Moby Dick (1956)
| Moby Dick | |
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1976 theatrical re-release poster
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| Directed by | John Huston |
| Produced by |
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| Screenplay by |
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| Based on | |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Philip Sainton |
| Cinematography | Oswald Morris |
| Edited by | Russell Lloyd |
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Production
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Moulin Productions
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| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
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Release date
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Running time
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116 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | US$ 4,500,000 |
| Box office | $5.2 million (US) |
Moby Dick is a 1956 film adaptation of Herman Melville's novel Moby-Dick. It was directed by John Huston with a screenplay by Huston and Ray Bradbury. The film starred Gregory Peck, Richard Basehart, and Leo Genn.
The music score was written by Philip Sainton.
Set in 19th century New England, the story follows the whaling ship Pequod and its crew. Leading them is Captain Ahab, who was almost killed in an encounter with the "great white whale", Moby Dick. Now he is out for revenge. With the crew that has joined him, Ahab is out to destroy the huge sea mammal, but his obsession with vengeance is so great that he cannot turn back, eventually leading to the death of Ahab and all of his crew, save his newest able seaman, Ishmael.
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 later used the salary from his cameo to fund his own stage production of Moby Dick, in which Rod Steiger played Captain Ahab.
The Pequod was portrayed by, appropriately, the Moby Dick. Built in England in 1887 as the Ryelands, the ship came into the hands of the film industry in the 50s, and was also used in Treasure Island. It was destroyed by fire in Morecambe, England in 1972.
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Wikipedia