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Lost horizon found in my grandfather's war diaries.

posted 14 years ago by Theoverlook
11 replies | jump to latest

Recently i have been reading my granfather's war diaries and trying to salvage some of the information due to them being damaged in parts. In 1943-45 my grandfather was stationed in the far east(Burma/India)with a fighter squadron. He had a terrible time out there as you can imagine, fighting the enemy, disease and seeing his friends killed.

With the airfield being behind the front line as such he was able to view movies at the camp cinema and also the picture house on what little leave he got. He kept a record of every movie he seen and what he thought of it. Makes for a facinating read to a movie buff like myself. He mentions seeing Lost horizon at the camp cinema one night and describes it as one of the best movies he ever saw. Other titles that get a mention are Casablanca, Action in the north atlantic, Bataan, Double indemnity, Captain blood, Goodbye mr chips etc.

I watched Lost horizon with him as a kid on tv before he died and regard it as one of my favourite movies. I like the story of discovering a lost world with peace and happiness and i think my granfather did too. Viewing this during the horror of WW2, a place like Shangri-La must have felt like a good place to be.

[–] dlevy1201 14 years ago

How special to have your grandfather's diaries.

I wonder, at the time you saw Lost Horizon on TV with your grandfather, did you know it was one of his favorite movies? Were you the film buff you are now?

[–] Theoverlook 14 years ago

Yes i did know it was one of his favourite movies, i remember at the time he was keen to watch it with me and he told me so. I forget how old i was, maybe 11 or 12 years old. When i was a kid i prefered old b/w movies.......today's kids probably would'nt give the time of day to a b/w movie. I got into films from a very early age and remember three in particular......The guns of navarone, Jason and the argonauts and The pride and the passion. Must have been about 5 years old. My earliest memory of the cinema is seeing Snow white and the seven dwarfs and E.T. Whats been yours?.

[–] dlevy1201 14 years ago

My goodness that is a difficult question my first memories of watching movies was very long time ago.

In the theater it probably was Mary Poppins (1964).

However, I was a big fan of "Million Dollar Movie". They showed older movies weekends on a local channel in NYC. I remember seeing:
King Kong (1933) w/ Fay Wray
Samson and Delilah (1949) w/ Victor Mature & Hedy Lamarr.
Everything Errol Flynn, like The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939).
Those were the basis of my obsession with film.

[–] Theoverlook 14 years ago

I like that movie The Adventures of Robin Hood and Basil Rathbone in particular. He was brilliant as sherlock holmes in those atmospheric tales from the 40's, another series of movies from my childhood that i was into.

[–] oscarinca 13 years ago

I have not seen this movie so far though I've heard by someone who knows about movies (like myself) is an excellent film. Anyway I'm moved by this thread, sharing something like this with grandpa, perhaps with suffering, regrets and pain within his heart due to his experiences at war.

There's a thin gap between skepticism and cynicism

[–] wolflair-1 12 years ago

My mom was a big movie buff. She grew up in the 30s in Ohio and when she had a chance, her sisters and brothers would take her to the movies. She was the 11th of 12 kids! She would watch those movies during the summer. We had a local station in Sacramento that played them. I enjoyed the old movies of the 30s and 40s. When I married my husband, I found a true soul mate. He also loves the old movies. We watch everything! My mom was fond of westerns. My husband and I love the war movies and mysteries.

We live in Texas now and keep it on TCM most of the time.

My favorites are the Thin Man movies, I love William Powell and Myrna Loy. My husband said Myrna was so hot! Anything with Bogart, Powell, Grant, Stewart, Gable or Flynn are my favorites as well as war movies. My favorite war movie is not from that era but "The Longest Day" made in the early 60s. My mom said my facination with WWII - I had to have been a soldier at Normandy in my previous life. I was in the Army in the 70s. She would tell my sister she must have been on the Titanic for her facination with anything Titanic. I told my sister, yes, third class!

I don't care for the computer generated movies of today. Harry Potter and some of the others have their place but they don't seem to have the pure enjoyment of the movies of 70 years ago. A lot are just no more than flash. It is sad that so many younger people don't even want to watch the older movies. They are missing out on so much. I have a friend whose son will not watch anything in black and white. Sad...

[–] Theoverlook 12 years ago

They certainly don't make them like they used to that's for sure. Bored of all the CGI now and find myself going back in time to find a decent movie to watch. Story over effects will win every time!

Sgt. Jock McTaggart: I just like to fight, with weapons or without.

[–] droptoonswatchacid 12 years ago

it is threads like this one that keep me on this website.

i very much appreciate hearing of each of your personal journeys into the world of cinema.

thank you for this.

I was trying my hardest to make a Jacques Tati movie.

[–] Theoverlook 12 years ago

Glad to have kept your interest. It's good to share our experiences in life and the world of film. It's a pity at times when morons engage in this site.

Sgt. Jock McTaggart: I just like to fight, with weapons or without.

[–] jennylynmasters 10 years ago

What a lovely story.

[–] [deleted] 7 years ago

I thought you were going to say that his diaries described how he actually found the real-life location of Shangri-La, where people are immortal and everything is utopian.