Journey to the Lost City

In 1957, near the end of his career, German director Fritz Lang -- best known for his 1926 classic, "Metropolis" -- agreed to re-make two films he'd collaborated on back in 1921. The original plan was to show these two films on consecutive nights but the American distributor simply edited them down to one feature, not much more than 90 minutes long, which was then titled, "Journey to the Lost City." Needless to say, a lot of plot continuity was lost in the process and the result is little more than a curiosity that offers only occasional hints of Lang's earlier talents.

Though made in the late 1950s, "Lost City" plays more like a film from the 30s or even the 20s with plot and characters that seem naive and with a style which has a vaguely dream-like quality. Its chief asset is the location footage shot in Rajasthan but to appreciate this, one must see a good print of the movie shown in a theater.

The cast can do little with their assigned parts. Paul Hubschmid, (billed as Paul Christian when he starred in "The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms"), makes a passable hero and Debra Paget looks good in her hootchy-kootchy outfits. Like Paget, German-actor Walter Reyer may not look particularly Indian but his performance as the Maharajah has a bit of style. He's also featured in one of the film's most vivid moments when, temporarily toppled from power, he's tied shirtless between two posts in a tiger-pit and given a flogging.