Editing Lost Horizon (1937 film) (section)

==Reception==
[[File:Lost Horizon (1937 three-sheet poster).jpg|thumb|Three-sheet theatrical poster]]
When the movie premiered at the [[Radio City Music Hall]], [[Frank Nugent|Frank S. Nugent]] of ''[[The New York Times]]'' called it, "a grand adventure film, magnificently staged, beautifully photographed, and capitally played." He continued,

<blockquote>[T]here is no denying the opulence of the production, the impressiveness of the sets, the richness of the costuming, the satisfying attention to large and small detail which makes Hollywood at its best such a generous entertainer. We can deride the screen in its lesser moods, but when the West Coast impresarios decide to shoot the works the resulting pyrotechnics bathe us in a warm and cheerful glow. ... The penultimate scenes are as vivid, swift, and brilliantly achieved as the first. Only the conclusion itself is somehow disappointing. But perhaps that is inescapable, for there can be no truly satisfying end to any fantasy. ... Mr. Capra was guilty of a few directorial [[cliché]]s, but otherwise it was a perfect job. Unquestionably the picture has the best photography and sets of the year. By all means it is worth seeing.<ref>Nugent, Frank S. [https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=EE05E7DF1738E36FBC4C53DFB566838C629EDE "Lost Horizon."] ''The New York Times'', March 4, 1937. Retrieved: February 23, 2011.</ref></blockquote>

Nugent later named it one of the 10 best films of the year.<ref>Scherle and Levy 1977, p. 154.</ref>

''[[The Hollywood Reporter]]'' called it "an artistic tour de force ... in all ways, a triumph for Frank Capra."<ref name=McBride>McBride 1992, p. 366.</ref> ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' called it a "sterling" adaptation of Hilton's novel that "can take its place with the best prestige pictures of the industry."<ref>{{cite magazine |date=March 10, 1937 |title=Film Reviews |magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |location=New York |publisher=Variety, Inc. |page=14 }}</ref> ''[[The Film Daily]]'' declared it an "Impressive and artistic drama" and "distinctly a worthwhile contribution to the industry."<ref>{{cite journal |date=March 4, 1937 |title=Reviews of New Films |journal=[[The Film Daily]] |location=New York |publisher=Wid's Films and Film Folk, Inc. |page=5 }}</ref>

Less enthusiastic was [[Otis Ferguson]], who in his review for ''[[National Board of Review|National Board of Review Magazine]]'' observed, "This film was made with obvious care and expense, but it will be notable in the future only as the first wrong step in a career that till now has been a denial of the very tendencies in pictures which this film represents."<ref name=McBride/> [[John Mosher (writer)|John Mosher]] of ''[[The New Yorker]]'' praised the "beautiful flying scenes" and the "wild and terrifying bits of struggle on mountain peaks and crags", but found the adaptation in general to be "somewhat longish and wearisome on the screen. I thought the old lama would go on talking forever."<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Mosher |first=John |author-link=John Mosher (writer) |date=March 6, 1937 |title=The Current Cinema |magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |location=New York |publisher=F-R Publishing Corp. |page=78 }}</ref> Joseph McBride in a later biography notes that Capra's emphasis on theme rather than people was evident in the film; he also considered the film a financial "debacle".<ref name="McBride p. 353"/>

In ''[[The Spectator]]'', [[Graham Greene]]<ref>Greene, Graham (30 April 1937). "'Lost Horizon' at the Tivoli". ''The Spectator''. p. 21</ref> agreed with the less enthusiastic American reviewers. <blockquote>Nothing reveals men's characters more than their Utopias&nbsp;... this Utopia closely resembles a film star's luxurious estate on Beverly Hills: flirtatious pursuits through grape arbours, splashings and divings in blossomy pools under improbable waterfalls, and rich and enormous meals&nbsp;... something incurably American: a kind of aerated idealism, ('We have one simple rule, Kindness') and of course, a girl (Miss Jane Wyatt, one of the dumber stars), who has read all the best books (this one included) and has the coy comradely manner of a not too advanced schoolmistress.</blockquote> For Greene, the film is "very long" and "very dull ... as soon as the opening scenes are over". He also regretted the film's missed opportunities: "If the long, dull ethical sequences had been cut to the bone there would have been plenty of room for the real story: the shock of Western crudity and injustice on a man returned from a more gentle and beautiful way of life".

''Lost Horizon'' earned [[theatrical rental]]s of $3.5 million in the U.S. and Canada.<ref name=champs/><ref name=wall/>