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Lost Horizon

Lost Horizon

Adventure · Fantasy · Drama · 1937

British diplomat Robert Conway and a small group of civilians crash-land in the Himalayas, where they are rescued by the inhabitants of the hidden, idyllic valley of Shangri-La. Protected by the mountains from the world outside, where the clouds of World War II are gathering, Shangri-La provides a seductive escape for the world-weary Conway.

Movie details

Lost Horizon

“At last! The masterpiece of America's foremost film genius blazes to the screen!”

1937 Adventure · Fantasy · Drama 2h 12m

Critical arithmetic

The consensus, allegedly.

IMDb

7.6 / 10

14.8K votes

Rotten Tomatoes

92 %

Tomatometer

TMDB

6.9 / 10

Community rating

External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.

British diplomat Robert Conway and a small group of civilians crash-land in the Himalayas, where they are rescued by the inhabitants of the hidden, idyllic valley of Shangri-La. Protected by the mountains from the world outside, where the clouds of World War II are gathering, Shangri-La provides a seductive escape for the world-weary Conway.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Lost Horizon?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Where it lives

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Frank Capra

Written by

Robert Riskin · Sidney Buchman

Ronald Colman

Ronald Colman

Robert " Bob " Conway

Jane Wyatt

Jane Wyatt

Sondra Bizet

Edward Everett Horton

Edward Everett Horton

Alexander P. " Lovey " Lovett

John Howard

John Howard

George Conway

Thomas Mitchell

Thomas Mitchell

Henry Barnard

Margo

Margo

Maria

Isabel Jewell

Isabel Jewell

Gloria Stone

Court is in session

Put Lost Horizon on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Sentimental Softie

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Cool Ironist

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.