The sole survivor of a lost whaling ship relates the tale of his captain's self-destructive obsession to hunt the white whale, Moby Dick.The sole survivor of a lost whaling ship relates the tale of his captain's self-destructive obsession to hunt the white whale, Moby Dick.The sole survivor of a lost whaling ship relates the tale of his captain's self-destructive obsession to hunt the white whale, Moby Dick.
- Awards
- 5 wins & 4 nominations
Friedrich von Ledebur
- Queequeg
- (as Friedrich Ledebur)
Tamba Allen
- Pip
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaGregory Peck initially blamed the poor reviews of his performance on the script, which he felt contained "too much prose from the novel". However, he later acknowledged that he had been too young for the part at 38, since Captain Ahab was supposed to be an old man at the end of his career (Ahab's age, as implied in the book's chapter "The Symphony", is 58). He added, "The film required more. At the time, I didn't have more in me." and apologized to the screenwriters. Director John Huston admitted he didn't want Peck as Ahab, but had spoken very highly of him & was very satisfied with his performance.
- GoofsThe way the ship was moved away from the pier was incorrect. The crew is shown hauling a line from the pier. This would not make the ship move forward. To move a ship out of the harbor, it is therefore, necessary to provide something to pull against. A special anchor, called a kedging anchor, is carried as far from the ship as possible by the longboat and then dropped to the seabed. The remaining crew pull the ship out to it winding the line around the capstan or winch, and then it is hauled up and the process repeated as many times as necessary.
- Quotes
Captain Ahab: From hell's heart I stab at thee; for hate's sake I spit my last breath at thee. Ye damned whale.
- Crazy creditsThe film finishes with 'Finis' instead of the usual 'The End'.
- ConnectionsEdited into De 7 Dødssyndene: Latskap (2007)
Featured review
This version of the Melville classic should, without question, be regarded as the penultimate screen adaptation of a masterwork of American fiction. Everything - absolutely everything - about this film works, from John Huston's brilliant direction, to the screenplay ( co-written by Ray Bradbury ), to the powerful and believable performances. Gregory Peck IS Ahab; if anyone defined and crystallized so megalomaniacal a character, it was Peck, hands down. Not that this should be interpreted as a slight to any of the supporting cast; it isn't. The casting is so good, in fact, that now we find it difficult, if not impossible, to view the supporting cast members in any other light, especially Frederich Ledebur: his choice by the producers as Queequeg was nothing if not dead on the money, as was the small but significant part of Elizah, as portrayed by Royal Dano. Granted, some liberties were taken with the book ( so what else is new? ), such as the squid being written out completely, but this was, and continues to be, necessary in order to make a movie that doesn't take five hours to play out. Yes, okay, it's a "Cliff's Notes" "Moby Dick", but if what you're after is good direction, outstanding ( one could say tour de force ) acting, and a tight screenplay, then this is the movie for you. Believe us, this is the one, NOT the remake with Patrick Stewart. Stewart's Ahab is basically Patrick Stewart playing Patrick Stewart playing Ahab or, to put it another way, Huston's "Moby Dick" needs to be remade about as badly as the rest of us need leukemia. 'Nuff said.
- march9hare
- Aug 19, 2004
- Permalink
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Herman Melville's Moby Dick
- Filming locations
- Youghal, County Cork, Ireland(harbour: New Bedford - departure of The Pequod)
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $4,500,000 (estimated)
- Gross worldwide
- $353
- Runtime1 hour 56 minutes
- Aspect ratio
- 1.66 : 1
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