Lost Horizon 1973 - The World Is A Circle - Liv Ullman - Bobby Van

[SkidMunro]

I believe it was Bette Midler who, back in 1973, publicly cracked "I never miss a Liv Ullmann musical!"  For anyone interested in reading a really blistering review of "Lost Investment", check out Pauline Kael's brilliant take in her book "Reeling" - she not only legitimately slams this misbegotten remake of a great 1937 Capra classic, she neatly vivisects James Hilton's original short novel. You'll never view "Shangri-La" and its benevolently totalitarian despots quite the same way again.

[millie165712]

never seen the movie but love this song it gives the point ``no matter what shape or size , there is still a whole bigger place to explore.'''

[ChweeEng]

The movie Lost Horizon and especially this song reminds me of my good friend Bee Keen who passed away a few years ago. I watched this movie together with her when we were 15 years old, way back in 1973. God bless you dear friend.

[beutuoy1]

Good Song. Crap Film.

[johnbarry007]

I think this is the last film i saw with my mum, she died not long after. As a lone parent from the year 64/74 i think she brought me up well. She loved this film, and most musicals as a whole. Thanks for the memories boinx1234

Ray :) x

[neptunevenus]

OMG!! I wanted to live at Shangri-La when I was little! Thank you soo much for posting this! I haven't seen it since it came out!! I almost cried when I started watching this! ;)

[Johngalt43]

Gotta love Liv Ullmann's boobs colliding with the camera at 2:21.

[KIMORID]

Só alquem viveu esta época pode compreende.... A MÚSICA É COMO A MATEMÁTICA. INFINITA

[Cineramicfilms]

GOOD NEWS. Sony is finally releasing this film on DVD with extras. Project is finished. Release date is Christmas if not sooner.

[Anynom]

@Cineramicfilms Oh, please let it have a commentary track by the Medved brothers, who featured it in three of their "Golden Turkey" books.

[showstartsatdusk]

@Anynom The Medved brothers??? Those guys are SICK

[Anynom]

@showstartsatdusk Harry and MIchael? I don't know, books are pretty funny as they rip movies like this to shreds.

[showstartsatdusk]

@Anynom yeah, they can criticize, but can they MAKE A MOVIE? No. They have no real creative ability outside of coming down on something. Can't stand people who just rip, mock and tear something apart without having the ability to do it themselves. The Medveds are BIG PUT DOWN QUEENS and there's no other word for those two.

[WillShakespeare2007]

@showstartsatdusk - I totally agree with you. A friend of mine is a critic and he recently called David Williams (British comic) an "attention whore" as he swam 140 miles up the Thames to raise £2 million for Red Nose Day. Imagine the hard work and training he did to get that remark in the press.

I have another friend who has refused to appear on a recent charity show as he knows the press will attack him and say he is doing it to get attention.

It is very easy to sit back and attack others.

[sadiepartington]

Watching this number always reminds me of a combination of Julie Andrews and the children in "The Sound of Music" and Deborah Kerr and children in "The King and I"-but no matter. The movie was so-so but I am a big fan of Mr. Bacharach and have loved his music since I was a child. I actually got to meet him once so that was pure icing on the cake! :-)

[TheLizzie12]

I so love baddddddd Hollywood musicals of the 1970s, and there were plenty! This has to be one of the worst. In the UK, Coronation Street fans will be thrilled to see little Simon Barlow being picked up by Liv UIlman @1.11 and shouting "Whoah!" (ha ha).

[boinx1234]

@TheLizzie12

Looks like the actual kid may be Michael Bernal aka Miguel Bernal. Anyone know for sure?

[ScrapNfight]

@TheLizzie12 You're just a jaded bitter old woman

[fkd1963]

Is this the Burt Bacharach homage to "Getting to Know You"? Liv is no Deborah Kerr. :)

[boinx1234]

@fkd1963

True, but they both were dubbed! = )

[fkd1963]

@boinx1234 Although Deborah does a little of her own singing in the film and actually did not need to be dubbed.

[boinx1234]

@fkd1963

Actually, Deborah did no singing at all in the film. She spoke the opening lines of "Getting To Know You" but that's all. If you have audio of her singing, I'd love to hear it, but by her own admission she was not capable of singing this role. That's why she worked with Marni Nixon for months before filming to help her achieve a perfect vocal match.

[fkd1963]

@boinx1234 She sings some of "Shall I Tell You What I Think of You?"

[boinx1234]

@fkd1963

Nope. She did only the speaking parts of that number. Check my other channel, lostvocals4, for the proof.

[miamimann1]

Well it is nice to see a time were movies had a lot of stars in them not like today with maybe 2 or 3.....use the music is sappy in places but it beats the hell out of some of the stuff i hear now......

[vanjane]

Lost Horizon and Finnians Rainbow. My favourite old time movies. Can watch them over and over.

[showstartsatdusk]

Lost Horizon was the last dramatic musical to be filmed in the traditional sense of films like WEST SIDE STORY, THE SOUND OF MUSIC and OLIVER! After the release of CABARET, it was no longer acceptable for characters to break out into song to express emotion. Songs had to be presented realistically on a stage, in a club or a private monolog like in YENTL. LH is post Cabaret. After that all musicals were done as silly comedies (GREASE) and then later, MTV quick cut style EVITA, CHICAGO.

[vinylrecord68]

I have the Disneyland LP with this song (also "Living Together, Growing Together" and "Question Me an Answer")...and it's one of my favorites.

[carrychris2010]

I think if you could set aside your 20th and 21th cynicism for A couple of hours you might get some enjoyment out of this movie. True it dose not hold A candle to the original but it was in no means A disaster as the critiques had panned it.

[Lennythewinner]

I just adore this song, the way it waltzes along with such energy and the sunshine choreography ~~

[TheChequeredHorse1]

This film defies belief... This is like forty minutes into the film and out of nowhere comes this song! There had only been two songs in the movie up to this point and both were pretty much excusable by context (theme song and a dance number for entertainment purposes) but after this you get a song every five minutes!

[boinx1234]

@TheChequeredHorse1

Actually, it's also excusable - it's supposed be the kind of song often sung in classrooms. I remember singing songs like this when I was in grade school.

[burnt62]

I watch this clip and it makes me cry with joy. Thanks for posting

[eldiran2]

Yes, the film did very badly, and is considered to have killed the Musical Film as a medium...still, you have some very clever concepts in the Bacharach songs, even if they are poorly delivered (Sally Kellerman singing???) Overall, the film just doesn't work, not as a version of "Lost Horizon" and not as a musical, and not as a Film.

[showstartsatdusk]

@eldiran2 I know this film is often blamed but it was actually CABARET that killed off the musical genre. Why? Because it changed the rules of dramatic musicals. No longer was it acceptable for characters to break out into song in a scene to express emotion. It had to be done in a realistic setting like in a club or on a stage.

[eldiran2]

@showstartsatdusk You make a valid point, but IF "Lost Horizon" had been competently directed and choreographed, people would have perhaps still gone for the 'old style' musical. The did for "Oliver" only a few years before, even though "Hello Dolly" had been aptly panned by the critics and audiences for its mediocre directing in the same period.Honestly, I studied Film, and it seems fair to pick out "Dolly" and "Horizon" as being too big and clumsy to carry the tradition through.

[showstartsatdusk]

@eldiran2 Dolly's grosses were high and it was nominated for a slew of Oscars including Best Picture. I have been very critical of Hermes Pan, not just in this movie but in others. HOWEVER, at this late date, the choreography suggests the giddy happiness that Hilton wrote about in his novel. There's only a few spots where it looks REALLY silly. Not in this number however, although Van looks a little silly in his movements. Liv Ullmann is the ultimate princess in paradise. She's beautiful.

[boinx1234]

@showstartsatdusk

I think the real crime is the lyrics. "Start with a man and you have one, add on a woman and then you have two. Add on a child and what have you got? You've got more than three. You've got what we call a family." My god, who ever let that one through? And poor James Shigeta had to sing it while trying to look believable.

[diverbob8]

I saw this movie in my youth and I still think about it.

[churchillng]

question me an answer, answer me the questions,

why it won't happen in the dream house again

[padsgendmusk]

i saw this movie when i was a little girl growing up in the Philippines, i loved this movie, and i'm glad to see parts of it here again, loved the music.

[Hendrikdevuile]

The Sound of Music in the Himalayas! It just didn't work, and seemed especially bad to anyone who had seen the original Ronald Colman version. I hope they paid Sir John Gielgud enough to compensate for his embarrassment - he looked a real twerp..

[frodo322]

This movie was bad, sorry but the songs were so lame, the singing voices were dubbed, there was hardly any dancing and the choreography was crappy. And it's not that I can't apprenciate good films, but this one wasn't. A good cast didn't save this. It made it into some list of the worst so-bad-they-are-good films of all time

[kittkat42]

I really loved the music in this film but didn't like the film itself which is weird for me.

[nenesporps]

Este foi o 1º Filme que assisti no Cinema - Horizonte Perdido, no extinto Cine Payssandù

[flarbton]

i have this LP, only i don't have a turn table to play it on.

[markspeakman]

A lovely film with beautiful music. For me this tune is the soundtrack to Heaven. Thank you for uploading the vid.

[laurameyer76]

My mom made me watch this movie when I was a kid & I quickly fell in love with the music. I still go around the house singing these songs. I now sing the sings to my baby son :) Wish the movie would have received the recognition it deserves.

[skygirl1924]

I haven't seen this in so long. It still brings a smile to my face. Thanks for posting.

[johnsax1445]

Poor Liv Ullman--she looks so embarrassed to be in this crap film. Must have paid her a lot to be in this (where choreography is apparently to flail your arms to and fro, just for starters).

[holaryhilary]

worst film ever...Lost Horizon (1973)...best film ever Lost Horizon (1937), the only thing wrong with the brilliant 1937 film is that the Llamasary supposedly built in the 1700s is in the mid 1930s Art Deco style !

[JohnnyContagious]

@holaryhilary Couldn't agree more. As for the Art Deco lamasery... that's Hollywood.

[darkkramer666]

holy shit this is utterly terrible

[dontcindyme]

My cat is very upset about her voice. She's biting me to turn it off.

[dontcindyme]

@scottoro It's obviously the Smoke Monster...

[frankd1965]

Oscar Winners Peter Finch & Sir John Geilgud

[prestush]

Thanks for posting what is truly a period piece. We sang this song in school chorus back in about '74 and I've liked it ever since, though I have never watched the movie from beginning to end.

[gpluiz]

Lindo.

[JOSECARLOS3311]

Vídeo lindíssimo que faz parte de um filme belíssimo dos velhos e bons tempos!!!

[prestush]

This is such an awesome song. I'm so glad they are letting the video be on YouTube.

[Pixiesnix]

Thanks for posting, I've always heard how bad this movie is, and now I know! Blech! Patooey!

[COCO4LS]

I have always loved this song

[OakvilleBusiness]

Awesome song! There is also a video on utube showing Burt Bacharach recording this song with the kids. I saw this movie twice in the theater when it was out in the 70s and it was hard to find it for quite a long time, thanks for posting!

[boinx1234]

@OakvilleBusiness

Yep, click on Aniversário de Burt Bacharach above to watch it.

[zackyko]

ohhh, how i love this movie, i bought the VHS..then..liv is so beautiful & a fine actor!!!!yes..the best song of the world....great...great.

[lotte456123]

ty from denmark

[Owlzindabarn]

That outfit makes Liv look like the Reverend Mother from "The Flying Nun."

[romcopper]

Why is it that the lead woman character in these BIG musicals are always teachers? Then they do a BIG number with a bunch of brats!

[baloo727]

oh my God i saw this movie I was 17 y/o and still remember y loved it!!!

[TheNEWfilmfanatic99]

Why did they use the muppets for the asian children?

[petetuason]

unforgettable movie especially the songs are choiced cut coming from the maestro Burt Bucharach

[CharmingSage]

This movie was terrible. Watch the original instead.

[vintolho]

movie unforgetable ,música e filme inesquecível, thank you ,for posting !

[KarenM526]

Aww! I saw this movie in the theater and HAD to have the record (yes, an LP). I still remember all these words. This was a very sweet scene - thanks for posting!

[giganticus999]

Great song, best heard and not seen due to the lousy choreography in this film.

[sibila64]

I absolutely love this .. reminds me of my childhood .. my younger sister always wanted me to sing this on a good or bad day whenever .. i love this!

[dessert57]

Love the film, not matter what the critics said :) and Miiko Taka is in it, enough reason for me :))

[ramblergarage]

@dessert57 you are right, the critics are usually wrong

[filmfanatic99]

i imagined better choreography and direction when I listend to this song.

[Gerryrph]

I'm another lover of the movie!! What a find

[cinebird]

I really like this movie. Great songs that you can sing alone to.

[OceanKingNY]

The movie never did explain how Liv Ullman's character, who supposedly came to Shangri-La as a baby, grew up with a Swedish accent. LOL

I saw this movie when it first came out.  It wasn't bad at all. Movie critics of the early 70s just enjoyed trashing movie musicals because they preferred grittier films like "The Godfather" and "Deliverance." This movie and Lucille Ball's "Mame" were casualties of that critic bias.

[Gaughran69er]

Great place to start a Cult!

[showstartsatdusk]

Very TUNEFUL! Sounds great in Stereo. Thanks for posting. This film might have been a disappointment to some when it was released, but as the years go on, it gets better looking and sounding. A real gem!

[BigDeanoSyd]

Looked this up because I served Liv tonight in the restaurant I work in, Sailors Thai in Sydney, she was as lovely and natural as ever, looking great for 71 and no 'work' done

[BroadwayGuy25]

Gotta love Liv! Despite being dubbed here, she did in fact star on Broadway in the (albeit short-lived) musical version of "I Remember Mama", Richard Rodgers' last major score.

[ticket88]

Yes! Definitely a favorite! Very inspirational...learned the words to this one when the movie came out and it helped me get through many situations going through adolescence. Just like "Up From The Roses" from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Kids need uplifting stuff like that...not like the CRAP they get fed today.

[Cineramicfilms]

Just saw this at the Egyptian Theatre. It was a beautiful print and the film is more enjoyable now than ever before. The audience loved it and applauded afterwards.

[knoxvilleguy2]

People laugh at the film / miniseries / tv movie now, but I loved it as teen - ager, even though it was full of misconceptions & stereotypes about Tibetans, Buddhists, etc. For the 70's - 80's it wasn't too bad, & the Bacharach numbers weren't too bad. AND it was paying loose homage to a classic novel & film w / I haven't read or viewed in a while ( Read the novel in High School without it even being " assigned reading " ) .

[hagridssister]

Thank you for posting! I love this movie! I went to see it with my sister when we were young and we both loved the songs from this movie!

[dublinboyo]

Bought the soundtrack in 1973 because one of my classmates in elementary school was an extra in the film. You know, 34 years later, it ain't half bad! American Cinemateque wil screen this film in August.

[PeppinoCiraci]

I'm gonna see a Burt Bacharach concert in Matera (Italy) and I hope he signs the cover of the album "Lost horizon" that I have with me. Next september I'll make a short movie with "The world is a circle" as soundtrack. This song and "Close to you" are my favourite.Everytime I listen it I'm ill, but I like it.

[GillianTom]

I really love the music from this film. Thanks for putting it up.

[shela2]

My favourite music film of all time. 5* Thankyou for posting,,,,,

[cuddleyduddley]

34 years later, and this movie is still in my top ten of all best!!!

[Cineramicfilms]

One thing that people in this country don't know about LOST HORIZON is that it made alot of money overseas. Only in America did it fail commercially. It recouped it's cost in it's foreign markets.

[Cineramicfilms]

Beautiful song, beautiful woman. Totally underrated film musical. This musical had a strong story going for it. Way stronger than most musical films. The strange mixture of straight drama and pop tunes made it quirky. Why shouldn't paradise be a slightly goofy place? It's a wonderful musical that deserves to be rediscovered. Thanks for posting.

[kermitefrog64]

I love this song and the message of the movie. Paradise is coming but not by man's doing. Paradise will come about by the Will of our Creator who is the Happy God.

(1 Timothy 1:11) Paradise is a place for Children and Adults that they will enjoy life to its fullest with laughing, and merry making and truely enjoyable work as the Earth will be transformed back to a beautiful place to live with no more sickness, death, outcry or pain the former things have passed away. Revelation 21:4.

[Cineramicfilms]

Well said and if you like this one, check out the video I just edited together to a piece of music that was in the Columbia archives, never heard or released to the general public: SALLY KELLERMAN deleted LIVING TOGETHER music LOST HORIZON

[nurvrax]

Excellent posting

[BurntFeet]

Easily one of my favourite songs, and now in HD Stereo! Thank you SO much!

Honestly, I can't understand why anyone would fault this song. Sure, it has its faults. But, tbh, complaining about a song with a warm message and an equally warm delivery is crude. :]

[scottoro]

I actually saw this thing in a theatre when it came out. My favorite reviewer comment was Pauline Kael's: "Only Ross Hunter could remake a 1937 movie into a 1935 one".