to have George Kennedy and Peter Finch as "singers?" Burt Bacharach's score is actually pretty good (though it's clearly not his best work, Bacharach on a bad day is still worthy of a listen), and the film has some cute moments (mostly provided by the children of this paradise along with Bobby Van who mugs his way through the bulk of his material), but they are outnumbered by the stilted ones... Sir John Gielgud makes the worst on-screen Asian since Mickey Rooney in "Breakfast At Tiffany's!" On the better side, there is Sally Kellerman, who really deserves a lot of credit for her efforts to make this palatable, even in trying to sing a romantic duet with Kennedy!
I'm not familiar with the background of how this film got made, but it seems like people cut deals, signed on for the project, and then, as they began making the film, they discovered it wasn't working. But, rather than go back, rewrite and correct the problems and re-shoot, they tried to force fit the jigsaw pieces together, producing the final result which was destined to fail.
I find this film a fascinating curio, but I can see where others would dismiss it as trash. However, it's not a complete waste, and that's where I think some people are too harsh. You can view it as camp, as comedy or as commentary on life in the post Ecology 1970s, a theme that has become timely again with the resurgence of caring for the environment and Global atmospheric issues.
It's funny that this film came out in the midst of the Irwin Allen "Disaster" film era with their all-star casts... The Posideon Adventure, The Towering Inferno... In its way, Lost Horizon fits right in!
Let's put it in context. We're dealing with the cynical Nixon years and Watergate and Vietnam are both dragging. Here's a film with a message about how terrible life is, and how the planet is falling apart, save for one small place that no one can reach... Shangri-La. That's probably not a message anyone wanted to hear at that moment.
OK. If the theme doesn't put you off, the stars probably would. Granted, casting non-singers in a musical and having them dubbed is a long standing Hollywood tradition. But who thought to have George Kennedy and Peter Finch as "singers?" Burt Bacharach's score is actually pretty good (though it's clearly not his best work, Bacharach on a bad day is still worthy of a listen), and the film has some cute moments (mostly provided by the children of this paradise along with Bobby Van who mugs his way through the bulk of his material), but they are outnumbered by the stilted ones... Sir John Gielgud makes the worst on-screen Asian since Mickey Rooney in "Breakfast At Tiffany's!" On the better side, there is Sally Kellerman, who really deserves a lot of credit for her efforts to make this palatable, even in trying to sing a romantic duet with Kennedy!
I'm not familiar with the background of how this film got made, but it seems like people cut deals, signed on for the project, and then, as they began making the film, they discovered it wasn't working. But, rather than go back, rewrite and correct the problems and re-shoot, they tried to force fit the jigsaw pieces together, producing the final result which was destined to fail.
I find this film a fascinating curio, but I can see where others would dismiss it as trash. However, it's not a complete waste, and that's where I think some people are too harsh. You can view it as camp, as comedy or as commentary on life in the post Ecology 1970s, a theme that has become timely again with the resurgence of caring for the environment and Global atmospheric issues.
It's funny that this film came out in the midst of the Irwin Allen "Disaster" film era with their all-star casts... The Posideon Adventure, The Towering Inferno... In its way, Lost Horizon fits right in!