Editing Lost Horizon (1937 film) (section)

==Production==
Frank Capra had read the James Hilton novel while filming ''[[It Happened One Night]]'', and he intended to make ''Lost Horizon'' his next project. When [[Ronald Colman]], his first and only choice for the role of Robert Conway, proved to be unavailable, Capra decided to wait and made ''[[Mr. Deeds Goes to Town]]'' instead.<ref>Scherle and Levy 1977, p. 146.</ref>

[[Harry Cohn]] authorized a budget of $1.25 million for the film, the largest amount ever allocated to a project up to that time.<ref name=McBride/> According to a 1986 ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' interview with [[Frank Capra Jr.]], his father had wanted to shoot the film in color, but because the only suitable [[stock footage]] he intended to incorporate into the film, such as scenes from a [[Documentary film|documentary]] about the Himalayas, was in black and white, he was forced to change his plans.<ref>Lewis, Kevin. [http://www.editorsguild.com/v2/magazine/archives/0507/columns_history.htm "Topic of Capra-Cohn: The Battle Over 'Lost Horizon'."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071021030257/http://www.editorsguild.com/v2/magazine/archives/0507/columns_history.htm |date=2007-10-21 }} ''Editors Guild Magazine''. 20056. Retrieved: February 23, 2011.</ref> In 1985, Capra Sr. said the decision to film in black and white was made because [[Technicolor#Three-strip Technicolor|three-strip Technicolor]] was new and fairly expensive, and the studio was unwilling to increase the film's budget so he could utilize it.<ref>McBride 1992, p. 351.</ref>

An often repeated story concerns casting the part of the High Lama.  After a [[screen test]] of 56-year-old retired stage actor [[Albert Edward Anson|A.&nbsp;E. Anson]], Capra decided that he was just right for the part. He made a call to the actor's home, and the housekeeper who answered the phone was told to relay the message to Anson that the part was his.  Not long after, the housekeeper called back telling Capra that when Anson heard the news, he had a heart attack and died.  Subsequently, Capra offered the part to 58-year-old [[Henry B. Walthall]].  He died before shooting began.  Finally, to play it safer age-wise, Capra cast [[Sam Jaffe]], who was just 45.<ref>Robert Osborne of Turner Classic Movies</ref> This is disputed, however, by camera logs dating back to the production that indicate Anson never tested for the part. Film historian Kendall Miller surmises that this story originated as an effort to add drama to Jaffe's casting.<ref>{{cite AV media | people=Miller, Kendall (writer) | date=1999 | title=Photo Documentary | medium=DVD | publisher=Columbia Tristar Home Video, Inc.}}</ref>

<!-- Deleted image removed: [[Image:LOST HORIZON poster 1936.jpg|left|thumb|Alternate poster by [[James Montgomery Flagg]]]] -->
From the beginning, Capra ran into difficulties that resulted in serious [[cost overrun]]s. Principal photography began on March 23, 1936, and by the time it was completed on July 17, the director had spent $1.6 million.<ref>McBride 1992, p. 352.</ref> Contributing to the added expenses was the filming of snow scenes and aircraft interiors at the Los Angeles Ice and Cold Storage Warehouse, where the low temperature affected the equipment and caused lengthy delays. The [[Streamline Moderne]] sets representing Shangri-La, designed by [[Stephen Goosson]], had been constructed adjacent to Hollywood Way, a busy thoroughfare by day, which necessitated filming at night and heavily added to overtime expenses. Many exteriors were filmed on location in [[Palm Springs, California|Palm Springs]], [[Lucerne Valley, California|Lucerne Valley]], the [[Ojai, California|Ojai Valley]], the [[Mojave Desert]], the [[Sierra Nevada (U.S.)|Sierra Nevada Mountains]], and in what is now [[Westlake Village, California|Westlake Village]], adding the cost of transporting cast, crew, and equipment to the swelling budget.<ref name="McBride p. 353">McBride 1992, p. 353.</ref>

Capra also used multiple cameras to cover every scene from several angles, and by the time shooting ended, he had used 1.1 million feet of film. For one scene lasting four minutes, he shot 6,000 feet, the equivalent of one hour of screen time. He spent six days filming Sam Jaffe performing the High Lama's monologues, then reshot the scenes twice, once with [[Walter Connolly]], because it was felt Jaffe's makeup was unconvincing and he looked too young for the role. A total of 40 minutes of footage featuring the High Lama eventually was trimmed to the 12 that appeared in the final cut. Filming took one hundred days, 34 more than scheduled. The film's final cost, including prints and promotional advertising, was $2,626,620, and it did not make a profit until it was reissued in 1942.<ref name="McBride p. 353" />

The first cut of the film was six hours long. The studio considered releasing it in two parts, but eventually decided the idea was impractical. Working with editors [[Gene Havlick]] and [[Gene Milford]], Capra managed to trim the running time to 3½ hours for the first preview in [[Santa Barbara, California|Santa Barbara]] on November 22, 1936. Following a showing of the [[Screwball comedy film|screwball comedy]] ''[[Theodora Goes Wild]]'', the audience was not receptive to a drama of epic length. Many walked out, and those who remained laughed at sequences intended to be serious.<ref name=NYT>{{cite news |title=Cuts in Film 'Lost Horizon' Restored |author=Stephen Farber |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=September 3, 1986 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/09/03/movies/cuts-in-film-lost-horizon-restored.html |archive-date=December 20, 2016 |access-date=February 10, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220184210/http://www.nytimes.com/1986/09/03/movies/cuts-in-film-lost-horizon-restored.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=Cannes>{{cite web |url=http://www.festival-cannes.fr/en/theDailyArticle/60920.html |title=Cannes Classics – Lost Horizon: the edits, the cuts and the restoration |author=Tarik Khaldi |date=May 17, 2016 |publisher=[[Cannes Film Festival]] |access-date=December 16, 2016 |archive-date=December 20, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220131446/http://www.festival-cannes.fr/en/theDailyArticle/60920.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The feedback was mostly negative, and Capra was so distraught, he fled to [[Lake Arrowhead, California|Lake Arrowhead]] and remained in seclusion there for several days. He later claimed he burned the first two reels of the film, an account disputed by Milford, who noted setting the [[Film base#Nitrate|nitrate film]] on fire would have created a devastating explosion.<ref name="McBride p. 362">McBride 1992, p. 362.</ref>

Following the disastrous preview, Capra made extensive cuts, and on January 12, 1937, reshot scenes involving the High Lama written by [[Sidney Buchman]], who declined screen credit for his work. The new footage placed more emphasis on the growing desperation of the world situation at the time. A world premiere was held at the Lincoln Theater in [[Miami Beach, Florida]] on February 18, 1937.<ref>"For Your Amusement", by Eddie Cohen, ''The Miami News'', February 18, 1937, p30 ("'Lost Horizon' will be shown to the Lincoln theater audience tonight at 8:30 for the first time in the world.")</ref><ref>"Notables Attracted to World Premiere— Social and Theatrical Leaders Throng Lincoln Theater For Picture 'Lost Horizon'", ''The Miami Herald'', February 19, 1937, p.5</ref>

Still unhappy with the film's length, Harry Cohn intervened and edited the film personally. When the edited version premiered in [[San Francisco]] on March 2,<ref>"'Lost Horizon,' Film Epic, Has Premiere at Geary", by Ada Hanifin ''The San Francisco Examiner'', March 2, 1937, p.17</ref> it was 132 minutes long. During the film's initial release in selected cities, it was a [[Roadshow theatrical release|roadshow attraction]],<ref name=NYT/> with only two presentations per day and tickets sold on a reserved-seat basis. Because the box-office returns were so low, the studio head cut an additional 14 minutes to slightly less than two hours (118 minutes) before the film went into general release on September 1. Due primarily to the cuts made without his approval, Capra later filed a lawsuit against Columbia, citing "contractual disagreements", among them, the studio's refusal to pay him a $100,000 semi-annual salary payment due him. A settlement was reached on November 27, 1937, with Capra collecting his money and being relieved of the obligation of making one of the five films required by his contract. In 1985, Capra claimed that Cohn, whom he described as the "Jewish producer," trimmed the film simply so theaters could have more daily showings and increase the film's chance of turning a profit.<ref>McBride 1992, pp. 369–370.</ref>