Lost Horizon is not nearly as bad as the box office numbers would suggest. Its chief failing is the audience comes to see Shangri-La and sees, well, Burbank. Actually, it looks more like the Huntington Gardens. It would have been better to improve upon the book's shortcomings rather than try to recreate it. Perhaps a "Wizard of Oz"-like plot, where all of the people meet along parallel paths to Shangri-La, only to discover their real sanctuary was where they came from.

I remember getting a preview copy of the album quite some time before the film was released. I loved the music, but would have to agree the vocal performances are a disaster. But, I was looking forward to seeing it in the theater. At nearly 2.5 hours in its roadshow release, I was checking my watch about 45 minutes into the piece. Even when I watch it on DVD today, there are large sections I fast forward through.

As others have noted, why didn't Ross Hunter hire people who could sing in the key roles? Probably studio pressure for "bankable" stars who were "hot" at the time. No doubt someone also observed Bacharach & David are pop song writers, and you don't need to be a very good vocalist to sing pop--right? Well, the more recent musical disaster, the aptly named "Mamma Mia!" ABBA tribute also suffered from dreadful vocal performances. So much for the "anyone can sing pop" theory. Make no mistake, Meryl Streep and Pierce Brosnan are fine actors, but they should never the be the leads in a musical! Why not cast Glenn Close?

But back to "Lost Horizon," I think the other problem is by the time this was released in 1972, the music and presentation were considered dated or "old school." Similar complaints were leveled at Hunters 1970 film "Airport"--calling it "old fashioned filmmaking."

So, you've got three things working against the film: a dull plot, dated music, and principal vocalists who can't sing. Now some have commented that the Hollywood musical was dead by 1972. There were some other big features that only had mediocre results at this time, but just 6 years later, "Grease," with a budget of just $6 million, earned almost $400 million at the box office. No doubt it was helped by a couple of hit singles, but there was certainly some audience interest still out there.

Disney seems to have found a formula that appeals to a new generation with its "High School Musical" series and its forthcoming "Teen Beach Musical." Several of the studio's animated musical features have been remade into successful Broadway musicals. Time will tell if there is a revival of interest in big budget, big screen musicals with principals who can actually sing.

I was flipping through the channels the other night with the volume down when I skipped past what appeared to be a documentary on Nepal or Tibet. I flipped back to see a beautifully photographed religious procession of oriental monks of some sort who were singing as they marched. Curious, I turned up the volume, and heard - to my disbelief - what appeared to be the outtakes from a recording session by the 'Mamas and the Papas' on a bad day, being sung by these monks. The combined sight & sound was unbelievable. Unable to avert my eyes, I watched, fascinated, in the same way one watches a train wreck.

This was "Lost Horizon", a mid 70's stinker that deserves a place among the top flops of all time, and could replace 'Plan Nine from Outer Space' as the worst movie ever made. It stars Peter Finch [sic!], John Gielgud (must have been desperate for work at the time), George Kennedy, Sally Kellerman, Liv Ullman , Michael York and Charles Boyer (his last - understandably - film). It is a MUSICAL based on the James Hilton novel about a band of westerners who discover the idyllic land of Shangri-La in the Himalayan mountains. Boyer plays the aged monk who founded the place; his makeup looks like wood putty applied with a trowel.

The costumes are by the people who just missed getting the contract for "Sgt. Pepper". The dialogue is like 'Brigadoon' meets 'The King and I' by way of 'Hair'. The big question is how they held back their laughter at the final screening.

The real stunner, however, is the musical score. I did not catch Burt Bachrach's name in the credits, and I can understand why he would want to be anonymous, but he is the perpetrator. These tunes are as easily remembered as the index to a software manual, and the lyrics sound like an unimaginable cross between Timothy Leary and Eleanor Roosevelt (with Leary straight and Eleanor strung out).

This film is SO bad it is worth seeing. Only then can you believe it. As Newsweek said at the time: "It cannot be enjoyed even as camp."

The musical remake of 'Lost Horizon' has been almost uniformly panned over the years and has long been unavailable on home video. So is it really that bad? Comparisons with the 1937 Ronald Colman classic aside, this Bacharach-David musical starts as an adventure story and only moves into song and dance fantasy about 45 minutes into the film, when the mixed bag of plane crash survivors (Peter Finch, Michael York, Sally Kellerman, George Kennedy, Bobby Van) discover Shangri-La, led by Oxford graduate Chang (John Gielgud) and the High Lama (Charles Boyer).

So the cast looks strong - and in Shangri-La is boosted by wimpy Olivia Hussey and pouty Liv Ullmann. But aside from Van there's no one with experience of musicals. More of that later.

The songs are not that memorable, aside from the melody which first introduces the fantasy village up in the mountains. The staging of musical numbers, by Fred Astaire's associate Hermes Pan, aren't that fascinating. However, there is still enough here to keep you watching: but whether it is from the impulse to watch a real turkey unfolding or from a need to watch the story to the end, I'm not sure.

I wouldn't really class this as a musical; there are too few songs. And Finch in particular is wasted in this although he plays his part dead straight.

The remake of Lost Horizon is a misfire, but not completely awful. Some criticisms of this film are justified, but by no means all. Give it a go and make up your own mind.