Lost Horizon and Shangri-La

Sometimes I get a reminder that I'm living in Hollywood's Los Angeles, instead of the wonderfully detached-from-tha- world-LA in which I happily dwell.

Last night a well-heeled friend kindly threw a small gathering at his home to allow me to introduce RSL to more people, in particular, his book group. Very generous. One of the guests and members of the group: the actor Michael York, who reminded me (sheepishly) that he appeared in the 1973 film….Lost Horizon, a musical remake of the 1937 Frank Capra film which was an adaption of the 1933 James Hilton book of that title. Lost Horizon is supposed to be about the mythic "last Shangri-La," which is at the very least in the Himalayas and may just quite be Bhutan.

The all-knowing Wikipedia explains that the film "tells the story of a group of travellers whose airplane is hijacked while fleeing a bloody revolution. The airplane crash lands in an unexplored area of the Himalayas, where the party is rescued and taken to the lamasery of Shangri-La. Miraculously, Shangri-La, sheltered by mountains on all sides, is a temperate paradise amid the land of snows. Perfect health is the norm, and inhabitants live to very old age while maintaining a youthful appearance."

This is definitely not Bhutan! And while I've read the book, I've not seen this film. Now I will. Boy was it fun to have Mr. York explain that it was shot….in Burbank.