And that's mainly because his character keeps nagging everybody to run away.

Only Michael York emerges with any credibilty. Actually she bears a striking resemblance to Bill Clinton in some of her long shots. Swinging those bovine limbs of hers, singing some nonsense about the world being a circle which never ends - an apt description of the song - she seems light years away from Bergman.

But as for the rest - George Kennedy, Peter Finch, Sally Kellermann, John Gielgud, Olivia Hussey - well we aren't going to see them in a revival of '42nd Street' now are we? My favourite definitely has to be Kellermann and Hussey thumping around a library, the former looking bored, the latter very pregnant, singing what seems to be a 70s New Age version of the 'Green Acres' theme. The novel Lost Horizon was written in 1933 by British author James Hilton (of Goodbye, Mr. The 1937 film was a winner because, hey, what Frank Capra film in the '30s wasn't? But if we had to have a musical version, wouldn't it have been a good idea to hire a couple of musical stars?! Okay, at a push Bobby Van passes muster, and thank God that he's meant to be that annoying, because after five minutes the idea of him being lost in a snowdrift seemed eminently satisfying. With time, they learn that not everything is as it seems at this Utopian lamasery. James Hilton's novella, heaven knows, was a piece of fluff which tantalised rather than explored its themes. Lost Horizon by James Hilton is a fantastic 1930's escapist novel The story follows four Europeans stranded at a Tibetan lamasery for several months after their plane is hijacked and flown into the Himalayas. Hugh Conway, a veteran member of the British diplomatic service, finds inner peace, love, and a sense of purpose in Shangri-La, a utopian lamasery high in the Himalayas in Tibet. Unless they attempt a musical version of 'Schindler's List' this will probably be the all time champion in the 'Play it straight' stakes. Lost Horizon, novel by James Hilton, published in 1933. Here is a film which attempts to inspire and uplift, and I guess it succeeds, if for reasons quite different from those intended.

As Bette Midler used to say, 'I never miss a Liv Ullman musical'.

Lost horizon james hilton review