With animation taking such steps towards reality, and since we have the complete sound track and the stills and the screenplay...could the missing footage be replaced with very realistic animation?
The early bird might get the worm,
But the 2nd mouse gets the cheese!
Kindeyes
Probably. It just depends if anyone wants and has the money to do it.
shareI was lucky enough to see this film on TV in the 1960's when all the footage was intact. I can't understand why it couldn't have been completely preserved somehow. I've seen it twice since, the last time on Turner, and still enjoy it immensely although I'm sure there used to be much more footage about the rapidly aging woman, in considerable graphic detail.
shareConsidering the Vietnam War Mongers were ready to cash in on some huge $$$$! Who in that time wanted a "Can't we get along" theme running around in the 60's?
Even the director cut his own picture so as not to appear "Anti-War" during WWII?
No...if the right side could destroy the whole of film, every copy would be ashes!
It's probably one of the most important piece of film history that has been destroyed forever.
Yes, I watched "Lost Horizon" during the 50's and early 60's!
i thought I was crazy reading these comments, but I also saw this movie on tv in the 1950s on CKLW late night from Detroit or Ontario Canada. and it had both the boat scene at the beginning and the ending with Jane at the cave welcoming Coleman back. Must have been a copy of the preview version? I liked this version better than the restored version I bought a couple years ago and was surprised that the ending was different. A lot of comments were that this version was never released but I couldn't have made this up at 8 years old. Also, I remember also that the cave scene when the girl ages was longer than the restored version. Thanks for posting so that I know I'm not crazy.
shareI highly recommend Frank Capra's autobiography, The Name Above the Title. I consider it one of the best Hollywood bios.
He has a whole section on Lost Horizon and why he cut out big parts of it, mostly, if I remember correctly, because of a preview audience's response and the studio thinking the movie was too long.
These parts were cut out prior to the initial commercial release. The "pacifistic" parts were those cut out at the beginning of WWII. Also, I believe the British had problems with the racist tone of the beginning of the movie and would only show it with those parts removed to audiences in what was then known as the British Empire.
As for the possibility of recreating the missing parts via CGI, I wouldn't consider that an improvement. The cinema art relies a great deal upon the suspension of disbelief, especially when viewing process shots. The still shots on my copy of Lost Horizon let the mind wander to what might have been and not attempt to recreate it.
Generally speaking, those artistically-created shots which succeed the best obtrude the least. I know that is 180° retrograde to current pop culture, but when I see some of today's CGI animation, my response is generally Homer Simpson's "Meh."
I watched this movie when it was shown on tv with my mother when I was quite young. She had seen it on its original release in Glasgow. I remember her remarking that they hadn't shown the beginning, which was set on a boat with Colman's character telling his story. It wasn't until years later that I read that this sequence was supposed to have been removed before it's full release but in fact it was in the original prints that were shown in Scotland at least. I hope that the visual elements to match the complete soundtrack eventually surface. Although even in its truncated (TV) form I think it's a great movie.
shareGood comment as the book begins on a boat. Conway has been found. He tells his story to another character during the night. However, he then slips away again... searching for his Shangri-La.
As they say at the end of the movie: Here's my hope that we all find our Shangri-La.
This is my hope also. With recent releases of Star Trek (the original series) with added special effects that add so much while taking away nothing from the story, with CGI people becoming more and more realistic (and more and more up-close) in movies like Lord of the Rings and Oblivion, and with actors who have died in production being added in via CGI, I think it's only a matter of time before someone does the same for Lost Horizon. Certainly, the possibility exists that someone would do a half-baked effort, but having seen what can be accomplished, I know it can be done well if there's enough money and will to do it.
"Oh no, not the bees! NOT THE BEES! AAAAAHHHHH! AAAAAHHH! OH THEY'RE IN MY EYES! MY EYES! ARGGGHH!"
Doesn't the originating studio have considerable say? Or Capra's estate? Why would they go to the expense? To squeeze out a 0.2 ratings uptick on IMDB? It would probably just engender another thread about how the original vision was "corrupted".
shareI dunno, they might want to make some money, what with it being a classic movie and all. I've heard people like money.
"Oh no, not the bees! NOT THE BEES! AAAAAHHHHH! AAAAAHHH! OH THEY'RE IN MY EYES! MY EYES! ARGGGHH!"