Lost Horizon (1937) -- Renewed Edition [DVD9 untouched]

Lost Horizon, made at enormous expense by the famous Frank Capra in 1936, was based on a popular novel by James Hilton from 1933. It tells the story of a group of plane crash survivors who discover heaven on earth in Shangri-La, a word which entered the English language to mean a place of eternal happiness. The film has a timeless quality and Ronald Colman warmly fleshes out the leading character, a professional soldier and diplomat who has been summoned to Shangri-La to replace its dying leader the High-Lama. Colman's talent is what makes the film work. He is an enigmatic and romantic hero. Jane Wyatt, most famous as the wife in the TV show Father Knows Best, plays opposite Colman as the resident of Shangri-La with whom he falls in love. Wyatt is fresh and natural which helps her credibility in an almost impossible role. Her love scene with Colman in the garden is memorable. The story has a lot to say about the state of the world and this was timely in 1937.



The film was a controversial production. It ran way over budget, costing Columbia Studios an enormous proportion of their annual budget. It took years to earn back its costs and Capra scrapped the first 2 reels after a disastrous preview. The film was subsequently cut in 1937 from 132 to 116 minutes for rural distribution and then cut further to 108 minutes for re-release during the war.

Due to the committed efforts of the American Film Institute and a world wide search for prints, this DVD contains the complete soundtrack of the original 132 minute version with 7 minutes of missing screen time reconstructed from stills. The reconstruction varies in quality depending on the quality of the source material itself.

All of this information is recorded in a terrific documentary which also recreates using stills the reels which Capra discarded and other cuts made along the way. The material gives a fascinating insight into the construction of the masterpiece and the director's conclusions concerning what was commercial and what was not. Harry Cohn, the head of Columbia Studios, also demanded some costly retakes.



The DVD also contains a worthwhile commentary about the film itself, deleted scenes and an alternate ending which was changed within a few weeks of the release. This DVD is an outstanding package and no viewer could not fail to become intrigued by the reconstruction as the search for the remaining 7 minutes of film continues.


Additional Information:

• Actors: Ronald Colman, Jane Wyatt, Edward Everett Horton, John Howard, Thomas Mitchell
• Directors: Frank Capra
• Writers: James Hilton, Robert Riskin, Sidney Buchman
• Producers: Frank Capra, Harry Cohn
• Format: NTSC
• Language: French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono), German (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono), English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono), Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono), Italian (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)
• Subtitles: English, Spanish, German, French, Italian, Hindi, Portuguese, Turkish, Danish, Icelandic, Bulgarian, Swedish, Hungarian, Polish, Dutch, Arabic, Finnish, Czech, Greek
• Region: Region 2 (Read more about DVD formats.)
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Run Time: 97 minutes (plus bonus material)

Download (Rapidshare):
http://rapidshare.com/files/260659771/Shangri-La.txt


Enjoy! :)