LOST HORIZON
The Preshow Entertainment was approximately four Batfink cartoons (5 mins each). Okay, so you don't know Batfink? He was a cartoon crimefighter, with his sidekick Karate. They were made mere months after the Batman TV show aired in the '60s. Batfink could use his sonar to find anything, and nothing could hurt him, for his catch phrase was, "Your [insert weapon du jour] cannot harm me! My wings are like a shield of steel!" If you threw apples, shot rayguns, or launched rockets, it didn't matter. His "wings are like a shield of steel". There's a great line in an episode (not viewed at RMC) where he says, "your knives cannot harm me...", and the villain says, "I know, I know! Your wings are like a shield of steel!" Our episodes had a similiar line, when the evil Hugo A Go Go (in maybe half of the 100 produced episodes) makes Batfink and Karate hate each other. Karate, a cross between Don Knotts and Curly, went off on Batfink- "you and your wings of steel! You think you are so great. Karate, get the car! Karate make dinner!" Well, you get the idea. The best line of the set was when someone was aiming a bow and arrow at Karate, and he said, "I'm not scared of that bow!" Then, after a beat, "but that arrow is a different story!" They reran these episodes in the '80s. In fact, Nickelodeon even ran some within one of their other shows about 5 or 6 years ago.
So there's your Batfink lesson. Now you are cool.
THE MOVIE = LOST HORIZON, 1937, directed by Frank Capra. Man, I've had this film forever and never had a clue what it was about (oh, it was a book?). I thought it took place in Hawaii, and it would be in Technicolor, and it would be some grandiose love story, maybe even a tearjerker. Where did I get this? I have no idea. Turns out it's far from that. Five plane passengers crash land in Tibet, where they are brought to the magical land of Shangri-La. Now, I can't give too much plot away (read your Leonard Maltin book for that), but after seeing MULLHOLLAND DRIVE and K-PAX this weekend, I think I need less escapism. Maybe I'll rent a documentary next. That said, it's really a terrific movie. Wonderful characters, fascinating story, and sequences that range from poetry to grit. And how could you not love a movie that has Edward Everett Horton in it (he's the narrator on ROCKY AND BULLWINKLE)? He's also this RMC's Connection, for he played a criminal in the Batman TV show.
An interesting sidebar; A good deal of footage and the original negative were either lost or deteriorated. A restoration project scoured the vaults, closets, and private collections, and they were able to piece some of it back. However, they still had audio for maybe 12 minutes, but no film. So, they kept the dialogue going, and inserted stills instead of footage.
Tags: random movie club, lost horizon, bat fink, frank capra
