Frank Capra had read the James Hilton novel while filming
It Happened One Night, and he intended to make
Lost Horizon his next project. When
Ronald Colman, his first and only choice for the role of Robert Conway, proved to be unavailable, Capra decided to wait and made
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town instead.
Harry Cohn authorized a budget of $1.25 million for the film, the largest amount ever allocated to a project up to that time. In 1985, Capra Sr. said the decision to film in black and white was made because
three-strip Technicolor was new and fairly expensive, and the studio was unwilling to increase the film's budget so he could utilize it. An often repeated story concerns casting the part of the High Lama. After a
screen test of 56-year-old retired stage actor
A. E. Anson, Capra decided that he was just right for the part. He made a call to the actor's home, and the housekeeper who answered the phone was told to relay the message to Anson that the part was his. Not long after, the housekeeper called back telling Capra that when Anson heard the news, he had a heart attack and died. Subsequently, Capra offered the part to 58-year-old
Henry B. Walthall. He died before shooting began. Finally, to play it safer age-wise, Capra cast
Sam Jaffe, who was just 45. This is disputed, however, by camera logs dating back to the production that indicate Anson never tested for the part. Film historian Kendall Miller surmises that this story originated as an effort to add drama to Jaffe's casting. From the beginning, Capra ran into difficulties that resulted in serious
cost overruns. Principal photography began on March 23, 1936, and by the time it was completed on July 17, the director had spent $1.6 million. Contributing to the added expenses was the filming of snow scenes and aircraft interiors at the Los Angeles Ice and Cold Storage Warehouse, where the low temperature affected the equipment and caused lengthy delays. The
Streamline Moderne sets representing Shangri-La, designed by
Stephen Goosson, had been constructed adjacent to Hollywood Way, a busy thoroughfare by day, which necessitated filming at night and heavily added to overtime expenses. Many exteriors were filmed on location in
Palm Springs,
Lucerne Valley, the
Ojai Valley, the
Mojave Desert, the
Sierra Nevada Mountains, and in what is now
Westlake Village, adding the cost of transporting cast, crew, and equipment to the swelling budget. Capra also used multiple cameras to cover every scene from several angles, and by the time shooting ended, he had used 1.1 million feet of film. For one scene lasting four minutes, he shot 6,000 feet, the equivalent of one hour of screen time. He spent six days filming Sam Jaffe performing the High Lama's monologues, then reshot the scenes twice, once with
Walter Connolly, because it was felt Jaffe's makeup was unconvincing and he looked too young for the role. A total of 40 minutes of footage featuring the High Lama eventually was trimmed to the 12 that appeared in the final cut. Filming took one hundred days, 34 more than scheduled. The film's final cost, including prints and promotional advertising, was $2,626,620, and it did not make a profit until it was reissued in 1942. The feedback was mostly negative, and Capra was so distraught, he fled to
Lake Arrowhead and remained in seclusion there for several days. He later claimed he burned the first two reels of the film, an account disputed by Milford, who noted setting the
nitrate film on fire would have created a devastating explosion. Following the disastrous preview, Capra made extensive cuts, and on January 12, 1937, reshot scenes involving the High Lama written by
Sidney Buchman, who declined screen credit for his work. The new footage placed more emphasis on the growing desperation of the world situation at the time. A world premiere was held at the Lincoln Theater in
Miami Beach, Florida on February 18, 1937. Still unhappy with the film's length, Harry Cohn intervened and edited the film personally. When the edited version premiered in
San Francisco on March 2, it was 132 minutes long. During the film's initial release in selected cities, it was a
roadshow attraction, ==Reception==