1956, Dir: John Huston, Moulin Productions, PG, 110 mins
Several versions of this film have been made, and the most recent was in 2010 starring William Hurt, Ethan Hawke and Donald Sutherland. There is also a 1998 two-part made for TV version, starring Patrick Stewart as Captain Ahab, which we’d recommend and the recent 2016 In the Heart of the Sea, based on Nathaniel Philbrick’s book (of the story behind the Melville classic of American literature). But despite good CGI that film is not as strong as the book. And for us the best version remains the 1956 epic starring Gregory Peck as Ahab.
The bleached-out photography of this film only adds to the grim telling of the Herman Melville tale of hardship and madness aboard a New Bedford whaler in the 1840s. With a mesmeric opening cameo from Orson Wells as the preacher speaking of Jonah from his pulpit made from the bows of a boat, the film continues the biblical references throughout to the ill-fated and foreboding ending. (Wells used his pay to fund his own stage production of Moby Dick starring Rod Steiger as Ahab.)
Gregory Peck’s captain Ahab scours the seas for a huge white whale that had taken his leg in an earlier bout, infecting the crew with his obsessive revenge-fuelled madness. Details such as whale teeth cleats, becalming, St Elmo’s fire and real whaling footage give this film an authenticity typical of a John Huston epic – the scriptwriters include Ray Bradbury. Peck apparently considered himself too young for the part (he was only 38 when he made it), suggesting Huston himself should take the starring role, thus almost denying himself the performance of a lifetime, though he almost drowned during some of the sea and whale-hunting scenes. GV
We found an online version that is reasonable: HERE
Note: Serious fans of the story might like to look at John Barrymore’s version from 1926: