Reviews
Lost Horizon: the Movie Behind the Myth
Spectacle, excitement, romance… Stirring, fantastic… Thrilling and compassionate… A grand adventure…A drama of heart's desire come true."
Such were the plaudits of the critics at the movie opening of the U$2 million extravaganza of Lost Horizon in New York in 1937. Heralded by three years of record-breaking book sales, Lost Horizon was an instant and enduring success at the box office as well. What would make James Hilton's "brooding masterpiece" such a sensation in the Western world in the 1930s? What was it about the land of Tibet cum Shangri-La that has continued to so capture the imagination of the West?