Commentary
“In these days of wars and rumors of wars – haven’t you ever dreamed of a place where there was peace and security, where living was not a struggle but a lasting delight? Of course you have. So has every man since time began. Always the same dream. Sometimes he calls it Utopia – Sometimes the Fountain of Youth – Sometimes merely ‘that little chicken farm.’ One man had such a dream and saw it come true. He was Robert Conway – England’s ‘Man of the East’ – soldier, diplomat, public hero.”
So begins the 1937 film “Lost Horizon,” perhaps one of the most unusual films ever directed by Frank Capra. It doesn’t include any of the sentimental, down-to-earth, feel-good patriotism which typifies most of his more famous films. Instead, it’s a fantasy tribute to 1930s escapism….