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Lost
Horizon (1937)
In director Frank Capra's classic adventure and romantic
fantasy about Shangri-La:
- the opening scene of the last group of white westerner
refugees flown out to Shanghai on a plane, as bullets flew about
an airfield in war-torn China in 1935, and the introduction of
the main character: courageous British diplomat (Foreign Secretary-designate),
Far Eastern writer and idealistic dreamer Robert Conway (Ronald
Colman)
- after being hijacked, the plane's crash-landing in
the Tibetan Himalayas, followed soon by the first views of the idyllic
valley of Shangri-La - a paradise on Earth - where the group of survivors
was led by Chang (H.B. Warner)
- Robert Conway's spying on 30 year-old Sondra (Jane
Wyatt in her film debut) skinny-dipping in a mountain pool, and his
growing romance with her
- the scene of Sondra explaining to world-weary Robert
how she was orphaned after her explorer-parents died during a lost
expedition in the "wild country beyond the pass," and how
she was brought up at Shangri-La and the aging process had slowed:
("Perhaps because you've always been a part of Shangri-La without
knowing it... I'm sure of it, just as I'm sure there's a wish for
Shangri-La in everyone's heart. I've never seen the outside world,
but I understand there are millions and millions of people who are
supposed to be mean and greedy. And I just know that secretly, they
are all hoping to find a garden spot where there is peace, security,
where there's beauty and comfort, where they wouldn't have to be
mean and greedy. Oh, I just wish the whole world might come to this
valley") - Robert was still astounded by the promise of life
at Shangri-La and his feelings of deja-vu, as they talked
in a cherry-blossoming orchard
- the High Lama's (Sam Jaffe) discussion with Conway
about the reason and purpose for the establishment of Shangri-La:
("We have reason. It is the entire meaning and purpose of Shangri-La.
It came to me in a vision long, long ago. I saw all the nations strengthening,
not in wisdom, but in the vulgar passions and the will to destroy.
I saw their machine power multiplying until a single weaponed man
might match a whole army. I foresaw a time when man exulting in the
technique of murder, would rage so hotly over the world, that every
book, every treasure would be doomed to destruction. This vision
was so vivid and so moving that I determined to gather together all
things of beauty and culture that I could and preserve them here
against the doom toward which the world is rushing. Look at the world
today. Is there anything more pitiful? What madness there is! What
blindness! What unintelligent leadership! A scurrying mass of bewildered
humanity crashing headlong against each other, compelled by an orgy
of greed and brutality. The time must come, my friend, when this
orgy will spend itself, when brutality and the lust for power must
perish by its own sword. Against that time is why I avoided death
and am here and why you were brought here. For when that day
comes, the world must begin to look for a new life. And it is our
hope that they may find it here. For here, we shall be with their
books and their music and the way of life based on one simple rule:
Be kind. When that day comes, it is our hope that the brotherly love
of Shangri-La will spread throughout the world"); when he finished,
the High Lama stood and smiled with a broad, toothless grin
The High Lama's Description of the Purpose for
Shangri-La
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- the sequence of the High Priest's designation of
the idealistic, like-minded Robert Conway as his successor (the
High Priest had arranged with Sondra for Conway's abduction) before
he was to peacefully expire at about 200 years of age: ("I
am placing in your hands the future and destiny of Shangri-La,
for I am going to die. I knew my work was done when I first set
eyes upon you. I've waited for you, my son, for a long time. I've
sat in this room and seen the faces of newcomers. I've looked into
their eyes and heard their voices, always in hope that I might
find you. My friend, it is not an arduous task that I bequeath,
for our order knows only silken bonds. To be gentle and patient,
to care for the riches of the mind, to preside in wisdom while
the storm rages without...You, my son, will live through the storm.
You will preserve the fragrance of our history and add to it a
touch of your own mind. Beyond that, my vision weakens but I see
at a great distance a new world stirring in the ruins, stirring
clumsily but in hopefulness, seeking its lost and legendary treasures,
and they will all be here, my son, hidden behind the mountains
in the Valley of the Blue Moon, preserved as by a miracle")
- while leaving the Valley, Robert's one last look
back, in a closeup image, for a final tearful and anguished view
of the paradise refuge - one of the film's most memorable and powerful
moments - as he departed from Shangri-La
- the withered aging of Maria's (Margo) face after
leaving the idyllic paradise where she had grown up, as Robert's
impulsive younger brother George (John Howard) screamed at his brother
who was carrying Maria slung on his back: ("Look at her face!
Her face! Look at her face!"); George could not bear to see
the decomposing body of the beloved woman (who was actually over
60 years of age) - and he committed suicide by throwing himself off
the cliff
George's Reaction to Maria's Withering Face
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- the next-to-last scene regarding the missing Robert
Conway, who had been found alive in a Chinese mission suffering
from amnesia (about the entire previous year); as Conway was being
brought home to England by explorer Lord Gainsford (Hugh Buckler)
aboard the SS Manchuria, he remembered
Shangri-La on his return voyage - and jumped ship - determined
to return to Shangri-La; back in England after a futile 10 month
search for Conway, Gainsford offered a toast and salute: ("Yes.
Yes, I believe it. I believe it because I want to believe it. Gentlemen,
I give you a toast. Here's my hope that Robert Conway will find
his Shangri-La. Here's my hope that we all find our Shangri-La")
- the film's final image - a bearded and fatigued Robert
Conway struggled through the snow to regain and recapture his lost
dream by returning to Shangri-La - he viewed the sanctuary of the
lost valley through an elusive mountain entrance, and the bells pealed
again
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First View of Shangri-La
Sondra Caught Skinny-Dipping
Sondra's Wish: "Oh I just wish the whole world might
come to this valley"
Growing Romance
The High Priest Designating Robert as His Successor
Robert's Last Look Back at Shangri-La
Lord Gainsford's Toast to Robert and Shangri-La
Robert's Return to Shangri-La
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