Musical Matinees (The Mavericks): Lost Horizon (1973)

Lost Horizon (1973) is a musical fantasy adventure film directed by Charles Jarrott and starring Peter Finch, Liv Ullmann, Sally Kellerman, George Kennedy, Michael York, Olivia Hussey, Bobby Van, James Shigeta, Charles Boyer and John Gielgud. It was also the final film produced by Ross Hunter. The film is a remake of Frank Capra's 1937 film of the same name, with a screenplay by Larry Kramer. Both stories were adapted from James Hilton's 1933 novel Lost Horizon.

Lost Horizon was lambasted by critics at the time of its 1973 release, but since then has developed a strong cult following. The film was chosen for a Command Performance before Queen Elizabeth, the first American film in seventeen years to receive this honor.

It was also selected for inclusion in the book The Fifty Worst Films of All Time, co-written by critic Michael Medved, and is listed in Golden Raspberry Award founder John Wilson's book The Official Razzie Movie Guide as one of The 100 Most Enjoyably Bad Movies Ever Made.

Over time, Lost Horizon has been recognized as a highly successful movie. It provides a gentle and idealised fantasy that allows the viewer to escape reality and find a world that represents the best that mankind is capable of achieving, if only for a couple of hours.

All the Maverick Musicals include an introduction, discussion and follow-up Q&A with Professors and Film Scholars Richard Edwards and Vanessa Theme Ament. Both Edwards and Ament have written extensively about the American Musical and especially about the impact of the Maverick Musicals had, and continue to have on modern culture and to new directions and new possibilities in American and European cinema.

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