Prepare to enter the land of good story-telling with "heaven" no less in the starring role. A secret city that is hidden from all but a few that remains perfect in its theme and purpose is the center of attention in this movie magic story presentation based on a novel. It represents the Kingdom of Heaven quite nicely. Just like the Kingdom of Heaven it has the same dynamics. 1. It cannot be found by accident. 2. It cannot be taken by force. 3. Kings & wise men cannot have access or know its where about. Yet who is allowed to enter? The sick, down-trodden, the humble and the least of them depicted well in this movie. If one stops to consider the theme, one is swept away in contemplation as the ending of this movie submits quite well stating may we all find our shangra-la. But the story of "how" remains different for us all again shown very well in this film. Moving parts with the founder in the movie Father Perrault helps us to be still as we hang on every word he speaks trying to get more clues and information about this magnificent place. Surrounded by mountains, hidden by clouds and at a high altitude, this heavenly place lacks for nothing. Perfect weather within, lakes, streams, waterfalls, wildlife, good soil for farming, grazing for animals, room to explore, no need to think but to live and all fear, competition, striving and greed is absent. Ones existence in this movie to find a meaningful existence within this community and the various people who are invited into this place surely do that. A very poignant and unforgettable ending in a movie I have never seen where we are treated to a fascinating summation of the last few days of a man who is trying to get back his shangra-la sparing no expense, allowing no excuse, refusing all hardship, turning away defeat and has no other purpose or want except to find and return to his shangra-la. What a moving and perfect portrayal of our own lives and how we should yearn to seek out the righteousness of it until we find the origin ourselves. Good movie to eat a sandwich, tasty drink and sunflower seeds but pay attention. For those that can watch this with captions: do so as some of the words add to the mystique of it all. My parting words to you; don't just exist but truly live until you cannot (at least for here)

Favorite movie quote - "There are moments in every man's life when he glimpses the eternal." Welcome to Shangri-La, a Utopian paradise where everyone adheres to one, simple rule - Be kind. (Yep. It sure sounds easy enough, but, hey, it can get mighty tough slugging at times) In spite of its glaring flaws and ludicrous improbabilities, Lost Horizon, in the long run, was, surprisingly enough, quite a thoughtful movie in many ways.Even though it preached of serene happiness, the virtues of avoiding excesses, and the basic principles of Christianity, its earnest message seemed both sincere and genuine.Usually films which include obvious undertones of Christianity as the basis of its story don't go over very well with me. But, I found Lost Horizon to be something of an exception to the rule.With Lost Horizon now being 77 years old, one must make a point of keeping its time-frame firmly in mind in order to get any worthwhile entertainment value out of this vintage production.Unfortunately, this film's 132-minute running time worked against its story being an overall success. Had about a half-hour's worth of this fairy tale been edited out of the final product, then I think that this would have helped things immensely.One of Lost Horizon's most notable performances was that of Ronald Coleman who played the Robert Conway character.This is definitely one of those films that one must experience for themselves in order to make a fair and honest judgement of its content.

This is Frank Capra at his best (and he's "at his best" in so many of his classics!), and he gets even better when his source material for a movie is as exquisite as James Hilton's famous original novel. You can feel there's a *lot more* behind this movie than what got into the final cut usually shown today -- the restored version of around 127 minutes. There's an overabundance, richness and depth of material to choose from -- after all, the initial cuts of the movie were 3.5 hours, or even 6 hours long. Too bad none of that footage is available today -- it would be a delight to watch.Capra, his screenwriter of many movies Robert Riskin, and Hilton are all "tuned to the same wave length", so what comes out is undiluted joy and harmony. Even if you don't know that Capra sometimes took *days* to shoot a single scene of a few minutes' length (overshooting his budget outrageously, and almost bankrupting Columbia studios), the tremendous care on his part is palpable throughout: he pays as much attention to action-packed scenes, as to properly leading the actors in every piece of dialogue.The actors' performances are as spectacular in _Lost Horizon_ as is the snow-deluged, but then again sunny and paradise-like, scenery. Ronald Colman is riveting as Robert Conway, and you can see why Capra only counted on him to play the role; there is, in particular, one pivotal scene of about 40 seconds' length, with the character of Conway considering whether to stay in Shangri-La; there's absolute silence throughout the scene -- but the play of expressions on Colman's face is fascinating; his face is like a mirror of his mind, or like the sky with clouds passing over it; I'm not sure if all of that was just Colman's improvisation or Capra's direction, but the scene may be the movie's top highlight.The other two actors present in that pivotal scene, John Howard (as the leading character's angst-ridden brother) and Margo (as the Russian "girl" Maria), are thoroughly convincing, too; the *intensity* with which they enact the two characters, is overpowering. So much so, that watching _Lost Horizon_ becomes incredibly suspenseful, surprising the viewer at every turn -- there seems to be a "new twist" every 5 minutes or so (particularly towards the end), as if _Lost Horizon_ was a mystery movie. You have a central leading character here (Robert Conway), in between two opposed sets of characters, each group trying to pull him in a different direction, claiming that *that's* where *true civilization* lies. Which way is Bob going to go? You're never really sure! The credit for that must go to both Colman and the fantastic actors portraying both sides of the divide -- you're as apt to "fall for" each of the two groups, as Bob's character did, at one stage or another.There are magnificent performances from others, too. It's as if Capra was able to squeeze the best out of every actor -- regardless of whether they only appear on the screen for a few minutes. Hugh Buckler only gets a few minutes of screen-time towards the end as Lord Gainsford, but how compelling is he! Thomas Mitchell has so many top-shelf movies to his credit, including possibly the greatest movies of all time (such as _Gone with the Wind_ and Capra's own _It's a Wonderful Life_), but nowhere have I seen him -- primarily a character actor -- shine so much as here in _Lost Horizon_ as the swindler Barnard. Isabel Jewell is similarly affecting as a terminally (?) ill patient getting rejuvenated by Barnard's (virtuously redirected) energy.H. B. Warner is wonderful as Chang, and makes the miracle of Shangri-La seem believable. His statement on the Westerners' celebration of birthdays is delivered unforgettably, as are others. The most difficult role in _Lost Horizon_ was that of the High Lama, played by Sam Jaffe. It's not surprising Capra went to extreme lengths (even swapping actors at one point) to get the High Lama's scenes right, and he eventually did. Although during _Lost Horizon_ previews the audience laughed at scenes meant to be serious, which drew Capra into depression, I believe that in the restored version of _Lost Horizon_ commonly shown today, the High Lama scenes strike just the right point to be perceived as serious and moving, while avoiding (just barely, but they do!) slipping into the ridiculous.The movie, besides being visually spectacular despite only being shot in black-and-white, also seems surprisingly fresh and bold for the standards of 1937 when it was made. Capra certainly didn't hesitate to show whatever he wanted to show: a naked Jane Wyatt (another great performance!) cavorting in a stream; a horde of naked children; and the High Lama extolling "Christian" virtues -- neither of which features would probably be considered politically correct today.The character of Sondra, enchantingly played by Jane Wyatt, is particularly admirable in that it was the film-makers' invention -- Sondra does not appear in Hilton's original book. On the superficial level, it's *just* the type of character that you might expect a clichéd Hollywood production to insert into the screen version of a novel, to make it more conventionally appealing; but in Riskin's and Capra's capable hands, clichés turn into magic, pure gold. See not only the nude bathing scene, but also the "Why?!" scene with Conway playfully "wringing the neck" of his beloved.Watching _Lost Horizon_, even 70+ years after it was made, is like getting a breath of that fresh mountain air that is alleged to keep you forever young in body and spirit in Shangri-La. Watching _Lost Horizon_ makes you feel as if you paid a visit to Shangri-La yourself -- can there be a higher achievement for an artist in any type of art?

Last night I watched a DVD rental of the restoration of this classic movie, and was reminded of how I and the other students of San Luis Obispo High School had been privileged to watch what, in retrospect, was a pre-release test by the studio for teen-agers' reactions. This took place at the Elmo theater and probably occurred in 1936, the first half of my senior year. Which are deductions on my part resulting from the fact that in February 1937 our high school coach had ordered me to pay for my shiny new orange and black basketball uniform which the team's star had stolen from my locker, and sent me to the principal when I indignantly declined to do so. The principal ordered me to leave school and not return until I paid.In 1937 they mailed me my diploma and I was able to enroll at Cal Poly. In the meanwhile I had a number of jobs and wonderful days on the beach and evenings at the Stag pool hall and a voyage to Japan working on a Swedish oil tanker. Our high school also got to see Romeo and Juliet, which was released in 1938, and reinforces my conclusion that we were a testing location for the studios. I recall one of our high school wags, at the play's most dramatic scene, "Romeo,my Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo," calling out, "Heah ah is, Sunshine." Which brought down the house. God only knows what the studio execs made of this. Curiously, we are just about ready to publish a novel titled "Paper Doll," about a half baked psychiatrist who, along with several of his patients, lost their horizons in their struggles for dominance with a young hooker.