The United States was in a period of cynicism and mistrust, and movies were reflecting that. The nation was still immersed in the Vietnam conflict, with news programs broadcasting the violence and carnage nightly and in living color to living rooms all over America. By the time the 1970s rolled around, everything had changed. Seeing stars suddenly burst into song and tap dance across the floor was exactly what moviegoers wanted and needed - a chance to enter into the land of make-believe, where the biggest conflicts usually revolved around whether the old barn would be ready in time for the big show or whether the ingénue from Topeka would make it big on Broadway and find Mr. In the 1940s, it was World War II, and in the 1950s, it was the threat of nuclear annihilation. In the 1930s, it was the Great Depression everyone wanted to forget about. The "golden age" of the movie musical, from the 1930s through the 1950s, gave audiences a chance to escape from reality and immerse themselves into a world of pure fantasy and fun. Image Via Columbia Pictures Audiences Value the Truth What happened? How could a visionary like Hunter go so wrong that Lost Horizon would end up in The Official Razzie Movie Guide as one of the "100 Most Enjoyably Bad Movies Ever Made?" It was practically a no-brainer that Hunter would make lightning strike again by rebooting Lost Horizon, so Columbia Pictures opened its big checkbook and said to Hunter, "Let's do it!" Lightning struck, all right, setting pretty much everything on fire and leaving nothing but smoldering ruins. He also helmed the sumptuous 1959 re-imagining of Imitation of Life, breathing new life into Lana Turner's career and setting up young Sandra Dee for future movie success. He produced the lavish 1953 remake of Magnificent Obsession that turned Rock Hudson into a star. Hunter was successful at this kind of thing. In 1973, producer Ross Hunter had the grand idea to turn the classic story of Shangri-La, first brought to the screen by director Frank Capra in 1937, into a big-budget singing and dancing extravaganza with an all-star cast. "Can there be joy where there has been no sorrow?" Oscar winner Peter Finch belts out these thought-provoking song lyrics in the musical adaptation of the James Hilton novel, Lost Horizon, and it's probably safe to say there was very little joy and lots of sorrow on the set of this ill-fated film.
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