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Date: 1973 Bottom
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Main Page Film Reviews |
Lost Horizon Even when set against the intellectual backdrop of the "let's break all the rules" mentality of the late '60s and early '70s, the concept for the 1973 remake of Lost Horizon just screamed box-office bomb. Someone decided that ""Lost Horizon" just HAD to be remade in to a musical. But a musical that would be SERIOUS with no comedy. This is the same reason why "Cop Rock" failed on TV during the 1990s. So they hired Burt Bacharach (this was during his heyday) to write several actually good songs for the film, but then sabotaged the effort by hiring a singing-, dancing- and comedically-challenged cast to perform this musical. Sir John Gielgud, George Kennedy, Michael York, Bobby Van, Sally Kellerman, Olivia Hussey, Peter Finch and Liv Ullman are not names I would generally be in a rush to sign for a Musical. Perhaps a drama, but not a musical. Yes, you can argue that Michael York was in "Cabaret" 3 years prior, but check his MUSICAL performance in that film again; good actor of the period, but not my first choice to throw in a musical. Bobby Van had the most credible singing and dancing credentials of the cast, but this was after his athletic peak (he was in his mid to late 40s at the time) and he only gets to perform in 1 song or dance number. Someone decided that Sally Kellerman and Olivia Hussey needed to sing in the majority or songs. Why? Certainly, no one else felt this same need to subject other audiences to their singing talents. Fortunately, audiences were not treated to the warblings of George Kennedy, Sir John or Liv Ullman. Thank God for small favors. For some strange reason, all the better-abled actors in the cast like Finch (who won the Best Actor Oscar posthumously 3 years later for "Network"), York, Ullman, Kennedy, and Sir John have the least screen time; while the less abled Kellerman and Hussey (there is a good reason why both actresses have had less than stellar careers) get to carry most of the screen time. Kellerman seems chemically-enhanced during much of her scenes. Hussey is always so earnest that she comes off as joyless (which also would make me wonder why York's character is supposed to have such hots for her). No chemistry between Finch or Ullman either. This is pretty important since she is supposed to be the love of his life and why he braves the Himalayas to return to her and Shangrila. Sir John looks silly as an Asian man (the makeup sessions on his eyes must have been hellish). Kennedy and Van come off the best and you wish they had more screen time. By this point, some of you are probably saying "who were some of these people the Raider is referring to?" Bobby Van was a dancer contract player at MGM during it's golden age of Musicals. His most prominent role was in "Kiss Me Kate" in 1948. One of his dancing partners is Bob Fosse in that film. Lost Horizon was filmed 25 years after he made that movie. You do the math on what time had done to his body by that point. George Kennedy was a well used character actor, but probably best known for his role as Petroni in "Airport" and an inmate in "Cool Hand Luke." Kellerman is best known for portraying "Hot Lips Hoolihan" in the movie version of "M*A*S*H" (although admit it, Loretta Switt was much better at this same role in the TV version). Liv Ullman was Ingmar Bergman's favorite leading lady of this time period. Olivia Hussey at that point was best known as Juliet from Zefferelli's 1967 version or "Romeo and Juliet" and she later got cast as Mary, Jesus' mom in a mega TV film in the '80s. A resume that speaks volumes about her comedic and musical abilities. So to sum up. Good score by Burt Bacharach (you'll actually recognize some of the songs), horrendous casting, incredibly bad use of actors. Bad choice of material to remake. The original "Lost Horizon" was directed by the great Frank Capra and has become one of his lost films. Not as good as say, "Mr. Smith Goes To Washington", but a decent film, though somewhat dated (read: racist). |