Seven Things to Know About Angie Dickinson

1. Angie Dickinson's favorite film role was as the sexy housewife who is brutally murdered after an adulterous encounter in Brian De Palma's Dressed to Kill (1980). She told Vanity Fair in a 2008 interview: "I’m good in it, and it’s a great part. I’m sorry I didn’t try to go for an Academy Award for that role. I think I could have won it. But the studio didn’t want to put up the campaign, and I felt that I didn’t want to go for a supporting-actor award, because I’d always thought of myself as the lead, even though by then I wasn’t getting starring roles. I regret it now. Of course, De Palma is to blame for the great performance."

2. She played Sergeant Pepper Martin for four years on Police Woman (1974-78). She received three Emmy nominations for Best Actress (Drama) and four Golden Globe nominations, winning the award in 1975. According to People Magazine, Police Woman was President Gerald Ford's favorite TV series--he once rescheduled a White House press conference because of it. Angie's then-husband Burt Bacharach turned down the opportunity to compose the theme for Police Woman...because he didn't think the show would last long.

3. Angie Dickinson and Frank Sinatra had a ten-year affair. She told Vanity Fair: "Frank and I stayed friends for all those years, and it was just one of those great, comfortable things, where you always desire somebody, but you can live without them."

4. Her 1965 marriage to Burt Bacharach was the second for each of them. Their daughter, Lea Nikki, was born prematurely and later diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome. She committed suicide at age 40. Dickinson and Bacharach divorced in 1981. In a 2019 interview that aired on CBS, she said of Bacharach: "He never loved me, I can tell you that right now, the way one loves. He loved in his own way, which is not too good. And so, he had no respect for me."

5. Howard Hawks cast her in Rio Bravo (1959) after watching her in an episode of Perry Mason ("The Case of the One-Eyed Witness").

Angie as "Feathers" in Rio Bravo.

6. Angie Dickinson returned a $75,000 advance on her planned autobiography in 1989. She said the publisher wanted her to address a rumored affair with President John F. Kennedy. She refused to do it and shelved the book after completing 100 pages. In recent years, she has expressed a renewed interest in writing her life story.

7. During one of her many guest appearances on The Tonight Show, Johnny Carson noted her outfit and asked Angie Dickinson if she dressed for women or for men. She famously quipped: "I dress for women. I undress for men."

In Defense of the Musical Lost Horizon

A glimpse of Shangri-La.

It was a boxoffice bomb and savaged by critics. It barely recouped 25% of its budget, leading the movie industry to label it "The Lost Investment." Time hasn't been kind to it. Rather than becoming a cult film, it has been lambasted in books such as The Fifty Worst Films of All Time. And, sadly, it's sometimes listed as a key reason for the breakup of the songwriting team of Burt Bacharach and Hal David.

But don't listen to all the naysayers about the 1973 musical version of Lost Horizon. Granted, it's not a good movie, but it's not a horrible one either.

Peter Finch as Conway.

The plot adheres pretty closely to the classic 1937 adaptation of James Hilton's popular novel. En route to Hong Kong, a plane carrying five passengers is hijacked and crash lands in the Himalayas. The pilot dies, but the others survive and are rescued by a mysterious man named Chang. He escorts them to Shangri-La, a paradise sheltered on all four sides by the mountains.

The passengers include: a diplomat named Conway (Peter Finch), his journalist brother George (Michael York), a businessman (George Kennedy), a comedian (Bobby Van), and a photo journalist (Sally Kellerman). Except for George, each one finds meaning to his or her life in the tranquil city and choose not to return to civilization. Unfortunately, George is desperate to leave Shangri-La with a "young" woman named Maria. He refuses to listen to his brother, who warns him of the consequences of his actions.

Liv Ullmann.

Most of the songs are integrated naturally into the plot. Maria sings the haunting "Share the Joy" as entertainment for the new guests. "The World Is a Circle" is performed by teacher Liv Ullmann and her class of children as part of a lesson (the number looks like an homage to The Sound of Music, so it's no surprise that Julie Andrews was first offered Ullmann's role). "Living Together, Growing Together" is presented as part of a ceremony (and unfortunately wastes the singing talents of James Shigeta).

The producer of Lost Horizon, Ross Hunter, is one of many who has disparaged the score. Personally, I thought there were a handful of strong songs: the title tune, "Share the Joy," and "The Things I Will Not Miss." Yes, I cringed during "The World Is a Circle" and "Question Me an Answer," though Bobby Van at least delivers the latter with his usual showmanship. While Van and Sally Kellerman actually performed their vocals, the singing voices were dubbed for Finch, Ullmann, and Olivia Hussey. Finally, it's worth noting that The Fifth Dimension recorded "Living Together, Growing Together" and turned it into a Top 40 hit in the U.S.

Olivia Hussey and Sally Kellerman.

The dancing is another matter, as it's uniformly dreadful except for Van's number. There is a reason why Olivia Hussey and Sally Kellerman did not become dancers!

Lost Horizon was originally conceived as a roadshow presentation, meaning that its extended running time meant that theaters could only show it two or three times daily. However, the studio mandated that it be shortened and 23 minutes, including three songs, were cut from the film (it's still over two hours long).

Burt Bacharach was displeased with the treatment of the score during the editing of Lost Horizon. Some sources claim that Hal David didn't support Bacharach and that led to their breakup. However, in a 2013 interview with The Telegraph, Bacharach says that he wanted to split their profits 60-40 and David refused to accept the lower number, leading to their split and years of legal disputes.

Charles Boyer as the High Lama.

Music aside, Lost Horizon is a by-the-numbers remake of Frank Capra's 1937 version. Peter Finch makes an adequate lead. The film's best scene is the first encounter between him and an unrecognizable and surprisingly good Charles Boyer as the High Lama. Sally Kellerman brings some pathos to her character and Van does what he can with an underwritten role. The rest of the cast looks pretty lost, especially Liv Ullmann, who no doubt hoped to move out of Ingmar Bergman's shadow.

Don't ignore the chance to see Lost Horizon just because it's become vogue to trash it. Watch it and make up your own mind, especially if you're a fan of Burt Bacharach's music. There are better ways to spend two hours...but then I could say that about a lot of other movies, too.