of connection in the stories from Genesis," and "simply repeats in moving pictures what has been done with still pictures over the centuries. That is hardly enough to adorn this medium and engross sophisticated audience." Richard L. Coe of The Washington Post described the film as "cautiously literary, impressive in some instances, absurd in others." The Monthly Film Bulletin opined that "the seven or eight episodes are diffusely long, tediously slow, depressingly reverent. The liveliest of the lot is The Ark, with Huston himself as a jolly, Dr. Dolittle old Noah, and a lot of irrestistibly solemn and silly animals; but even here sheer length eventually wears down one's attention." Episcopal priest and author Malcolm Boyd wrote, "Its interpretation of Holy Scripture is fundamentalistic, honoring letter while ignoring (or violating) spirit. John Huston got bogged down in material of the Sunday School picture-book level and seems unable to have gotten out of the rut. It is an over-long (174 minutes plus intermission) picture, tedious and boring." In Leonard Maltin's annual home video guide the film is given a BOMB rating, its review stating, "Only Huston himself as Noah escapes heavy-handedness. Definitely one time you should read the Book instead." Box office The film earned rentals of $15 million in the United States and Canada during its initial theatrical release, which made it the second highest-grossing film of 1966. The film was the second most popular Italian production in Italy in 1966 with 11,245,980 admissions, just behind The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, and is the 15th most popular of all-time. According to Fox records, the film needed to earn $26,900,000 in rentals to break even and made $25,325,000 worldwide (as of December 11, 1970), making a loss of $1.5 million. Awards and nominations The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists: 2006: AFI's 100 Years...100 Cheers – Nominated Home media 20th Century Fox released the film on videocassettes during the later 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, DVD in 2002, Blu-ray Disc on 22 March 2011 and online for both permanent downloading and streaming video online rentals. See also List of American films of 1966 References Bibliography External links 1966 films 1960s English-language films 20th Century Fox films Films based on the Book of Genesis Films directed by John Huston Films shot in Ecuador Religious epic films Films based on the Bible Films shot in Rome Films shot