Lost Horizon (1937)

Hollywood's fascination with the concept of heaven on earth extends at least as far back as Lost Horizon (1937). When a plane carrying a British diplomat crash lands in a temperate, fertile land somewhere above the Himalayas, the survivors are rescued and given succor by the mellow inhabitants of the peaceful kingdom of Shangri-La. The theme of Utopia deferred, as explored here by populist moralist director Frank Capra, would become a staple of early sci-fi TV series such as The Outer Limits but seldom with the master's precise eye for pinpointing the slipping intersection where idealism fails to meet reality.