The Things I Will Not Miss
In the world of gloriously bad musicals, I think none can top Ross Hunter's 1973 Lost Horizon. Though sadly we don't get to see George Kennedy sing and dance (which would be up there with the thrill of Lee Marvin performing "Wandering Star" in Paint Your Wagon, we do get to see Liv Ullmann and Peter Finch do a few numbers). Why Liv didn't go on to star in more musicals is a mystery to me. In addition, we get to see John Gielgud and Olivia Hussey play Nepalis. Bacharach's "oriental" orchestral ornamentations make Flower Drum Song seem P.C. by comparison.
Did Larry Kramer's anger that led to founding ACT UP really stem from Reagan's HIV/AIDS non-response or from have co-written the screenplay to this wacky classic?
The pinnacle, however, for me is this little tune, "The Things I Will Not Miss", in the library with Olivia and Sally Kellerman long before she pursued her lucrative career as the voice of Hidden Valley salad dressing. Hidden Valley. Shangri-La. Is there a connection?
Labels: bad movies, Burt Bacharach, musicals, Nepal
posted by Ladrón de Basura (a.k.a. Junk Thief) @ 12:37 PM
4 comments
4 Comments:
not even the dub job can help find that horizon!
Kim - It falls into not the "so bad it's good" category but "so bad it's excruciating" category. This is actually one of the least painful tunes.
Hidden Valley Ranch is actually located in the Clorox building at Broadway and 12th in downtown Oakland across from DeLauer's Newstand, a newstand, which if ever demolished will actually cause the complete collapse of Oakland unbeknownst to the developers. I saw Kellerman perform her nightclub act in S.F. at the Macambo. She sang...on her back through most of the show. I do love her though. She was is Slither one of my favorite movies.
Bryce - Did she do a "Lost Horizon" medley? I heard that a few years back Liv Ullmann did hits from "Lost Horizon" in Norwegian and played a harp at Klub Oslo in St. Paul.
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