Thursday, September 18, 2003

 

Moby Dick, the movie, with Gregory Peck was on and I enjoyed it once again.
This version was made in 1956 by John Huston, Angelica's father. This was actually the 3rd version. The first two were made by John Barrymore, one silent and the other a brand new talkie, both of them were romanticized quite a bit with women in lead roles in the films. This version, with Gregory Peck, Richard Baseheart and Orson Welles, (John Huston plays a bit part in the film as a saloon keeper. I could tell from his voice, but the makeup was very good or his voice was dubbed in for another actor in the part, because the saloon keeper looked nothing like I remember John Huston looking like, ever. I love John Huston's voice, so deep and mellow. I wish I had a deep voice like his was.) has no female lead role, no romantic interest at all, just the story of the white whale. Orson Welles plays the part of the parson at the beginning. It was obviously before he gained weight, but the voice was exactly as I remember it from every time I have heard it, another deep voice which I wish I had. The parson tells a tale in the church about Jonah and talks about whales and foreshadows what is to come. Richard Baseheart plays the part of Ishmael, and Gregory Peck plays Captain Ahab. I love this movie. It takes some liberties with the story from the book by Herman Melville, but all in all, this version was spectactular, a classic, though no one realized it would be one when it was made. Recently, another remake was done (Made in 2000 perhaps? I don't remember when, but I watched it when it was on.) with Patrick Stuart (of star trek fame) playing Ahab, which also was good, but of the 2, I prefer this one, with Gregory Peck. Technically, the Patrick Stuart version was fantastic and better made than the Gregory Peck version, but that was just because the technology of film making has changed so much since 1956. In 1956, this was one of the first wide screen technicolor movies. I saw it in the theater shortly after it came out (I was all of 9 years old at the time I saw this movie!), and I had nightmares for months! Where did they find the ships used for filming? Either they did some fancy tricks with filming or there were several real sailing ships or some mighty fine full size models. I am impressed with large sailing ships. I once saw one being built on the shore in the Phillipines. Actually, I saw two ships being built, both 3 masters. When Ishmael and Queequeeg sign on, they run into a begger who foretells of the fate of the ship and Ahab, that he will die, and then within the hour will rise again and beckon and all but one will die. There, is the final scenes of the movie, revealed. In the end, of course, Ahab ends up tangled in the ropes and harpoons in Moby Dick as Moby Dick dives Ahab is stabbing again and again and then silence for a while on calm water, and then a few minutes later the white whale surfaces and they see Ahab, still tangled in the ropes, and one arm flops back and forth, as if beckoning them after the whale. Moby Dick rams the Pequod and sinks the ship. He crushes the whaleboats one by one. And sure enough, the only survivor is Ishmael, floating on the coffin Queequeeg had made for himself by the carpenter of the Pequod. This is a powerful movie of traditional good versus evil, but it is never clear who is good and who is evil. I've never understood that about this story. When I read it the first time, I thought it was simply another exciting story, but a bit dated, as after all, it was based in Melville's time in a different society. I learned much about whaling in the old days from this book. It is fairly accurate in the portrayal of the times at sea and several historians have commented on the detail and accuracy of the whaling. Melville fabricated a good story around a true incident of a whale causing a ship to sink. Melville added the storyline of Ahab out to get the whale which took off his leg. Ahab is obsessed with revenge, by killing the whale which hurt him, and dies in the effort. In the true incident, the whale apparently ran into the side of the ship and the broken timbers were enough to eventually sink the ship. Unlike the book, most of the crew survived. Here is a link to the site from the Discovery Channel on the program they made called Moby Dick - The True Story

Posted by: Rowlfe - at: 9/18/2003 10:41:00 AM

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