The Last Valley (film)

The Last Valley
US film poster
Directed by	James Clavell
Written by	James Clavell
Based on	The Last Valley by J. B. Pick
Produced by	James Clavell
Starring	Michael Caine Omar Sharif Florinda Bolkan Nigel Davenport Per Oscarsson
Cinematography	John Wilcox
Edited by	John Bloom
Music by	John Barry
Production companies	Season Productions ABC Pictures Corporation
Distributed by	Cinerama Releasing Corporation
Release date	28 January 1971 (1971-01-28)
Running time	128 minutes
Countries	United Kingdom United States
Language	English
Budget	$6,250,000[1]
Box office	$1,280,000[1]

The Last Valley is a 1971 film written and directed by James Clavell, an historical drama set during the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648). While war ravages southern Germany, a mercenary leader (Michael Caine) and a teacher (Omar Sharif) stumble upon a valley untouched by the war. Based upon the novel The Last Valley (1959), by J. B. Pick,^[2] the cinematic version of The Last Valley was the final feature film photographed with the Todd-AO 70 mm widescreen process until it was revived to make the film Baraka in 1991.

Michael Caine called it "the most disappointing picture I ever made. Disappointing not from the finished picture, but the reaction to it. It is a performance of which I’m particularly proud, one of the best performances I ever gave, as a matter of fact. For a start, it was anti-religious war at the time of Northern Ireland. I did the film to show what I felt about all the religions. But it meant absolutely nothing to the public, the critics were extremely unkind, and it was a terrible thing for me because everybody was sure it would be a big hit — and so was I."^[3]