The Noah
Encyclopedia
The Noah is a complex and innovative feature film written and directed by Daniel Bourla, starring Robert Strauss
(Oscar nominee for Stalag 17
) in his final film performance. Noah (Strauss), the sole survivor on our planet after a nuclear holocaust, finds himself unable to accept his unique predicament. To cope with his loneliness, 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, no rules but those of the extinct world of his memory - our world.
The film was shot in Puerto Rico
in 1968, but was not screened until 1975 and it was never released theatrically. 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.
Also the voices of and some sounds of events of recent history, including:
Various students, Preacher, Baseball Announcer, Radio Announcer, Mistinguett, Vladimir Lenin
, Benito Musolini, Adolf Hitler
, Night of Broken Glass (Kristallnacht
), Polish Cavalry Officer, Panzer commander, Neville Chamberlain
, Winston Churchill
, French Premier Daladier, Marshall Petain, London Blitz, 1940 US Presidential Elections, Young Man and Woman in parked car, Various Obercommando der Wehrmacht Announcements, President Roosevelt, Joseph Stalin
, American Telephone Operator, Man humming mourners’ Kaddish
, German S/S Doctor at Auschwitz train station, American Radio Announcer (Pearl Harbor), Army Induction Center Officer, Afrika Korps advances, Russian Woman in Stalingrad, Liberation of Rome - Italian Woman questioning passing Noah, Bob Hope
, Liberation of Paris, General De Gaulle singing La Marseillaise, Fire-Bombing of Dresden, Little German Girl questioning passing Noah, Admiral Dönitz, VE-Day London, New York, Japanese children singing, Atom Bomb Hiroshima, President Truman, Emperor Hirohito, Senator McCarthy, Adlai Stevenson, President Nixon, President Eisenhower, Launching of Russian Sputnik, President Kennedy, President Johnson, African-American Activist, US Student Activist, Robert Kennedy, Hungarian Demonstrators, US Demonstrators, Nigerian Officer, British Journalist, Biafran Prisoner.
Robert Strauss (actor)
Robert Strauss was a gravel-voiced American actor.-Career:Strauss began his career as a classical actor, appearing in The Tempest and Macbeth on Broadway in 1930...
(Oscar nominee for Stalag 17
Stalag 17
Stalag 17 is a 1953 war film which tells the story of a group of American airmen held in a German World War II prisoner of war camp, who come to suspect that one of their number is a traitor...
) in his final film performance. Noah (Strauss), the sole survivor on our planet after a nuclear holocaust, finds himself unable to accept his unique predicament. To cope with his loneliness, he creates an imaginary companion, then a companion for his companion (played by off-screen voice performances by Geoffrey Holder
Geoffrey Holder
Geoffrey Richard Holder is a Trinidadian actor, choreographer, director, dancer, painter, costume designer, singer and voice-over artist.-Early life:...
and Sally Kirkland
Sally Kirkland
Sally Kirkland is an American film and television actress.-Early life:Kirkland was named after her mother, fashion editor Sally Kirkland, who was a fashion editor at Vogue and LIFE magazines, and was raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her father, Frederic McMichael Kirkland, worked in the scrap...
) and finally an entire civilization - a world of illusion in which there is no reality but Noah, no rules but those of the extinct world of his memory - our world.
The film was shot in Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
in 1968, but was not screened until 1975 and it was never released theatrically. The Noah remained unseen until 1997, when it was featured on a film classics appreciation program broadcast in New York by CUNY TV
CUNY TV
CUNY TV is a non-commercial Educational-access television cable station in New York City, part of The City University of New York's university system. It provides tele-course programming varying from mathematics, physics and biology to history, art and social studies. It also provides cultural...
, the cable television station operated by the City University of New York
City University of New York
The City University of New York is the public university system of New York City, with its administrative offices in Yorkville in Manhattan. It is the largest urban university in the United States, consisting of 23 institutions: 11 senior colleges, six community colleges, the William E...
. A 2005 article on Film Threat
Film Threat
Film Threat is a former print magazine and, now, webzine which focuses primarily on independent film, although it also reviews DVDs of mainstream films and Hollywood movies in theaters. It first appeared as a photocopied zine in 1985, created by Wayne State University students Chris Gore and André...
and a follow-up interview on the same site with Bourla resulted in its DVD debut in 2006.
Cast
- Robert StraussRobert Strauss (actor)Robert Strauss was a gravel-voiced American actor.-Career:Strauss began his career as a classical actor, appearing in The Tempest and Macbeth on Broadway in 1930...
as Noah - Geoffrey HolderGeoffrey HolderGeoffrey Richard Holder is a Trinidadian actor, choreographer, director, dancer, painter, costume designer, singer and voice-over artist.-Early life:...
as Friday (voice) - Sally KirklandSally KirklandSally Kirkland is an American film and television actress.-Early life:Kirkland was named after her mother, fashion editor Sally Kirkland, who was a fashion editor at Vogue and LIFE magazines, and was raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her father, Frederic McMichael Kirkland, worked in the scrap...
as Friday-Anne (voice) - David Bourla as Little Boy (voice)
- Richard Thompkins as College Student (voice)
- James KeachJames KeachJames Keach is an American actor, producer, and director. He is the younger brother of actor Stacy Keach, Jr., and son of actor Stacy Keach, Sr.-Background:...
as Various voices - Herbert Hartig as Various voices
- Jack Schneider as Sgt Kowalsky (voice)
Also the voices of and some sounds of events of recent history, including:
Various students, Preacher, Baseball Announcer, Radio Announcer, Mistinguett, Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Lenin was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and communist politician who led the October Revolution of 1917. As leader of the Bolsheviks, he headed the Soviet state during its initial years , as it fought to establish control of Russia in the Russian Civil War and worked to create a...
, Benito Musolini, Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
, Night of Broken Glass (Kristallnacht
Kristallnacht
Kristallnacht, also referred to as the Night of Broken Glass, and also Reichskristallnacht, Pogromnacht, and Novemberpogrome, was a pogrom or series of attacks against Jews throughout Nazi Germany and parts of Austria on 9–10 November 1938.Jewish homes were ransacked, as were shops, towns and...
), Polish Cavalry Officer, Panzer commander, Neville Chamberlain
Neville Chamberlain
Arthur Neville Chamberlain FRS was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from May 1937 to May 1940. Chamberlain is best known for his appeasement foreign policy, and in particular for his signing of the Munich Agreement in 1938, conceding the...
, Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
, French Premier Daladier, Marshall Petain, London Blitz, 1940 US Presidential Elections, Young Man and Woman in parked car, Various Obercommando der Wehrmacht Announcements, President Roosevelt, Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
, American Telephone Operator, Man humming mourners’ Kaddish
Kaddish
Kaddish is a prayer found in the Jewish prayer service. The central theme of the Kaddish is the magnification and sanctification of God's name. In the liturgy different versions of the Kaddish are used functionally as separators between sections of the service...
, German S/S Doctor at Auschwitz train station, American Radio Announcer (Pearl Harbor), Army Induction Center Officer, Afrika Korps advances, Russian Woman in Stalingrad, Liberation of Rome - Italian Woman questioning passing Noah, Bob Hope
Bob Hope
Bob Hope, KBE, KCSG, KSS was a British-born American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in radio, television and movies. He was also noted for his work with the US Armed Forces and his numerous USO shows entertaining American military personnel...
, Liberation of Paris, General De Gaulle singing La Marseillaise, Fire-Bombing of Dresden, Little German Girl questioning passing Noah, Admiral Dönitz, VE-Day London, New York, Japanese children singing, Atom Bomb Hiroshima, President Truman, Emperor Hirohito, Senator McCarthy, Adlai Stevenson, President Nixon, President Eisenhower, Launching of Russian Sputnik, President Kennedy, President Johnson, African-American Activist, US Student Activist, Robert Kennedy, Hungarian Demonstrators, US Demonstrators, Nigerian Officer, British Journalist, Biafran Prisoner.
External links
- The Noah at the Internet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...
- Film Threat article on The Noah: http://www.filmthreat.com/interviews/1024/
- Film Threat DVD Review: http://www.filmthreat.com/reviews/9472/
- Fulvue Drive-in review: http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/6331/Cast+Away+(Blu-ray/20th+Century+Fox/2000)+++The+Noah+(DVD/Pathfinder/1974)