Posters and pictures
Lost Horizon: Posters and pictures | Publications | Formats & Versions | Tibet
Jock Hinchliffe, Lost Horizon, UK poster, 1937.
Lost Horizon is a 1937 film directed by Frank Capra for Columbia Pictures, Hollywood. It was based on the 1933 novel by British author James Hilton. The story centres around a mythical lamasery and village located high up in the Himalayan mountains of Tibet. It was called by Hilton Shangri-La - a variant of the Tibetan Buddhist nirvana known as Shambala - and included the Valley of the Blue Moon wherein the village was located. An isolated outlier of Eastern and Western civilization, it is to Shangri-La that a disparate group of English and American travellers are brought - kidnapped - with one selected to carry on the work of the dying High Lama. The book has a philosophical basis with themes of impending apocalypse and eventual salvation amidst the peace and solitude of the utopian Shangri-La.
It has been stated that Capra's film is an example of where an original book is improved upon by its cinematic adaptation, though this cannot be said for the 1973 musical version starring Peter Finch. As such, 1937's Lost Horizon is now viewed as a classic of the era. The director's cut originally ran for 3 1/2 hours, cut down from a rough edit of 6 hours. The film was then reduced to 132 minutes by the studio for its March 1937 release, and further cut for regional distribution. A re-edit and re-release in 1942 during WWII left a running time of just 108 minutes. The original nitrate negative - which had been heavily used for the production of release prints during this period - was eventually disposed of in 1967 prior to any attempt at long term archiving or preservation. Beginning in the 1970s, efforts were begun to restore the film, such that in 1999 an almost complete version was made available to the public, though containing numerous film elements of relatively low quality and 6 minutes missing from the original 132 minute release version. This renewed interest in the film has meant that a lot of information about Lost Horizon can now be found on the internet and within the various DVD and BlueRay editions, with the most comprehensive being the 80th anniversary release of 2017. This blog seeks to focus on specific elements of the movie, such as original release posters and related ephemera. These are arranged below chronologically and by country of release.
Original US & UK release 3 sheet poster, 41 x 81 inches, 1937.
This original 3-sheet is the most iconic of all the various posters released for the film. It features an image which was never part of the movie as released, namely, three of the main characters together at the point in which two of them take leave of Shangri-La. The curved, three-dimensional lettering which fills the bottom half of the image succeeds in drawing one's attention to the title of the film and proclaiming the broad sweep of the narrative.
As part of the original release campaign, Columbia Pictures - as was common at the time - made available to theatre owners across the United States and around the world, a wide variety of promotional material. This ranged from very large 24 sheet banner posters, 6 feet tall lobby standees, window and lobby cards, black and white and coloured still photographs, and line images and text for local newspaper and magazine advertising. Souvenir booklets and postcards were also offered, as was sheet music. We know this from the so-called press books and press sheets issued for the various release campaigns, and other ephemeral items which have appeared for sale and auction over the intervening years. One US version of the press sheet for Lost Horizon is in the form of a 4 page, glossy booklet with a blue and gold, quasi-3D cover.
Original US post-preview release press sheet, 4 pages, circa March 1937.
Another version is in the form of a faux newspaper broadsheet dated October 1937. Produced for foreign, English-language markets, it contains a comprehensive list of American promotional products, alongside some Spanish (Mexican) items.
Original US 'Advance press sheet for foreign distribution, 18 x 22 1/2 inches, 4 pages, circa October 1937.
The original US and UK release posters and ephemera featured artwork by James Montgomery Flagg (1877-1960), elsewhere famous for his WWI recruitment poster featuring Uncle Sam. Flagg's posters are decidedly painterly, rather than photographic. The most commonly used featured Ronald Coleman stepping forward at the centre of the frame, whilst just behind him is a crowd of people, and further back we see a white plane and the Himalayan mountains off into the distance.
Original US release 1 sheet, 27 x 41 inches, 1937. Artwork by James Montgomery Flagg. This images was to feature heavily in the original promotions campaign. This poster was also used for the 1948 US re-release.
Less common is Flagg's romantic depiction of the two lead characters - Coleman and Jane Wyatt - looking skyward as the latter's singing belled pigeons circle above in the clear blue sky.
Original US release 6 sheet poster, 81 x 81 inches, 1937. Artwork by James Montgomery Flagg.
Original US release insert, 14 x 36 inches, 1937.
Original US release window card, 14 x 22 inches, 1937.
Original US release double window card, 22 x 28 inches, 1937.
Original US release window card, 14 x 22 inches, 1937.
Original US release 1/2 sheet, 22 x 28 inches, 1937.
Original US release 1/2 sheet, 22 x 28 inches, 1937.
Original US release lobby card, 11 x 14 inches, 1937. Title card - First of a series of eight.
Original US release lobby card, 11 x 14 inches, 1937.
Original US release lobby card, 11 x 14 inches, 1937.
Original US release lobby card, 11 x 14 inches, 1937.
Original US release lobby card, 11 x 14 inches, 1937.
Original US release lobby card, 11 x 14 inches, 1937.
Original US release lobby card, 11 x 14 inches, 1937.
Original US release lobby card, 11 x 14 inches, 1937. From a set of eight.
Original US release jumbo lobby card, 14 x 17 inches, 1937. From a group of 4.
Original US release jumbo lobby cards, 14 x 17 inches, 1937.
Original US release postcard, 1937. Printed on the back is a message from Ronald Coleman.
Original US release souvenir book, 9 x 12 inches, 20 pages, 1937.
Original US release sheet music, 1937.
Original US release still, 8 x 10 inches, 1937. From a set of 24. These images were also reused by Columbia for subsequent release campaigns through to the 1950s.
Original US release still, 8 x 10 inches, 1937.
Original US release still, 8 x 10 inches, 1937.
Original US release stills, 8 x 10 inches, 1937.
Original US release still, 8 x 10 inches, 1937.
Original US release stills, 8 x 10 inches, 1937.
Original US release stills, 8 x 10 inches, 1937.
Original US release coloured stills, 8 x 10 inches, 1937.
Original UK release quad poster, 30 x 40 inches, 1937. Similar to the original US 24 sheet design, also made available to foreign markets.
Original UK release press and campaign book, 8 pages, 1937.
Original UK release press book, 10 x 15 inches, 8 pages, 1937.
Jock Hinchliffe, Lost Horizon, advertisement, 17 x 44 inches, The Cinema, London, 1937. This artwork was also used as the dust jacket for the 1936-8 Macmillan edition of the James Hilton novel. Rear view below.
Original US release jumbo lobby card, 14 x 17 inches, 1937.
Original US release midget window card, 8 x 14 inches, 1937.
Original US release clean stik hanger, 1937.
Original US release herald, 11 x 15 1/4 inches, 4 pages, 1937.
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| Original US release coloured still, 8 x 10 inches, 1937. |
Original UK release, 12 sheet poster, 1937. Referred to as a 6 sheet poster in the US.
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| Horizontes Perdidos, Argentinean 1 sheet, circa 1937, 27 x 43 inches. |
Original French release poster, 47 x 63 (?31 x 47) inches, circa 1938.
US 1956 re-release lobby card, 11 x 14 inches.
US 1956 re-release lobby card, 11 x 14 inches.
Italian photobusta, 13 1/2 x 19 inches, 1950s release.
Italian photobusta, 13 1/2 x 19 inches, 1950s release.
Italian photobusta, 13 1/2 x 19 inches, 1950s release.
Italian photobusta, 13 1/2 x 19 inches, 1950s release.
Italian photobusta, 13 1/2 x 19 inches, 1950s release.
German re-release poster, 1950s.
Mexican 1960s re-release lobby cards, 12 1/4 x 16 3/4.
Original Cuba release, 14 x 22 inches, circa 1960s.
Comic book, circa 1960s.
Danish 1970s re-release poster, 24 1/2 x 33 1/2 inches. Based on the original 1938 release image.
French 1970s re-release poster, 47 x 63 inches.
References
Lost Horizon, Gutenburg Archive. Available URL: http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks05/0500141h.html. Includes the script of the James Hilton book plus a collection of book covers and move posters.
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Last update: 8 June 2023
Michael Organ, Australia
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