Has anyone read the book Lost Horizon (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_Horizon_%281937%29), by James Hilton? It's one of my favorites, and (I can't believe) it didn't occur to me until just now that its theme has many things in common with LOST. From the Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_Horizon_%281937%29) summary of the movie based on the film (italics/bold are mine):

Fleeing unrest in China, a small group of airplane passengers is hijacked by the pilot. The plane eventually runs out of fuel and crashes deep in the Himalayas (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Himalaya), killing the abductor. The group is rescued by Chang (H.B. Warner (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H.B._Warner)) and taken to Shangri-la (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shangri-la), an idyllic valley sheltered from the cold. The contented inhabitants are led by the mysterious High Lama (Jaffe).


Initially anxious to return to "civilization," most of the newcomers grow to love the place, including academic Alexander Lovett (Edward Everett Horton (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Everett_Horton)), swindler Henry Barnard (Thomas Mitchell (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Mitchell)), and terminally ill Gloria Stone (Isabel Jewell (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isabel_Jewell)), who miraculously seems to be recovering. High-ranking British diplomat Robert Conway (Colman) is also enchanted, particularly when he meets Sondra (Wyman), who has grown up in Shangri-la. However, Conway's younger brother George (John Howard (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Howard)) and Maria (Margo (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margo)), another beautiful woman they find there, are frantic to leave.


Conway eventually learns that his arrival was no accident. He was brought there by the High Lama to take his place. The founder of Shangri-la claims to be hundreds of years old, preserved, like the other residents, by the magical properties of the paradise he has created, but is finally dying and needs someone wise and knowledgeable in the ways of the modern world to keep it safe.


George refuses to believe the Lama's fantastic story and is backed up by Maria. Torn between love and loyalty, Conway reluctantly gives in to his brother and they leave, taking Maria with them. After several days of gruelling travel, she becomes exhausted and falls face down in the snow. When they turn her over, they discover that she has died...of extreme old age. Her departure from Shangri-la had restored Maria to her true age. Horrified, George loses his sanity and jumps to his death.


Conway continues on and eventually meets up with a search party sent to find him, though the ordeal has caused him to lose his memory of Shangri-la. On the voyage back to England, he remembers everything; he tells his story and then jumps ship. The searchers track him back to the Himalayas, but are unable to follow him any further. In the final scene, Conway returns to Shangri-la, to the waiting Sondra.

So, we've got a group of plane crash survivors who find themselves in a beautiful utopian setting which, they soon learn, is also mysterious and magical. Amongst them are a swindler Henry Barnard (Sawyer) and a critically ill woman who suddenly finds herself in recovery (Rose). There's also a woman on the island who apparently has benefited from some sort of life-extension magic. And they all realize that they've been brought to Shangri-la not by happenstance, but on purpose.

Also, these survivors end up in a Buddhist temple atop a Tibetan mountain -- and there has been much speculation that Buddhism somehow plays a part in LOST's theme.

Thoughts?

Combine that with Hilton's Goodbye, Mister Chips, which is largely told through flashbacks, and you have the spark which led to this whole Lost conflagration ;-)

I wouldn't be surprised if there's a copy of Lost Horizon among that heap of books Locke was examining a while ago.

Combine that with Hilton's Goodbye, Mister Chips, which is largely told through flashbacks, and you have the spark which led to this whole Lost conflagration ;-)

I wouldn't be surprised if there's a copy of Lost Horizon among that heap of books Locke was examining a while ago.
Nor would I -- in fact, I half expect to see it there any day now. But I'm surprised this hasn't been mentioned before. Incidentally, I didn't know that about Goodbye, Mister Chips. Veddy Eeenterezting.

Wow! It can't be a coincidence, can it? I've always liked to believe Locke's explanation that they were actually brought there by the island for a reason. Do numbers figure into the Lost Horizon plot somehow? I'll have to read it...

Equator

Wow! It can't be a coincidence, can it? I've always liked to believe Locke's explanation that they were actually brought there by the island for a reason. Do numbers figure into the Lost Horizon plot somehow? I'll have to read it...

Equator

Not that I can recall, but I suspect that LOST relates to all these books in a composite form. And you definitely should read it -- interesting book.

Ever since reading threads like this one about The Lost Horizon, I've been waiting for this movie to turn up on Turner Classic Movies and luckily it finally has. Any Lost fan who is interested in exploring possible influences on the Lost story would be wise to give this movie a view.

While on first glance Robert Conway, the main character, couldn't be more different than John Locke (Conway is a famed international diplomat; Locke worked for a box company) the similarities between the two men are stark.

Conway, like Locke, believes in the magical properties of a mysterious land (Shangrila) to the point of even believing it is his destiny and he has a strange feeling he has been there before, although that last part is really not explained. Well. as, it turns out, Conway is the High Lama's chosen successor. (The High Lama, by the way, bears a tad of physical resemblance to the fake Jacob from the shack.) There is even a scene where Conway rubs his own forehead that is very reminiscent of Terry O'Quinn's Locke doing this same guesture.

Robert Conway's brother, George, is the Jack in this story, an unrelenting doubter of the magic propertties of Shangrila. Maria is like Juliet, desperate to leave at any cost.

Toss in more similarities: There is the Eastern culture (Tibetian), Christianity (the High Lama is a Catholic priest), a passing reference to Masonic symbols, claims of people living for many years while still appearing young and, best of all, that word "Lost" in the title. Hot dog! :biggrin:

Don't get me wrong, Lost is a much different story than The Lost Horizon. But the similarities are enough to make one wonder if the Lost creators may have seen this movie more than once, and with a notebook and pencil in hand.

I LOVED THAT MOVIE. i saw the 1973 version as a little girl, and to this day can remember it. i remember when the guy (peter finch) who fell in love with the girl (olivia hussey) from shangri-la that he took her away from to be with him and she aged and died before his eyes. it was devastating for me then! it is a musical and fabulous!

I've actually been chewing on this one for some time now. Another parallel is that when Conway leaves Shangri-La he looks back and sees it has disappeared. Just like Jack does when he leaves the island.

It airs this Wednesday, the 18th at 5:00 a.m. CDT on TCM