Preceded by the original musical overture (played while patrons are entering theater) and rare footage of the film's premiere, presented by Robert Gitt. As if begat by Griffith or DeMille, Noah's Ark makes its analogies directly, via parallel plotlines (one set during World War I, the other in Biblical times, depicting the Flood), and actors in dual roles. Dolores Costello portrays a young Alsatian woman who finds herself in Paris during the war, in love with George O'Brien, wrongly accused (by Wallace Beery) of being a German spy-and about to be executed. Thus was Miriam (Costello), betrothed of Japheth (O'Brien), to become a human sacrifice for King Nephilim (Beery)...Enter Noah, and the Flood. Critics who heard Dolores Costello's voice for the first time tried to be generous ("Her voice is quite charming, but her lines are frequently inept," New York Times; "The Costello voice is just not for the talkers," Variety). What did, and still does, impress is director Michael Curtiz's handling of spectacle, from the opening train crash to the climactic flood scene-tons of water, swirling and smashing. Cinematographer Hal Mohr refused to shoot the Flood sequence, fearing the collapse of the giant columns, and Barney McGill took his place; indeed, with no shots faked, several extras reportedly drowned.