While escaping from incipit war in Manchuria, the plane containing new British Foreign Secretary Bob Conway (Ronald Colman) and four other passengers is hijacked and taken to the Himalayas. But before they can decide who to eat first (my money was on the annoying paleontologist (Edward Everett Horton)), they are rescued by a mysterious monk (H. B. Warner) and taken to Shangri-La, a magical land of perpetual spring where all ailments are cured and there is peace. Also where everyone speaks English and there's still a servant class of natives. Bob finds himself instantly at home, helped by the presence of Sondra (Jane Wyatt) who was rescued as an infant and grew up in the monastery, but his brother, George (John Howard), smells a rat. George doesn't believe any of the utopia's propaganda and wants to go back to England, where he can continue to live off his older brother's name and fortune. Bob has to choose between his life as a diplomat and remote seclusion with the woman he loves.
The White Savior narrative is strong with this one. The film is based on the novel of the same name, written by James Hilton in 1933. Hilton got the idea from a travelogue written by two priests he found in the British Museum. It also closely resembles Thomas More's Utopia in its description of how the monastery handles its basic needs. I didn't read Hilton's book, but I did read the Wikipedia synopsis and while there were a few liberties taken, the sense of it remains the same. In both versions, the Himalayan oasis of tranquility and goodwill was founded by a Catholic priest and exists to save peak Western culture against the inevitable collapse of society.
And that's just the most obvious Yikes in this! There's also the colonialist condescension of the white passengers towards the Asian servants, food, and clothing, George's flat-out racism, and the depiction of the Tibetan porters (played by Indigenous Americans) and Russian Shangri-La resident, Maria (played by Mexican-American actress Margo), as callous, amoral liars.
Why is this movie still celebrated, you ask? Well, if you've ever heard the words Shangri-La, you have James Hilton to thank. He made it up. It was hugely popular and became the first mass-market paperback. FDR liked it so much, he named the presidential retreat after it (later renamed Camp David). Marvel Comics used it as a basis for Iron Fist's K'un L'un and DC turned it into Nanda Parbat. Movie's still super racist, though.
Lost Horizon was restored by the UCLA Film and Television Archive and Sony in 1998, after scouring archives for full, unedited prints. About seven minutes of the film are still lost, but a full soundtrack was found and the missing scenes were added using stills from the production. It's not perfect, but it's damn good work. This is the version that is currently streaming on Criterion. It's an interesting film if you are into restoration, old movies, or Hollywood history.
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