''In Search of Noah's Ark'' is a 1976 American

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in te ...

based on David W. Balsiger and Charles E. Sellier Jr.'s book of the same name. Released by

Sunn Classic Pictures Sunn Classic Pictures, also known as Sunn International Pictures, Schick Sunn Classic Pictures, and Taft International Pictures was an independent U.S.-based film distributor, founded in 1971. The company was notable for family films and document ...

, it explores the alleged final resting place of

Noah's Ark Noah's Ark ( he, תיבת נח; Biblical Hebrew: ''Tevat Noaḥ'')The word "ark" in modern English comes from Old English ''aerca'', meaning a chest or box. (See Cresswell 2010, p.22) The Hebrew word for the vessel, ''teva'', occurs twice in ...

Production notes

''In Search of Noah's Ark'' was produced by

, a

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

-based independent film company that specialized in releasing

low-budget A low-budget film or low-budget movie is a motion picture shot with little to no funding from a major film studio or private investor. Many independent films are made on low budgets, but films made on the mainstream circuit with inexperienced or ...

family films and documentaries. Along with such features as ''

Beyond and Back ''Beyond and Back'' is a 1978 documentary and "death-sploitation flick"''Beyond and ...

'' (1978) and ''

In Search of Historic Jesus ''In Search of Historic Jesus'' is a 1979 American documentary film based on Lee Roddy and Charles E. Sellier Jr.'s book of the same name. Released by Sunn Classic Pictures, the film speculates on the historical accuracy of the biblical depict ...

'' (1979), the film was one of a series of releases from the company that attempted to present convincing scientific evidence for Christian theology. Parts of the film were shot in

Park City, Utah Park City is a city in Utah, United States. The vast majority is in Summit County, and it extends into Wasatch County. It is considered to be part of the Wasatch Back. The city is southeast of downtown Salt Lake City and from Salt Lake Cit ...

. The film was based on the book by David W. Balsiger. Filmed independently and inexpensively, the documentary makes the assertion that Noah's Ark, from the biblical flood narrative, has been found on the slopes of

Mount Ararat Mount Ararat or , ''Ararat''; or is a snow-capped and dormant compound volcano in the extreme east of Turkey. It consists of two major volcanic cones: Greater Ararat and Little Ararat. Greater Ararat is the highest peak in Turkey and th ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

, though physical and political difficulties prevent a more extensive study of the alleged vessel. The movie includes a re-enactment of Noah's story as one of its highlights.

Reception

''In Search of Noah's Ark'' grossed $55.7 million at the North American box office and was the ninth highest grossing film of 1976 in the United States.

Follow-up film

On February 20, 1993,

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

aired a

television special A television special (often TV special, or rarely television spectacular) is a standalone television show which may also temporarily interrupt episodic programming normally scheduled for a given time slot. Some specials provide a full range of ent ...

entitled ''The Incredible Discovery of Noah's Ark''. Produced by Sun International Pictures, it was intended as an updated follow-up to ''In Search of Noah's Ark''. Hosted by Darren McGavin, the special features interviews with John C. Whitcomb, Philip C. Hammond,

Charles Berlitz Charles Frambach Berlitz (November 22, 1913 – December 18, 2003) was an American polyglot, language teacher and writer, known for his language-learning courses and his books on paranormal phenomena. Life Berlitz was born in New York City. He w ...

, David Coppedge, Carl Baugh and

Tim LaHaye Timothy Francis LaHaye (April 27, 1926 – July 25, 2016) was an American Baptist evangelical Christian minister who wrote more than 85 books, both fiction and non-fiction, including the ''Left Behind'' series of apocalyptic fiction, which he ...

. The special included a section devoted to the claims of George Jammal, who showed what he called "sacred wood from the ark." Jammal's story of a dramatic mountain expedition which took the life of "his Polish friend Vladimir" was actually a deliberate hoax concocted with scholar Gerald Larue. Jammal – who was really an actor – later revealed that his "sacred wood" was taken from railroad tracks in

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

and hardened by cooking with various sauces in an oven.

References

External links

* *
“The Incredible Mysteries of Sun Pictures” on TalkOrigins

* Watch ''In Search of Noah's Ark'' on the Internet Archive * Watch ''The Incredible Discovery of Noah's Ark'' on the Internet Archive {{DEFAULTSORT:In Search of Noah's Ark 1976 films Apologetics 1976 documentary films Noah's Ark in film Films shot in Utah Taft Entertainment Pictures films Films directed by James L. Conway 1976 directorial debut films 1970s English-language films

Production notes

Reception

Follow-up film

See also

References

External links