 Lutz presents Hollywood the Lutz radio theater brings you Ronald Coleman in Lost Horizon with Donald Crisp and Lynn Carver ladies and gentlemen your producer mr. Cecil B. DeMille greetings from Hollywood ladies and gentlemen tonight's play gave the language a new word for an old dream the word is Shangri-La the name of the beautiful far country in James Hilton's novel Lost Horizon and the dream is man's eternal vision of a land completely civilized peaceful and free high in the rugged mountains of Tibet lies Shangri-La a world apart from war and rumors of war whole centuries ahead of its time but even the best of all possible worlds must have people and people will always be human that's what makes mr. Hilton's magnificent adventure tale a fine human drama and the story of a very human love too if you saw Lost Horizon on the screen you wouldn't picture anyone else but Ronald Coleman in the starring role and neither could we I still have the many fine letters you wrote about his performance here last year in libel and I believe this play will inspire you even more with Ronald Coleman you'll hear Donald crisp and Lynn Carver as two of the people that are part of the strange story of Shangri-La and luck soap by the way will be perfectly at home with mr. Hilton's globetrotting play tonight right next to the distant mountains where our story takes place is Turkestan a wild forbidding sparsely inhabited country just the other night Mrs. DeMille and I were reading a book written by an adventurous gentleman who'd traveled straight across Turkestan on horseback far up in the Himalaya Mountains his party stopped for the night at a native home and following the custom of the country he gave a present to the three ladies of the household he gave them each one cake of luck's toilet soap much to his astonishment each of the women put the soap in a small bag and hung it around her neck in that lost horizon of the hills luck's toilet soap was much too precious to be used it was to be treasured like like some work of art remember that the next time you get a new cake down from the shelf and I know you'll remember lost horizon starring Ronald Coleman as Conway with Donald crisp as the high llama Lynn Carver as low 10 and Dennis Green as Malanson the curtain rises on the first act far out on the pacific the steamship moves slowly through the midnight fog shrouded in mist her huge hulk glides ghostlike over a glassy sea in the lounge almost deserted and heavy with shadows a man is seated at the piano his face is thin and pale he plays very softly absently his eyes fixed far ahead as if seeing into the future or trying to remember the past long day ahead of us tomorrow don't you think it better turn in old man rather late Conway don't you hear me Conway anything you say please don't stop playing please that last selection was quite beautiful may I inquire the name of it well what was it Conway the name of that selection I don't know it's something I I oh something why beg your pardon my name is Rudolph Seafkin Seafking the pianist you know me I've heard you play many times my name is Rutherford this gentleman is Mr Conway how do you do oh no don't stop go on please super but I can't quite place it I remember now it's by Chopin Chopin no no no not Chopin very much in his style but definitely not Chopin I know it's by Chopin really but I flatter myself that I know everything of Chopin's everything that was ever published well this wasn't published so then how do you happen to know it it was taught to me a few months ago by one of Chopin's pupils Mr Conway chooses to have a joke with me not only a pupil but a friend Mr Conway may I remind you of one thing this friend of Chopin's do you realize that to be alive today he would have to be somewhere in the neighborhood of say 130 years of age yes he was with Chopin the night he died in 1849 Rutherford I I believe I'll take a walk around the deck good night perhaps Mr Conway resented my intrusion you'll have to forgive my friend sir he's being quite ill or yes I'm taking him home to England you see he's had a very severe case of amnesia oh I'm sorry I'd better go along with him excuse me please I'm afraid you've insulted the eminent Mr Seve King he was quite peeve I suppose it sounded very absurd where a man 130 years old it was rather hard to believe yes the more so because it's true you don't believe me either I'm a writer Conway I'm capable of believing almost anything Rutherford how did you happen to find me oh purely by accident I was traveling from Hank out at Choong King by train I made the acquaintance of a very charming lady mother superior of some French sisters of charity she told me of a case they had in the hospital at Choong King a fever patient who'd been brought in some weeks ago she said he seemed to be English but spoke excellent Chinese naturally I was interested when I went to the hospital with her I recognized you at once and I didn't recognize you the doctor said you'd been under considerable strength yes but I do recognize you now you mean your memory is coming back for the past two days I've been remembering little things tonight it all came back to me that is all except a few days when Rutherford when you went to the hospital did they mention how I had come there yes you were picked up on the road about 60 miles from Choong King alone no there was someone with you a woman a Chinese woman yes and what happened to her why they brought her in too of course but she was pretty far gone she died that night died can't wait I'm glad your memory has returned but I'm sorry already you wish it hadn't I don't know what I wish I only know that Rutherford you said you were capable of believing almost anything could you believe the impossible do you believe it it happened to me go on I I don't know just where to begin how long is it since I've seen you oh about 1921 because I remember it you will at Oxford yes that's right I'd gone back there after the war I was making a study of oriental languages well soon after that I went into the consular service so I heard you were sent to India yes to bascule I was the consul there up until last May then there was a revolt of sorts in bascule and we thought it's safer to evacuate the civilians to Peshwa on the northwest frontier we had some planes for the purpose and I myself left bascule with four passengers and a pilot with me was my vice consul a young fellow named Malinson a missionary woman miss Brinklow and Henry Barnard an American businessman we took off from bascule at about three in the afternoon and should have landed in Peshwa at about five thirty we never arrived at our destination Conway I say Conway you were asleep oh what's the matter Malinson anything wrong I'm not sure but didn't you tell me that Fennel was piloting us yes isn't it no the chapter in his head just now I swear it wasn't Fennel they must have changed their minds and given us someone else yes but who is he my dear boy how should I know when we arrive in Peshwa you can ask him all about himself this rate we won't get to Peshwa at all the man's office course and we're an hour over do you at least what you've been asleep it's up to six thirty and look down there nothing but mountains as far as you can see I don't recognize this part of the world at all I'd say you were right Malinson the man's lust is way what's that Conway you see we were lost lost good heavens oh it's quite all right miss Brinklow there's nothing to be upset about I'm sure I'm not so sure flying over the mountains of india with night coming on isn't exactly my idea of a pleasant where would you say we were I don't know mr. Barnett well we might ask the pilot you know but if we're lost he won't know either will he I'm not yet certain that we are lost still there's nothing like finding out is there all right I'll ask him hey you there pilot open the panel open up will you I want to speak to you I advise you ask no questions please oh suddenly look here we want to know where we are I advise that you be seated I will not be seated I want to know Malinson I don't know whether you've noticed it but there's the barrel of a revolver pointing directly at my chest under the circumstances I think you'd better do as the gentleman suggests thank you it would be pity if I had to resort to force I don't suppose you would care to answer but might I ask just where we're going you will know that tomorrow when we arrive what the devil did he mean you're supposed to have been kidnapped as good an explanation as any he wouldn't have dared to shoot it was probably just bluff quite but I'd rather leave it to you to make sure well I do feel that we ought to put up some sort of a fight we can't just give in like this putting up a fight without a decent chance of winning as a poor game and I'm not that sort of a hero good for you sir when a man's got you by the short hairs you may as well give in pleasantly and admit it but what are we going to do well since we're going to be flying all night and since there seems to be nothing we can do at the moment I suggest we try and get some sleep for hours we sat in the darkness of the plane each of us pretending to sleep from all I could make out we were flying northeast over a range of mountains the Karakorams in the moonlight I fancied I could pick out the crest of K2 the second highest mountain in the world beyond Lake Tibet then I must have fallen asleep for how long I don't know suddenly the plane lurched sharply it was a loud rushing sound in my ears and I realized that we were coming down but fast much too fast we stumbled from the plane the four of us badly shaken but uninjured we found ourselves on a snow covered plateau surrounded by towering cliffs and I knew we must be somewhere in Tibet a vast uninhabited and unexplored region a land of frozen wastes and bitter cold then a strange thing happened the wind died suddenly and the moon swung over the edge of a precipice high above and there soaring into the heavens appeared the loveliest mountain on earth it was an almost perfect cone of snow so radiant so serenely poised that I wondered for a moment if it were real at all come here something a matter with this pilot fellow I think he's ill or something I can't get a word out of him the pilot well now we are in a fix loosen his helmet now he's still breathing anyhow got a match Barnard not very many here we are I'll keep lighting them his pulse is pretty weaker I can hardly feel it what do you suppose happened to him possibly a heart attack brought on by the altitude there's not very much we can do for him out here Barnard Barnard another match and what's the matter with what's the matter well look at us a lot of fools striking matches over a corpse there was little we could do for the man we watched his breathing grow more and more labored eventually he opened his eyes and began to speak a kind of Chinese that I didn't understand very well toward the end he half lifted himself and looked toward that shiny precipice towering above us with a great effort he raised his hand and pointed then as the early rays of the sun caught the summit of the mountain the man died what did he say he must have told you something very little I'm afraid merely that we are in Tibet which is obvious but he did say something about a llama serenia here along the valley Shangri-la he called it he was most emphatic that we should go there it doesn't seem to me any reason at all why we should what if it's a trap we got any guarantee that we won't be murdered none at all can we well I've just been looking at that mountain am I seeing things or are those men coming towards us a party of a dozen or more crawling like ants across the white face of the mountain as they drew near we saw they carried among them a hooded chair and in it a robed figure an elderly Chinese gray hair clean shaven slowly they came towards us the Chinese give an order not at all I am from the llama seria Shangri-la my name is Chang you sir would you be good enough to present me to your friends of course this is miss Brinklow mr. Barnett and mr. Mallinson my name is Conway how do you do we observe from the mountain that you have had a severe accident your ship is beyond repair yes I'm afraid so and anyway our pilot is dead so as a matter of fact we were just setting out to find your llama seri if you could give us directions for the journey there is no need for that I shall be delighted to act as your guide but you must have just come from there and if it isn't very far we could it is not far but it is not easy either I shall esteem it an honor to accompany you and your friend or but really I must insist thank you our stay won't be long and we'll pay for anything we have and we'd like to hire some of your porters to help us on the journey back we want to return to civilization as soon as possible are you so certain you are away from it one boy Shangri-la you are contemplating the mountain mr. Conway yes yes it's a beautiful sight it has a name I suppose it is called caracal I don't think I ever heard of it is it very high over 28 000 feet do we have to climb it to get your llama seri there is a pass at 20 000 can't be much further than this can it we've been climbing for hours that is quite quite certain we can never have found the way ourselves well would we be missing much what sort of a hell's kitchen are we making for what's our plan of action when we get there what do we do there are times in life and the most comfortable thing is to do nothing at all things happen to you and so you just let them happen that's that's a bit too philosophic for me I'm suspicious about all this they're getting us into a corner have you anything else to suggest no try and make the best of it I'm sorry I I don't know what's the matter with me the whole world seems to have gone completely mad we seem to be at the top we shall rest here the moment before we descend into the valley I'll be almost there the dangers of our journey are quite over if you will look below toward the head of the valley you can see the llama seri of Shangri-La Shangri-La it was a strange and incredible sight a group of colored pavilions clinging to the mountain side like flower petals impaled upon a crag it was superb and exquisite the eye was carried upward from the milk blue roofs to the gray rock looming tremendously overhead beyond that in a dazzling pyramid sword caracal it was the most beautiful and the most terrifying mountain scape in the world I don't remember how we arrived at the llama seri the thin air had a dream like texture and with every breath I took in a deep anesthetizing tranquility but I do remember a strange sensation half mystical half visual of having reached at last some place that was an end a finality just a few moments mr. de mille and our stars ronald colman donald crisp and lin carver will bring us act two of lost horizon beautiful bride lucky men getting a girl like that and how I'm lucky marrying anyone as lovely as you darling I I always want to look lovely for you dear ah there's a bride who can count on happiness ahead a clever young bride typical of women everywhere who win romance and keep it by caring for their own natural loveliness they know that complexion beauty must be cherished if skin is to stay appealingly soft and smooth that's why they take a tip from the world's most beautiful women hollywood's famous stars know how they care for their million dollar complexions hollywood's beauty care why daily active leather facials with gentle white lux toilet soap screen stars say this beauty facial is as simple as one two three they just smooth the creamy rich lux soap leather lightly in rinse with warm water then with cool and pat gently to dry with a soft towel that's all but you'll find that lux soaps active leather has removed every trace of dust dirt and stale cosmetics has left skin feeling smooth looking flower fresh don't let another day go by without trying this gentle beauty care see how the rich lather of this smooth white soap caresses your skin how beautifully fresh it makes you look and feel here's a tip for brides for women everywhere who want their beauty care really to work begin now to use gentle lux toilet soap regularly now our producer mr. de mill act two of lost horizon starring ronald colman as conway with donald crisp as the high lama and lin kava as loatzen at the rail of the ocean liner conway continues his story a strange tale of a journey to a strange place the lamas area of shangrila from the stormy cliffs of caracal to the serene peace and quiet of shangrila was like a descent into another world how long we would have to stay we didn't know but i can't pretend that i was worried or even annoyed for here in this lovely place i enjoyed a strange sensation a pleasant mingling of physical ease and mental alertness it seemed to me of all sensations the most truly civilized at dinner our first night there i noticed that the food was cooked and served in chinese fashion you will excuse me if i do not have my dinner with you my diet is very restricted i'm obliged to take care of myself of course of course if there is anything you wish please do not hesitate to ask i'm sure we can supply it you seem to be a fortunate community here and very hospitable to strangers i don't imagine though that you receive them often seldom indeed it is not a travel part of the world is to put it mildly as we came up i thought it the most isolated spot i had ever said eyes on and yet yes and yet you run this place as though it were a first raid european hotel isn't that what you mean conway or an american hotel for that matter you even have bathtubs yes we are less uh barbarian than you expected will you tell us about the monastery please it will give me the greatest pleasure madam so far as i am able uh what exactly do you wish to know first of all how many are there are of you here and uh what nationality do you belong to those of us in full lomahood number 50 as for our racial origins there are representatives of a great many nations though it is perhaps natural that Tibetans and chinese make up the majority i see it's really a native monastery then is your head lama a tibetan no chinese no madam well i'm sure you can't be english oh do you have any english here several tell me that seems very remarkable and now tell me what you all believe in that's rather a big question miss brinklow of course i believe in the true religion but i'm broad minded enough to admit that other people foreigners i mean are quite often sincere in their views if i were to put it into very few words i should say that our prevalent belief is in moderation we believe in the virtue of avoiding excess of all kinds in the valley below there are several thousand inhabitants living under the control of our order we rule with moderate strictness and in return we are satisfied with moderate obedience and i think i can claim that our people are moderately sober moderately faithful and moderately honest well well those of the valley people who arrived with you this morning yes well they all seem to be excellent guides why can't they take us back tomorrow we'll make it worth their while of course i am sorry but that is beyond my province i cannot help you sir you mean you won't malon if you refuse to help us we'll help ourselves you you have maps i suppose yes we have many well then we'll borrow some of them if you don't mind how far away is the nearest telegraph line i do not know well where do you send it when you want anything anything civilized i mean when you had all these these modern bars installed how did they get here oh you won't you won't tell me then it's part of the mystery like everything else i suppose can't wait i must say i think you're terribly slack why don't you get at the truth i'm all in for the time being but tomorrow mind you we must get away tomorrow it's essential melonson send me a hand here easy man are you are you all right melonson i feel i don't know tomorrow he will be much better the air here is difficult for the stranger at first but one soon becomes a climatized yes i expect we're all feeling it somewhat barnard look after melonson will you and i'm sure you're in need of some rest too miss brinklow yes yes i am good night good night madam come on melonson just leave your weight on me that's the boy shall i call for someone to help you will you manage are you retiring also mr conway i'd like a word with you first if i may yes i want to know that this morning when you found us were you setting out on a journey no then it was not a chance meeting you came there deliberately to intercept us that suggests that you must have known about arrival beforehand the interesting question is how you are very clever but not entirely correct therefore i should counsel you not to worry your friends with these abstract discussions oh they want something more concrete they want to know exactly how long you're going to keep us here there will be certain unavoidable delays how long the difficulties of the trip securing the necessary porters how long please you may tell your friends a few months but you don't guarantee it is that what you mean very well for myself i can't say i shall mind a great deal it's a new and interesting experience in time to come you may find it even more interesting good night good night the view from here is quite delightful notice how the moonlight shines on caracal it's beautiful i'd been thinking it was white or silver but it isn't it's blue caracal in the language of our people means blue moon in the days that followed at shangri la i gave myself over to a rich and growing enchantment in the petal colored buildings which dotted the mountain i recognized treasures of art that museums and millionaires alike would have bargained for paintings and sketches exquisite ceramics and tinted ink drawings preserved for more than a thousand years and then i discovered the library lofty and spacious with a quiet atmosphere more of wisdom than of learning here was housed all the great literature of the present and of centuries past and all the scientific knowledge of the world one morning i stood beside a lotus pool in an open pavilion of the lamissary presently i became conscious of the music that seemed to come from an archway behind me it was a harpsichord and it had begun so softly that i wasn't even aware of listening a girl was playing a girl in chinese dress she had the high cheekbones and the eggshell pallor of the manchu a jet black hair was drawn tightly back and graded her mouth was small and pink she was like a delicately painted miniature that was very lovely you are pleased sir more than pleased chang said it would be so oh did chang sent you here to play for you that's very nice of him my name is hu khan wei they call me lot sen lot sen by you do you live below in the valley no i live here at the lamissary yes but as yet i have not attained the full lamu hood you mean you are a llama yes i'm a bit confused i didn't realize i thought that only men could be llamas they will tell you when you have been here longer that in the llama hood there are no distinctions between a man and a woman but you you're hardly more than a child shall i play for you again oh please good morning oh uh chang you are pleased with lot sen as she plays magnificently one of our greatest students of music she has studied for a great many years but she couldn't she she's only chang how old is lot sen i'm afraid i cannot tell you weeks not a word yet about when we're to leave has chang spoken to you conway chang has been rather vague on the subject vagueness seems to be his principal stock in trade but i imagine you'll break down a bit before long the prospect of being marooned here doesn't seem to worry you a great deal about it well frankly it doesn't the outside world has certain attractions of course but it also has some definite disadvantages and i'm surprised to hear that from you from conway i might have expected you seem positively intrigued by the place conway or are you intrigued mainly by the little chinese girl i've always been a lover of music i enjoy her company hardly an excuse is it oh i don't know you don't care for music do you know and yet if you'll forgive my saying so you seem to enjoy her company too i suppose you think that's rather clever no no i merely think she's rather beautiful and i know that you're only 24 well you're not very old yourself you know true true speaking of age i've been sort of puzzled about this fellow chang how old would you say he was conway chang well that's rather difficult to the rough guess i'd say oh anywhere from 49 to 149 are you awake conway what is it i've got to see you come in listen i've just found out why our friend barnard is so willing to stay on here he dropped his pocketbook tonight a lot of newspaper clippings fell out well the clippings say that he's wanted back in america for embezzlement and fraud when mallinson had gone i walked out on the terrace and stood looking across the valley of the blue moon suddenly i became aware of a figure standing in the bright square of the pavilion good evening sir oh is that you chang i'm sorry to disturb you at this hour but i bring you important news well i congratulate you sir and i am happy to think that i am in some measure responsible for the high lama's decision decision hi lama it is extraordinary and unprecedented a fortnight ago you had not arrived tonight you are to be received by him you will follow me please as i followed chang through the lamasery that night i knew i was on the threshold of some great discovery pattering in front of me he mounted a great spiral staircase to a door which opened noiselessly before us inside the atmosphere was dry and tingling warm the the airlessness increased as we passed through the dim halls and then at last we stopped the high lama we'll see you alone chang left me silently and i stood breathing an atmosphere that was sultry and full of dusk as i became accustomed to the gloom i saw sitting before me a small and wrinkled man he was motionless a fading antique portrait in chinese dress his face thin and drawn tight over the frame of his skull and his eyes i felt dizzy beneath the gaze of those ancient eyes you are mr conway i am it is a pleasure to see you mr conway please sit down beside me and have no fear i am an old man and can do no one any harm i feel it a great honor to be received by you thank you i trust you have been comfortable at chang grillar since your arrival extremely so i'm glad chang tells me you have been asking many questions about our community and its affairs oh yes i am very much interested in them then if you can spare me a little time i shall be pleased to give you a brief account of our foundation there's nothing i would rather hear the history of chang grillar begins rightly in the city of pikin in the year 1719 for it was then that four friars set out on a long and perilous journey into the hinterland they traveled southwest for many months by land chow and no conor facing many hardships three died on the way and the fourth was not far from death when by accident he stumbled into the rocky defile that remains today the only practical approach to our valley of the blue moon there to his joy and surprise he found a friendly population who made haste to display what i have always regarded as our oldest tradition that of hospitality to strangers quickly he recovered his health and began to preach his mission his name was father perot and he was by birth a luxemburger he was something of a scholar but he was also physically sturdy for more than half a century he labored with his hands like any other man tilling his own garden and learning from the inhabitants as well as teaching them then in the year 1789 news descended to the valley that father perot was dying at last he lay in this room where he could see from the window the white blur that was all his failing eyesight gave him of caracal he gathered his friends and servants around him and bade them all farewell but the end was not yet he lay for many weeks without speech or movement and then he began to recover he was then 108 the ancient lama paused his eyes closed as if the discourse had tired him what he had told me was not beyond belief but as he went on i was hell speechless with wonder father perot's recovery he told me was not in any sense temporary no he plunged immediately into a rigorous self-discipline which would have killed another man of that age it was in 1803 that a wanderer found his way to the valley of the blue moon an austrian named henshel the great friendship sprang up between the two and henshel stayed on it was then that they had a wild and fantastic dream to preserve for all time the transient and perishable beauties of the world to store them at shangri la and keep them safe against the brutalities and ravages of war a heritage to cherish and bequeath then when the strong had devoured each other the christian ethic might at last be fulfilled and the meek might inherit the earth so with the valley's gold they purchased art treasures from europe and asia they filled the library with a great literature of all the ages then later on it was decided to admit travelers and strangers who had lost their way strangers who had lost their way strangers might come as freely as they wished but with one important proviso and what was that in the years that followed strangers did come more than one part of explorers lost in these hills encountered messengers bearing a cordial invitation and one that was rarely declined meanwhile under the watchful eyes of father perot and henshel the lamissary had begun to acquire many of its present characteristics it was almost completed when henshel died he died yes it was very sudden he was killed in the year 1910 1910 just before his death a chinese artist had sketched him there is his picture on the wall behind you but this is the portrait of a young man if he died in the year you said he did and he came here in 1803 yes he he was killed you said yes a traveler shot him what was the cause of it there had been a quarrel about some porters henshel had just told him of the important proviso that governs our reception of guests perhaps you are wondering my dear konwe what that proviso may be i think i can already guess we ought to stay here all of our lives and can you guess anything else after this long and curious story of mine it seems impossible and yet impossible as it may be i know it's the truth what is my son that you are still alive father perot we pause now for a station identification this is the columbia broadcasting system after a brief intermission mr demille and our stars ronald colman donald cresp and lin carver will bring us act three of lost horizon and now here's sally all dressed up and looking like a million dollars in a very uh dashing new fall hat well sally you certainly are a good picker mr ruik do you really like this hat i do but why sally it's a honey well thank you i brought it in such a hurry today but i was sure it was the hat for me the moment i saw it well i guess i'm just one of those people with whom first impressions count most well i think most women are like that sally well first impressions have always counted most with me you know mr ruik i still remember the first time i tried lux toilet soap years and years ago that neat sort of quaint american sampler wrapper made a hit with me right away it was so different and so well so nice looking and then when i unwrapped the cake and saw how very pure white and satiny smooth it was i just knew some way that lux must be a real beauty soap the kind of soap a girl wants for her skin you were right about that sally of course and then i remember what an impression it made on me when i started to use that beautiful cake of lux toilet soap why it felt as if i were actually smoothing beauty in the lather was so creamy so caressing believe me i was absolutely reveling in luxury yes sally so many women speak of lux toilet soap is a luxury soap and yet lux toilet soap really isn't a luxury as far as price is concerned it costs only a few cents a cake and for those few cents you get a personal toilet soap that says fine as money can buy you know lux toilet soap is made of only the highest quality ingredients that's why it's so pure and mild gentle to precious complexions which is why nine out of ten screen stars use lux toilet soap for their priceless complexions if you haven't tried it why not get three cakes of this fragrant white soap tomorrow now mr. de mill returns to the microphone curtain rises on the third act of lost horizon once again as his friend rutherford listens intently conway takes up the thread of his narrative dawn is breaking over the calm pacific conway's voice is low keyed to the tune of another world the peaceful world of shangri la i learned one of the secrets of shangri la that night the secret of prolonged human life for the high llama who sat beside me had been born in 1683 he had lived for nearly two and a half centuries he confirmed my suspicion that our coming was no accident there had been no travelers to shangri la for 20 years many llamas had died and our pilot had been sent out into the world to bring new life to the llamas are it yes my son there is death at shangri la there are many of us who live no more than a hundred years and those who do live more when do they begin to grow old in appearance cases differ some retain their youth for a century or more but they must never leave the valley of the blue moon and if one of your llamas were to leave the valley he would die his ears would fall on his shoulders like a great burden and he would die very soon an old old man lot sen you have seen the high llama lot sen you must help me when i spoke with him i understood everything and now and now you are not sure again that will pass will it you will be happy as all of us have been lot sen how did you come here how long ago i was betrothed to a prince of turkistan we were traveling to kashkar to meet him when my carriers lost their way in the mountain when did this happen in 1864 i was 18 18 well then now you the missionaries of shangri la found us they brought us here yes it must have been very difficult for you your wedding journey i had never seen a man i was to marry it was the custom of our land then in all these years you have never known the meaning of love lot sen is there no love at shangri la is there no room for love at shangri la lot sen she did not answer but i thought i saw a faint flush rising in her ivory cheek and my heart seemed to leap inside me and then i was aware that someone had entered the pavilion and the standing watching us it was malinson in the next few weeks i was summoned often by the high lama i learned to expect his call and i seemed to sense when it would come one night i heard the valley people chanting far below i thought it's strange for i had not heard it since we arrived it was midnight when i stood in the presence of the high lama tell me my son have you been happy at shangri la quite happy father perro what have you been doing something very unusual i have been learning new pieces by chopin ah then you have met alfonso briac oh yes he was a great friend of chopin he was with him the night he died in 1849 and so he told me it was fascinating my son i know that you are content here but i worry about your friends will they learn to be content also i'm sure that two of them will miss brinklow is going to convert you or we her does it matter what of mr barnard oh he's found a project tool he wants to mine your gold for himself no for you he's discovered that you use it to bring supplies from outside and he wishes to help us splendid and now malin son ah he's going to be a problem yes i'm afraid he's going to be your problem why mine because my son i am going to die you are going to yes we are all mortal even here in the valley of the blue moon but i must feel at rest before i die that is why i sent for you tonight you'll do me a great honor father i have in mind to do much more than that i have waited for you my son for a long time my colleagues have grown old and wise but you who are still young in years are as wise already my son there is a great storm gathering in the world a black fury which will not spend itself for many years there will be no safety norms no answer in science it may rage till every flower of culture is trampled and all human things are leveled in vast chaos such was my vision when nipolian was still a name unknown and i see it now more clearly with each hour do you say i am mistaken no a crash such as that came once before and then there were the dark ages lasting 500 years the dark ages that will come will cover the earth like a palm but i believe that you will live through the storm beyond that my vision weakens but i see at great distance a new world stirring in the ruins 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 and you will be here to give them to the hopeful world my son i place in your hands the heritage and destiny of Shangri-La the high lama stopped speaking the glow in his eyes faded presently it came to me as in a dream the high lama was dead i've been waiting for you i've got some news i say what's the matter come way are you ill ill no i i don't think so just time well where were you all the while i i was visiting the high land oh him well that's for the last time anyhow yes the last time pull yourself together man the porters are waiting for us what is yes it's all arranged we've got to start immediately we can't oh don't be a fool they've even been paid they're going to take us back to bouchoir as brinklow and bannard is staying so it's just you and i and and who's been making all these plans who lotes and she's with the porters now she's waiting waiting yes she's coming with us that's impossible why is it impossible you must take my word for it lotes and must never leave here because you want to stay because you're in love with her that's it isn't it that's it i won't you're in love with her what if i am that's why i tell you she must take you've no right to say that oh conway listen there isn't much time you've got to come with us i want to go back to get away from this place and lotes and too she's she's young doesn't that count lotes and is not young not young not young lotes and came to shangri line 1864 you're raving man it's the truth her beauty is a fragile thing it can only live where fragile things are loved take her away from this valley and she will fade away like a neck conway i'm not going to waste any more time are you coming with us or not mallinson listen to me i tried then to tell him about the secret of shangri-la he looked at me as though i were mad and as i read the disbelief in his eyes i began to doubt myself when he left me i wanted to cry out to him to wait that i had been mad that the thing was too incredible even for me to believe i waited in torture all night and then toward dawn mallinson return i couldn't do it i i didn't have the nerve that place where we were rope together on the cliff do you remember i i got as far as that and i couldn't manage it i was afraid i was afraid stop come here you've got to go i can't do it without you i i've depended on you i've depended on your help in everything you you've got to help me to get out of this place tell me something are you in love with lotes and then yes and she's in love with me where is she lotes and i'm here lotes and do you wish to leave shangri-la we have tried to go we tried to leave tonight you know you understand the risk i love him if he is not with me i would die here conway you see don't you you think you could manage that tricky bit with the rope if i were with you you mean you'll come lotes and did you hear he's coming he's coming with us it the descent that morning mallinson the girl and i for weeks we traveled toward the east and then our porters began to desert one by one they disappeared until over just the three of us creeping like snails across a desert wilderness then for a long while we were only two mallinson had died there must be more conway what's the rest of the story i don't know the rest of it perhaps you can help me rutherford i you found me in the hospital at shang king a woman had come with me yes did you ask did they tell you was she a young woman no they said she was old the oldest woman they had ever seen the bird star conway conway answer me i beg your pardon sir are you mr rutherford yes mr conway asked me to deliver this note to you well where is he we arrived quite early sir he went ashore in the tent my dear rutherford when this letter reaches you i will be gone thank you for everything that you have done when this letter reaches you i will be gone thank you for everything you have done for me i can never repay you tomorrow i hope to find passage back to shanghai somewhere beyond lasa near the foothills of the himalayas i seem to picture in my mind a long plateau running north it seems to me that from the end of this plateau i can see a mountain far away rising quite against the sky i hope to find it again for this i think is caracal and beyond is shangri la and the valley of the blue moan the curtain falls and down stage of the footlights come ronald colman donald crisp and lin carver ronnie we salute you and the company at large for a splendid performance thank you cb and i wish james hilton were here so that we could thank him for giving us a story like lost horizon the most amazing thing to me is that he's made shangri la just as believable as hollywood in some ways a little more so so real that i believe some people have actually gone in search of it the rumors of such a place keep coming from to bed every once in a while i hope we haven't started anything like that tonight after working a year on reap the wild wind i'd like to go hunting for it myself sounds like an exciting trip over mr hilton's muttons by mule cb i'll give you 10 minutes in shangri la before you start looking for camera angles i might surprise you ronnie and now before we go mr demille i want to thank you for making my first visit to the lux radio theater so pleasant i didn't really feel like a stranger at all because i've heard the program so much and also because i've used lux soap for so long a time i'd like to tell the women in the audience that it's a complexion care that's really kind to your skin when you try lux soap once you know it's what you've been looking for um lux soap came was seen and it conquered lin if julius sees his listening my apologies he won't mind cb if only you tell us what next week's players it's this week's hit in the screen world ronnie a picture that's just been released it's called lidia adapted from alexander corda's fine film production the star is the same lovely actress you've seen or surely will want to see in this picture merle oberon and with her we'll present alan marshal edna may Oliver and george reeves from the screencast lidia is the story of a beautiful woman and the four men who loved her the story is climaxed by the dramatic scene many years later when they all meet again the picture's been hailed as an acting triumph and we have the same stars here next monday night i'm anxious to hear it cb because i've heard so much about the picture good night good night cb good night good night may we all find ladies and gentlemen this is retailers for defense week may i suggest that when you go shopping you take your change in united states defense stamps our sponsors the makers of lux toilet soap joined me in inviting you to be with us again next monday night when the lux radio theater presents merle oberon in lidia with alan marshal edna may oliver and george reeves that's a sassel be the male saying good night to you from hollywood ronald colman is currently seen on the screen in my life with caroline donald crisp appeared tonight through the courtesy of warner brother studio heard in tonight's play where denise green as mallinson sigh kendall is chang denise hoy as rutherford and jill esmond dick elliot charlie lung and peter leads our music was directed by louis silvers our lux radio theater production of lost horizon has come to you with the good wishes of the makers of lux toilet soap the beauty care that nine out of ten hollywood stars use to help keep their complexions beautifully clear and smooth flawless as every woman wants her skin to be your announcer is melville roig and this is the columbia broadcasting system