The Last Flight of Noah’s Ark ** (1980, Elliott Gould, Geneviève Bujold, Ricky Schroder, Tammy Lauren, Vincent Gardenia) Classic Movie Review 12,577

Charles Jarrott’s 1980 Walt Disney Productions American children’s adventure film The Last Flight of Noah’s Ark stars Elliott Gould, Geneviève Bujold, Ricky Schroder

Director Charles Jarrott’s 1980 Walt Disney Productions American children’s adventure film The Last Flight of Noah’s Ark stars Elliott Gould, Geneviève Bujold, Ricky Schroder, Tammy Lauren, and Vincent Gardenia.

The Last Flight of Noah’s Ark is wholesome, sentimental, quality Disney fun, based on a story called The Gremlin’s Castle by Ernest K Gann, about employed pilot Noah Dugan (Elliott Gould) who is talked into flying a planeful of farm animals to a Pacific island by missionary Bernadette Lafleur (Geneviève Bujold).

Two of Lafleur’s pupils (Ricky Schroder, Tammy Lauren) stow away on the plane, which gets into trouble and has to land on a faroff island. They now have to turn the downed plane into a new Noah’s Ark sea vessel if they are to get home to safety with the animals.

The Last Flight of Noah’s Ark is entertaining, and Gould’s wisecracking is very amusing, though sharper direction by Jarrott would have helped. It is attractively filmed on Waikiki Beach by cinematographer Charles F Wheeler, and there is a score by Maurice Jarre to enjoy.

Also in the cast are John Fujioka, John P Ryan, Dana Elcar, Ruth Manning, Arthur Adams, Austin Willis, Pete Renaday, and Bob Whiting.

It was released by Buena Vista Distribution on July 9, 1980.

A full-scale Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber is used as the ark.

Charles Jarrott previously directed Geneviève Bujold in Anne of the Thousand Days (1969).

Charles Jarrott’s films include: Time to Remember (1962), Anne of the Thousand Days (1969), Mary Queen of Scots (1971), Lost Horizon (1973), The Dove (1974), The Other Side of Midnight (1977), Escape from the Dark [The Littlest Horse Thieves] (1977), The Last Flight of Noah’s Ark (1980), Condorman (1981), The Amateur (1981).

Rick Schroder.

Ricky Schroder made his film debut in 1979 in The Champ. He won the Golden Globe award in 1980 for Best New Male Star of the Year in a Motion Picture, becoming at age nine the youngest Golden Globe winner. In 1980 Schroder appeared in The Last Flight of Noah’s Ark and starred in Little Lord Fauntleroy. He is an avid hunter and fisherman, having learned to shoot at the age of 10 from William Holden while making The Earthling, also in 1980.

The cast are Elliott Gould as Noah Dugan, Geneviève Bujold as Bernadette Lafleur, Ricky Schroder as Bobby, Vincent Gardenia as Stoney, Tammy Lauren as Julie, John Fujioka as ‘Cleveland’, Yuki Shimoda as Hiro, Dana Elcar as Benchley, John P Ryan as Coslough, Ruth Manning as Charlotte Braithwaite, Arthur Adams as Leipzig Manager, Austin Willis as Slabotsky, Peter Renaday as Irate Pilot, and Bob Whiting as Chaplain.

© Derek Winnert 2023 – Classic Movie Review 12,577

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