The Noah

Last updated
The Noah
Directed byDaniel Bourla
Written byDaniel Bourla
Avraham Heffner
Produced byLouis De Rochemont III
Starring Robert Strauss
Geoffrey Holder
Sally Kirkland
CinematographyJerry Kalogeratos
Edited by Angelo Ross
Production
company
The Noah Production Company
Release date
  • April 10, 1975 (1975-04-10)(United States)
Running time
107 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$200,000 (estimated)

The Noah is a 1975 post-apocalyptic film written and directed by Daniel Bourla, starring Robert Strauss in his final film performance.

Contents

Plot

Noah (Robert Strauss), a career soldier and the sole survivor on Earth after a nuclear holocaust, arrives on an abandoned island untouched by radiation. During his time on the island, the isolation slowly causes his grip on sanity to loosen. As loneliness continues to impact his sanity, he creates an imaginary companion, then a companion for his companion (played by off-screen voice performances by Geoffrey Holder and Sally Kirkland), and finally an entire civilization - a world of illusion in which there is no reality but Noah, and no rules but those of the extinct world of his memory. [1]

He begins to teach lessons to imaginary students in an empty classroom. He also commands an imaginary squadron on military maneuvers during rain storm.

When his radiation detection badge sounds an alarm, it restores a measure of his sanity. Noah realizes that the fallout has reached the island, dooming him to a slow and painful death. He lowers his flag to half mast and awaits death. [2]

Production

The idea of the film began in 1963 when Bourla accompanied Carl Foreman for a seminar on screenwriting at Hebrew University. Mickey Rooney was considered for the starring role. Bourla and Strauss did not get along well during the shoot [3]

The film was shot in Puerto Rico in 1968, but was not completed until 1974 when funds were found for editing and the layout of its complicated sound track. It premiered on April 11, 1975, with midnight weekend screenings at the Waverly Theatre in NYC but only had four showings, with increasing audience, when a lawyer confiscated the print with a judgment for an alleged production debt - ending its run. The Noah remained unseen until 1997, when it was featured on a film classics appreciation program broadcast in New York by CUNY TV, the cable television station operated by the City University of New York. A 2005 article on Film Threat and a follow-up interview on the same site with Bourla resulted in its DVD debut in 2006. [4]

Cast

Home Release

As of January 2021, the entire movie is available on YouTube. A 2005 article on Film Threat and a follow-up interview on the same site with Bourla resulted in its DVD debut in 2006. [5] The soundtrack was released as an LP in the 1970s [6]

Reception

Film Threat called the movie stunning. [7] The South China Morning Post found the movie engaging. [8]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ron Moody</span> English actor, composer, singer and writer

Ron Moody was an English actor, composer, singer and writer. He was best known for his portrayal of Fagin in Oliver! (1968) and its 1983 Broadway revival. Moody earned a Golden Globe Award and an Academy Award nomination for the film, as well as a Tony Award nomination for the stage production. Other notable projects include The Mouse on the Moon (1963), Mel Brooks' The Twelve Chairs (1970) and Flight of the Doves (1971), in which Moody shared the screen with Oliver! co-star Jack Wild.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sally Kirkland</span> American film actress and activist (born 1941)

Sally Kirkland is an American film, television and stage actress and producer. A former member of Andy Warhol's The Factory and an active member in 1960s New York avant-garde theater, she has appeared in more than 250 film and television productions during her 60-year career. Kirkland is the daughter of fashion editor of Life magazine and Vogue, Sally Kirkland.

<i>Sinbad of the Seven Seas</i> 1989 film by Luigi Cozzi, Enzo G. Castellari

Sinbad of the Seven Seas is a 1989 Italian fantasy film produced and directed by Enzo G. Castellari from a story by Luigi Cozzi, revolving around the adventures of Sinbad the Sailor. Sinbad must recover five magical stones to free the city of Basra from the evil spell cast by a wizard, which his journey takes him to mysterious islands and he must battle magical creatures in order to save the world.

<i>Anna</i> (1987 film) 1987 film

Anna is a 1987 American comedy drama film directed by Yurek Bogayevicz and starring Sally Kirkland, Robert Fields, Paulina Porizkova, Steven Gilborn and Larry Pine. It was adapted by Agnieszka Holland from an unauthorized story by Holland and Bogayevicz, based on the real-life relationship of Polish actresses Elżbieta Czyżewska and Joanna Pacuła.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barry Pepper</span> Canadian actor

Barry Robert Pepper is a Canadian-American actor. He played Private Daniel Jackson in Saving Private Ryan (1998), Corrections Officer Dean Stanton in The Green Mile (1999), Roger Maris in 61* (2001), Joseph L. Galloway in We Were Soldiers (2002), Sergeant Michael Strank in Flags of Our Fathers (2006), DEA Agent Cooper in Snitch (2013), Vince in Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials (2015) and Maze Runner: The Death Cure (2018), Lucky Ned Pepper in the remake of the western True Grit (2010) and David Keller in Crawl (2019). He has been nominated for three Screen Actors Guild Awards and a Golden Globe Award. For his role as Robert F. Kennedy in the miniseries The Kennedys (2011), Pepper won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geoffrey Holder</span> Trinidadian-American actor and dancer (1930–2014)

Geoffrey Lamont Holder was a Trinidadian-American actor, dancer, musician, and artist. He was a principal dancer for the Metropolitan Opera Ballet before his film career began in 1957 with an appearance in Carib Gold. In 1973, he played the villainous Baron Samedi in the Bond film Live and Let Die. He also carried out advertising work as the pitchman for 7 Up.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Fiedler</span> American actor (1925–2005)

John Donald Fiedler was an American actor. His career lasted more than 55 years in stage, film, television, and radio. Fiedler's high, flutey voice was instantly recognizable. He was typecast beginning early in his career for delicate, quiet, nerdy characters, although he also played sneaky villains. His roles included the meek Juror #2 in 12 Angry Men (1957); the benign-seeming gentleman who tries to prevent the Younger family from moving into a whites-only neighbourhood in A Raisin in the Sun (1961); the voice of Piglet in Disney's Winnie the Pooh productions; Vinnie, one of Oscar's poker cronies, in the film The Odd Couple (1968); and Emil Peterson, the hen-pecked milquetoast husband on The Bob Newhart Show.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jerome Courtland</span> American actor, director and producer (1926–2012)

Jerome Courtland was an American actor, director and producer. He acted in films in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, and in television in the 1950s and 1960s. Courtland also appeared on Broadway in the musical Flahooley in the early 1950s. He directed and produced television series in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. He served in the Pacific Theater of World War II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rilian</span> Fictional character in The Chronicles of Narnia

In C. S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia fictional series, Rilian (2325-?) is the son of King Caspian and the grandson of Ramandu the star. Rilian appears in two of the seven books, The Silver Chair and briefly in The Last Battle.

<i>Mars Attacks!</i> 1996 film directed by Tim Burton

Mars Attacks! is a 1996 American black comedy science fiction film directed by Tim Burton, who also co-produced it with Larry J. Franco. The screenplay by Jonathan Gems was based on the Topps trading card series of the same name. The film features an ensemble cast consisting of Jack Nicholson, Glenn Close, Annette Bening, Pierce Brosnan, Danny DeVito, Martin Short, Sarah Jessica Parker, Michael J. Fox, Pam Grier, Rod Steiger, Tom Jones, Lukas Haas, Natalie Portman, Jim Brown, Lisa Marie, and Sylvia Sidney in her final film role.

<i>Memories of Underdevelopment</i> 1968 Cuban film

Memories of Underdevelopment is a 1968 Cuban drama film directed and co-written by Tomás Gutiérrez Alea. The story is based on a novel by Edmundo Desnoes entitled Inconsolable Memories. It was Gutiérrez Alea's fifth film, and probably his most famous worldwide.

Anthony George Wilden was a writer, social theorist, college lecturer, and consultant. Wilden published numerous books and articles which intersect a number of fields, including systems theory, film theory, structuralism, cybernetics, psychiatry, anthropological theory, water control projects, urban ecosystems, resource conservation, and communications and social relations.

Thumbs! is a collective term for the O Entertainment short films created by Steve Oedekerk using "Thumbation" technology, a process which combines live-action thumbs and superimposition of the voice actors' faces. The first short, Thumb Wars, was created as a television special and spawned the rest of the series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elżbieta Czyżewska</span> Polish actress (1938–2010)

Elżbieta Justyna Czyżewska was a Polish actress active in both Poland and the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Strauss (actor)</span> American actor (1913–75)

Robert Strauss was an American actor. He became most familiar in Hollywood films of the 1950s such as Stalag 17 (1953), for which he was nominated for an Academy Award in the category of Best Supporting Actor.

<i>Sherlock Holmes in New York</i> 1976 film by Boris Sagal

Sherlock Holmes in New York is a 1976 American made-for-television mystery film about Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson, played by Roger Moore and Patrick Macnee respectively.

<i>The Notebook</i> 2004 American romantic drama film by Nick Cassavetes

The Notebook is a 2004 American romantic drama film directed by Nick Cassavetes, from a screenplay by Jeremy Leven and Jan Sardi, and based on the 1996 novel of the same name by Nicholas Sparks. The film stars Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams as a young couple who fall in love in the 1940s. Their story is read from a notebook in the present day by an elderly man, telling the tale to a fellow nursing home resident.

<i>Dont Be Afraid of the Dark</i> (2010 film) Supernatural horror film by Troy Nixey

Don't Be Afraid of the Dark is a 2010 dark fantasy horror film written by Guillermo del Toro and Matthew Robbins, and directed by Troy Nixey in his feature directorial debut. It is a remake of the 1973 ABC made-for-television film of the same name. The film stars Katie Holmes, Guy Pearce, and Bailee Madison, as a family moving into a 19th-century Rhode Island mansion, where the withdrawn daughter begins to witness malevolent creatures that emerge from a sealed ash pit in the basement of the house. Jack Thompson also stars in a supporting role. An international co-production between the United States, Australia, and Mexico, it was filmed at the Drusilla Mansion in Mount Macedon and Melbourne.

Milton Moses Ginsberg was an American film director and editor. He was noted for writing and directing Coming Apart, a 1969 film starring Rip Torn and Sally Kirkland, and The Werewolf of Washington starring Dean Stockwell.

<i>Lover Boy</i> (1989 film) 1989 Australian short film

Lover Boy is a 1989 Australian romantic drama film directed by Geoffrey Wright. It stars Noah Taylor and Gillian Jones.

References

  1. Buchanan, Jason (2007). "The Noah (1975)". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times . Archived from the original on 2007-11-20. Retrieved 2010-01-19.
  2. "DANIEL BOURLA: THE LOST GEM CALLED "THE NOAH" | Film Threat". 19 September 2005.
  3. "DANIEL BOURLA: THE LOST GEM CALLED "THE NOAH" | Film Threat". 19 September 2005.
  4. Cineaste coverage
  5. Cineaste coverage
  6. "From the Vault: 1968". 8 April 2007.
  7. "DANIEL BOURLA: THE LOST GEM CALLED "THE NOAH" | Film Threat". 19 September 2005.
  8. "From the Vault: 1968". 8 April 2007.