In search of income and a little adventure, Ishmael (Richard Basehart) finds himself in New Bedford, a small whaling town on the Massachusetts coast.  Shortly after arriving, he makes his peace with God at the whaler’s church – presided over by Father Mapple (Orson Welles) – before signing on to the Pequod, with the mysterious Captain Ahab (Gregory Peck) leading the ship.  As the journey continues, Ahab changes the ship’s course in pursuit of Moby Dick, the great white whale from Herman Melville’s 1851 novel of the same name, putting the safety of himself, the crew, and the ship at risk on his quest for revenge. 

Much like Ahab’s hunt for the whale, Moby Dick was a long-time passion project for director John Huston.  The dark and brooding story which is devoid of any female characters or love arc was a tough sell for studios.  It was a three-year shopping period until finally the Mirisch Brothers agreed to finance the film at $2 million with Warner Bros. then handling the distribution.  The film would go on to exceed its budget with a final price tag nearing $4.4 million which would sink the brothers’ Moulin Productions forcing them to sell the film to United Artists. 

Huston did not just face financial problems in bringing his vision to screen.  Creatively, he and the screenwriter, Ray Bradbury, would often have disagreements over the script.  At this point in his career, Bradbury was an accomplished author with many story credits to his name, however Moby Dick would be his first true screenplay credit.  On a more personal level, Huston had originally wanted his father, Walter Huston, to fill the role of Ahab, but after his sudden death in 1950 he was forced to recast the roll which would eventually go to Gregory Peck. 

Peck’s leading role in this film draws controversy to this day given his young age – only 38 at the time of filming – but personally, I find that he fills the role of sea captain gone mad very well.  He does not storm, sulk, and scream about on deck like Charles Laughton’s Captain Bligh did 20 years earlier in Mutiny on the Bounty (1935), which makes those scenes late in the film when his obsession truly takes over all the more terrifying.  He brings a refined and stoic nature to Ahab which allows his obsession to fester and grow until finally he erupts against nature without cause or care for the mission, the ship, nor the lives of his crew or himself. 

Our entry point into this nautical hellscape is through Basehart’s Ishmael.  Outside of the opening in New Bedford, the script does not give him much to do once on board the Pequod.  It would be unfair to compare this role to Clark Gable’s Christian from Mutiny –  if anything, Leo Glenn’s Starbuck follows a more similar emotional arc – but both Gable and Basehart make this rough world of labor and superstition incredibly accessible to us landlubbers.  Through voiceover that is written like entries into a journal, we get a good sense of what the crew is going through on a macro level while in search of whales, but the story is not about the crew, so the script does not do much to flesh them out from their immediate roles aboard the ill-fated vessel. 

What is most impressive about Moby Dick is how legible the action is, especially give the limitations of both effects and camera technology of the time.  Much of the film takes place at sea, and there are many exciting sequences that keep us interested in the film.  The first example comes with the first whale hunt.  Huston and his team undoubtedly juggle between many styles of effects techniques so that we can be both awestruck in the wide shots of the vast ocean and the three small boats making their way towards the beast, but also the closeup of the sailors as they grow nearer their prey and prepare for the kill.  Later, there is a climactic storm that ends the second act which was sure to be a daunting task to film with the waves that toss the poor ship to and fro.   

The real mastery comes during the showdown between Ahab and Moby Dick because Huston is fearless in placing his camera directly into the midst of the chaos.  It is again a collage of techniques all carefully cut together so that we may bear witness to this battle between man and nature.  The ingenuity and skill required from the team of practical effects artists and stunt workers is unbelievable, and a testament to their work is just how good Moby Dick looks on screen here.  The rigs and models all fit well into the context of the frame, and while many times the whale is obscured by the waves, Huston still makes sure that we see a lot.  Further still, there is a lot of interaction with the whale and the actors, and it is incredible to think something of this scale was all filmed practically. 

The other truly unique thing about Moby Dick is the very unusual color throughout.  It was filmed in Technicolor, but a black and white negative was also produced and then superimposed onto the final print.  It gives that old style photograph feel to the entire picture, without resorting to the more earthy sepia tone.  This decision woks in the film’s favor as is does not mute the bright blues of the ocean or the sky and it also adds great depth to the nighttime scenes and the storm sequence.   

Moby Dick is an impressive work no matter which way you look at it.  The love and care that Huston has for the project, which he would later state as the most difficult film he ever directed, pours through in each frame.  While the film does feel long at times, clocking in at 116 minutes, it would be a struggle to say there is any part that is boring.  If you find yourself like Bradbury who, allegedly, never could make it through the tome himself, Huston’s mid-century, seafaring epic may be the perfect repertoire matinee picture for you.