Product Details

• Actors: Ronald Colman, Jane Wyatt, Edward Everett Horton, John Howard, Thomas Mitchell
• Directors: Frank Capra
• Format: Black & White, NTSC, Subtitled
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)
• Subtitles: English, Spanish, Portuguese, Georgian, Chinese, Thai
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
• DVD Release Date: August 31, 1999
• Run Time: 134 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (168 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6305416222
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,909 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• Learn more about "Lost Horizon" on IMDb

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

James Hilton's novel Lost Horizon proposes a perfect hidden community within the uncharted Himalayas, a land where peace reigns and the inhabitants live for hundreds of years. So indelible is this mythical land that its name has entered the culture: Shangri-La. Director Frank Capra, riding high during his mid-'30s hot streak, spared no expense in creating Hilton's paradise onscreen, taxing the coffers of Columbia Pictures and the patience of mogul Harry Cohn. The results, however, are magical: shimmering, seductive, and maybe a bit foolish, truly the creation of an idealist (understandably, the spectacular art direction won an Oscar). And Capra's hero is an idealist, too. Ronald Colman, at his most marvelously elocutionary, plays a wise diplomat whose plane crashes in the snows of Tibet. He and the other survivors are guided to Shangri-La, where they wrestle with the invitation to stay. The young Jane Wyatt plays Colman's love interest, but leaving a more lasting impression are H.B. Warner, as the benevolent Chang, and Sam Jaffe, in great old-age makeup, as the wizened High Lama. This version has been restored as closely as possible to Capra's original cut; the film had circulated for many years in a trimmed form. Lost Horizon was remade, notoriously and hilariously, as a big-budget musical in 1973; it was a complete flop. --Robert Horton

Product Description

Ronald Colman and Jane Wyatt star in this lavishly-produced classic about the enchanted paradise ofShangri-La where time stands still. After nearly 50 years, Frank Capra's timeless masterpiece, LOST HORIZON (based on the best-selling novel by James Hilton) was restored to its original length of 132 minutes in 1986. The film, which was widely circulated among the armed services during World War II, was cut 22 minutes after its initial release in 1937 to reflect the wartime perception of the Chinese and to tone down the film's pacifism. Film historian Robert Gitt conducted nearly 13 years of detective work tracking down the lost footage. With extraordinary art direction, the set of Shangri-La is considered the largest ever built in Hollywood, winning designer Stephan Goosson an Academy Award(r) (LOST HORIZON won two 1937 Academy Awards(r): Art Direction-Set Design and Film Editing). Furthermore, the budget for the picture was staggering and cost almost four times the amount of any Columbia film at the time; an equivalent cost of approximately $30-$40 million today. A box office blockbuster, LOST HORIZON is considered an exception among Capra's work for its deviation from his usual upbeat "American" theme and continues to capture the imagination of the viewing public today.

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

145 of 150 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Almost A Lost Film December 21, 1999

By Steven W. Hill

Format:DVD

LOST HORIZON is a very special and very philosophical movie based on the James Hilton novel. The movie makes a few changes from the book, but in many ways the film actually improves on the novel, not the least of which is having the great Ronald Colman flesh out the part of Robert Conway. It's not Colman's most memorable performance (see TALE OF TWO CITIES for that) but he wears the part like a comfortable suit. Supporting him are some other great players like Edward Everett Horton, Thomas Mitchell, Sam Jaffe and Isabel Jewell to name a few. What would YOUR reaction be when you discover that the commandeered airplane that took you to a mysterious, beautiful land in the middle of the wintry Himalayas was not an accident, but a plan? The lost world of Shangri-La is something different to everyone, and it's not always a land of bliss and happiness as you'll see. The film itself has gone through many difficult years, and the painstaking reconstruction (sometimes down to still frames with audio) receives a fine presentation on DVD. It's the restoration and the extras that make the disc worth viewing. A brief section shows how some frames were restored, and we get to see some rare pristine footage of the funeral procession. A good feature commentary and documentary are also included. Overall, then, it's a fine film and a fine DVD supplying fine extras. What's not fine? Well, it's only fair to comment on the extremely variable quality of the image (as I said, it's a combination of several decent prints, some 16mm prints and the occasional still-frame section). That's not the fault of Columbia, as it is most likely the best they could do. But upon comparison to my VHS tape of the restored film, I was surprised to see that the quality is only *slightly* better, not dramatically better.... That's why I say in all fairness that it's really the extras that make it worthwhile, but that's coming from someone who already had a video copy of the restored film in his collection. If you've never seen the film, I recommend it unreservedly. Read more ›

99 of 101 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A "Lost Horizon" Which Was Almost Lost Itself December 9, 1999

By Terry Knapp

Format:DVD

I have loved this film and the James Hilton novel upon which it is based since I was a child. "Lost Horizon" is one of the truly great moviegoing experiences. I think we all want to believe in Shangri-La, a paradise which brings out the best in mortals, offering a chance of redemption.

The film has a great cast: Ronald Colman (what a voice!), lovely Jane Wyatt, Thomas Mitchell, H.B. Warner, Edward Everett Horton, Sam Jaffe and the almost forgotten (but very good) Isabel Jewell - she also appeared with Colman in "A Tale of Two Cities."

The set design has to be seen to be truly appreciated. Shangri-La is a prime example of Art Deco at it's most beautiful.

The film, as it exists today, is a bit like Frankenstein's monster, stitched together from a wide variety of sources, some of them in better condition than others. The story of the quarter-century restoration of the film is a fascinating example of the dedication to see a project through to it's completion.

The only complaint I have about the film, and it's a minor one, is about the number of expository sequences in the film. It seems that one character or another is always talking about what has gone on or what is going on. H.B. Warner's character, in particular, seems to exist for the most part to explain the backstory of Shangri-La. But that's, as I said, a minor complaint. This is a superb motion picture.

79 of 82 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great DVD presentation of a cinema classic!! October 24, 1999

By Joe NY

Format:DVD

Frank Capra's LOST HORIZON is finally given its due on DVD. This is the most complete version of this great film available. The source material varies from excellent to barely watchable, but at least it is complete. Some sections are represented with still frames as the footage still remains missing. This is quite frustrating as the movie was photographed so beautifully, but Columbia Pictures did very little to keep the negatives complete and in good condition. So we should be thankful LOST HORIZON looks as good as it does. The cast, with the exception of John Howard (David Niven should have played Howard's part) is flawless. Ronald Colman was one of Hollywood's greatest actors. One never tires from watching and "listening" to his performance. This great DVD includes an insightful commentary shared by Charles Champlin and Kendall Miller who discuss the making of the movie along with its arduous restoration. A good 30 minute documentary covers the making of the movie (some aspects are duplicated from the commentary track). Also included are some deleted sequences, a still file with Kendall's narration and a teaser trailer. It would have been wonderful if Dimitri Tiomken's great score could have been isolated, but this may not have been possible given the quality of the source material. Get LOST HORIZON on DVD, you won't be disappointed. It is definetly a classic worth keeping.

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Painstaking Restoration of a Rarely Seen Classic Reflects True Vision July 31, 2005

By Ed Uyeshima HALL OF FAMETOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:DVD

One of my favorite books growing up was James Hilton's classic 1933 book, "Lost Horizon", and I believe it motivated a great deal of my current wanderlust. Even though I have had the misfortune of seeing the disastrous 1973 musical remake when I was young, the original 1937 film adaptation has been a film I have wanted to see for years, but for whatever reason, it was next to impossible to uncover. Apparently, bastardized versions have shown up on TV through the years. Now we are fortunate to have this 1999 restoration spearheaded by UCLA film archivist Robert Gitt to match as closely as possible to Frank Capra's original 132-minute running time.

Similar to what was done with George Cukor's "A Star Is Born", "Lost Horizon" is presented with its complete soundtrack, but missing footage had to be found through other sources, even 16-mm prints recorded from TV broadcasts, and in a few scenes, production stills were sadly the only option to fill in the gaps. Consequently, there is a variable quality to the print, but when one thinks that much of this footage could have been completely lost, the visual lapses are more than forgivable. Now that I have seen Capra's vision of the book, I can now understand why it's a cinematic classic though I have to concede not as timeless as one would hope.

The fanciful plot centers on Robert Conway, a top-level English diplomat about to become the Foreign Secretary, who helps refugees and assorted others from war-ravaged China. A motley crew of passengers led by Conway boards a plane that is skyjacked toward the Himalayas where it crash lands in a desolate spot of Tibet. They are eventually met by a sect of locals who takes them to a paradise called Shangri-La.... The focus of the story then becomes how each of the plane survivors responds to this utopian existence. With his instantly recognizable mellifluous tone, Ronald Colman is perfectly cast as Conway, the only one who embraces this seemingly perfect haven from the outset. He captures the natural curiosity and open romanticism of his character with his trademark erudite manner.

The rest of the cast is a gallery of stock characters fleshed out by the variable quality of the performances. H.B. Warner plays Chang with the requisite serenity of his vague, mysterious character; and Jane Wyatt - two decades before playing the perfect suburban wife and mother in "Father Knows Best" - is surprisingly saucy as Sondra, the young schoolteacher who has Conway brought to Shangri-La. She even has a brief nude swimming scene. John Howard unfortunately overplays the thankless role of Conway's obstreperous brother George to the point where I groan every time he appears onscreen. A similar feeling comes over me when I see Edward Everett Horton's overly pixilated and fey turn as Lovett and Sam Jaffe's bug-eyed, ethereal High Lama. Isabel Jewell and Thomas Mitchell fare better as a dying prostitute and a fugitive swindler, respectively.

The set designs for the Shangri-La lamasery by Stephen Goossón are intriguing in that they look like a post-modern tribute to Frank Lloyd Wright's prairie architecture, though one could argue that the exteriors also resemble a fancy Miami Beach resort hotel. I also imagine that the isolationist philosophy espoused by the High Lama may have been at odds with pre-WWII patriotic fervor, though the more lingering problem is the racism apparent in the casting (e.g., non-Asians like Warner playing inscrutable Asians) and the portrayal of the Tibetan porters as gun-toting derelicts. However, for all its flaws, the movie has some really stunning camerawork by Joseph Walker, surprisingly masterful special effects (for a near-poverty row studio like Columbia), Dmitri Tiomkin's stirring musical score and a powerful sense of mysticism that gives the film a genuine soul. It is no accident that Capra, the most idealistic of the master filmmakers, helmed this movie because a more cynical mindset could have easily sabotaged the entire venture.

The DVD is a wonderful package. First, there is a fascinating photo montage documentary with narration provided by film historian Kendall Miller, which gives a true feeling of how Capra approached the production. Gitt and film critic Charles Champlin provide audio commentary on an alternate track of the film with Gitt very informative about the exhaustive restoration process and Champlin more in awe of the result. There is even an alternative ending included that Columbia chief Harry Cohn insisted on filming and using upon release, but it had thankfully been dropped two weeks later. This is a genuine treat for cinemaphiles, as there are few films that make such a compelling case for seeking out one's personal utopia. Read more ›