Main Cast: Gregory Peck, Richard Basehart, Leo Genn, Harry Andrews, Seamus Kelly, Orson Welles
Release Year: 1956
Country: US/UK
Run Time: 116 minutes
Plot
Previous film versions of Moby Dick insisted upon including such imbecilities as romantic subplots and happy endings. John Huston's 1956 Moby Dick remains admirably faithful to its source. "Call me Ishmael" declares itinerant whaler Richard Basehart as the opening credits fade. Though slightly intimidated by the sermon delivered by Father Mapple (Orson Welles in a brilliant one-take cameo), who warns that those who challenge the sea are in danger of losing their souls, Ishmael nonetheless signs on to the Pequod, a whaling ship captained by the brooding, one-legged Ahab (Gregory Peck). For lo these many years, Ahab has been engaged in an obsessive pursuit of Moby Dick, the great white whale to whom he lost his leg. Ahab's dementia spreads throughout the crew members, who maniacally join their captain in his final, fatal attack upon the elusive, enigmatic Moby Dick. Screenwriter Ray Bradbury masterfully captures the allegorical elements in the Herman Melville original without sacrificing any of the film's entertainment value (Bradbury suffered his own "great white whale" in the form of director Huston, who sadistically ran roughshod over the sensitive author throughout the film).Cinematographer Oswald Morris' washed-out color scheme brilliantly underlines the foredoomed bleakness of the story. Moby Dick's one major shortcoming is its obviously artificial whale-but try telling a real whale to stay within camera range and hit its marks. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
Adapting Herman Melville's extravagant and enigmatic novel was a daunting challenge, but director John Huston acquitted himself well with this 1956 attempt. Huston had experience translating literary works to the screen (The Maltese Falcon, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Red Badge of Courage), and Moby Dick was well-suited to his usual themes of human weakness and obsession. The muted colors of cinematographers Freddie Francis and Oswald Morris give the film an original, washed-out look, perfectly suited to the story's era. Equally impressive is the old boat that Huston hand-selected for the Pequod and his recreation of a mid-1800s rustic fishing village. The screenplay by Huston and Ray Bradbury is more than adequate, as is Gregory Peck's stoic Captain Ahab. Orson Welles, who had always wanted to film the novel himself, has a brief cameo. ~ Brendon Hanley, All Movie Guide
Ralph W. Brinton - Art Director, Stephen B. Grimes - Art Director, Robert Clarke - Consultant/advisor, Elizabeth Haffenden - Costume Designer, Jack Martin - First Assistant Director, John Huston - Director, Russell Lloyd - Editor, Philip Stainton - Composer (Music Score), Louis Levy - Musical Direction/Supervision, Charles Parker - Makeup, Freddie Francis - Camera Operator, Freddie Francis - Cinematographer, Oswald Morris - Cinematographer, Vaughan N. Dean - Producer, John Huston - Producer, John W. Mitchell - Sound/Sound Designer, Ray Bradbury - Screenwriter, John Huston - Screenwriter, Herman Melville - Book Author
Peck was initially surprised to be cast as Ahab (part of the studio's agreement to fund the film was that Huston use a "name" actor as Ahab). Peck later commented that he felt Huston himself should have played Ahab. Ironically, Huston had originally intended to cast his own father, the actor Walter Huston in the role, but his father had died by the time the film was made. Peck went on to play the role of Father Mapple in the 1998 television miniseries adaptation of Melville's novel, with Patrick Stewart as Ahab.
Welles' salary from his cameo was later used by him to fund his own stage production of Moby Dick, in which Rod Steiger played Captain Ahab.
Production
During a meeting to discuss the screenplay, Ray Bradbury informed John Huston that regarding Melville's novel, he had "never been able to read the damned thing". According to the biography The Bradbury Chronicles, there was much tension and anger between the two men during the making of the film, allegedly due to Huston's bullying attitude and attempts to tell Bradbury how to do his job, despite Bradbury being an accomplished writer. Bradbury's novel Green Shadows, White Whale includes a fictionalized version of his writing the screenplay with John Huston in Ireland. Bradbury's short story "Banshee" is another fictionalized account of what it was like to work with Huston on this film. In the television adaptation of the story for The Ray Bradbury Theater the Huston character was played by Peter O'Toole and the Bradbury surrogate by Charles Martin Smith.
Of the three film versions of Moby Dick made between 1926 and 1956, Huston's is the only one which is faithful to the novel and uses its original ending.
A myth that was put to rest in cinematographer Oswald Morris' autobiography, "Huston, We Have A Problem," is that no full length whale models were ever built for the production. Previous accounts have claimed that as many as three 60-foot rubber "white whales" were lost at sea during filming making them "navagational hazards." According to Morris, the Pequod was followed by a barge with various whale parts (hump, back, fin, tail). These were used as needed; and, indeed, one twenty foot cylinder section did come loose from its tow-line and drifted away in a fog. Morris does not say if Gregory Peck was aboard the prop, but the actor was as this has been corroborated by others involved in the production, and was confirmed by Peck in May, 1995, when he spoke at the Orpheum Theater in Minneapolis. 90% of the shots of the white whale are various size miniatures filmed in a water tank in Shepperton Studios in London. Whales and longboat models were built by special effects man, August Lohman, working in conjunction with art director Stephen Grimes. Studio shots also included a life-size Moby jaw and head - with working eyes. The head apparatus which could move like a rocking horse was employed when actors were in the water with the whale. Gregory Peck's last speech is delivered in the studio while riding the white whale's hump (a hole was drilled in the side of the whale so Peck could conceal his real leg).
Peck and Huston intended to shoot Herman Melville's Typee in 1957, but the funding fell through. Not long after, the two had a falling out. According to one biography, Peck discovered to his disappointment, that he had not been Huston's choice for Ahab; but in fact, was thrust upon the director by the Mirisch brothers at Warner's to secure financing. Peck felt Huston had deceived him into taking a part for which Peck felt he was ill-suited. Years later, the actor tried to patch up his differences with the director, but Huston rebuked him and the two never spoke to each other again.[citation needed]
As of 2008, Oswald Morris is the last surviving member of the film's first unit.
Film rights
This was originally a Warner Bros. release; however, this film (as well as the pre-1950[1][2] Warner library) ended up being sold to Associated Artists Productions, which later was sold to United Artists Television. This would eventually be the only film in the UATV package that would not end up with Turner Entertainment, and thus UA (via its parent company, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) continues to own the U.S. rights to this film today with MGM Home Entertainment holding the home video rights. The international rights are with various other companies.
Notes
^You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story (2008), p. 255.
^ WB retained a pair of features from 1949 that they merely distributed, and all short subjects released on or after September 1, 1948; in addition to all cartoons released in August 1948.
