Lost Horizon

This movie was the first one Columbia Pictures filmed after it moved onto the Warner Brothers lot in 1972, creating The Burbank Studios, to facilitate both production companies. The castle set from Camelot (1967) was recycled as Shangri-La. The medieval turrets were removed and replaced with Tibetan gables to simulate Himalayan Buddhist monasteries. Most of the castle's lower levels remained intact, and the courtyard was replaced with layered steppes and fountains. The set remained on the studio's backlot for several years before it was torn down to make way for a new office building.

This movie was one of the few mainstream American movies of the 1970s that was never released on VHS in the U.S. A Limited Edition LaserDisc release in the early 1990s was the only U.S. home video release until 2011, when Sony released the movie on DVD.

In a 1975 magazine interview with Rona Barrett, producer Ross Hunter acknowledged the failure of the soundtrack. "When we hired Bacharach and David to write the songs, we didn't know they were on the verge of dissolving their partnership. When they finally delivered the music, we were already deep into pre-production. We knew it was a bum score, but we couldn't do anything about it."

Pierre Cardin put out a line of costume jewelry, watches and belts "inspired by Lost Horizon". Marrakech, Ltd. had a line of "Lost Horizon" shirts for men, Periphery a line of women's attire, Rijir a line of colognes and soaps, and Brown Jordan a line of rattan furniture all designed for that Shangri-La look. Craft Masters put out a paint-by-number set, and Saalfield marketed a "Lost Horizon" coloring book.

John Gielgud's letters, published in 2004, make several references to the filming. To Dame Edith Evans he wrote in April 1972: "The part is an idiotic walkabout, not a moment that gives one the slightest opportunity to act and I feel a bit ashamed of the bribery that makes me accept it. But I had a bad income tax disaster three years ago and this should help to put me straight again". Elsewhere he describes Chang as 'a very stupid part' and that his costume and shaved head made him feel like a Tibetan version of Portia in the trial scene from The Merchant of Venice "with a hint of Von Stroheim's grandson by Yul Brynner".