kijii John Huston and Ray Bradbury wrote a screenplay that did justice to Melville' s famous allegorical novel. As far as I can imagine, it would be hard to present this story much better on screen. Richard Basehart's performance, as Ishmael, was adequate in that it didn't require much after the opening scenes in New Bedford. Orson Wells was great in his brief, but powerful, scene as Father Mapple, the minister at the New Bedford's Seaman's Chapel. The exterior shots of the chapel looked very familiar to me in that I lived in New Bedford for about six years. The interior scenes of the chapel, with the rope ladder climbing up to the bow-like pulpit also could have also been on shot location since that is how the pulpit looks in the actual chapel. On the other hand, they also could have been shot at the studio.I have read reviews that question whether Gregory Peck was a good casting choice for Captain Ahab--perhaps being too gentle for the part. However, I think Peck he was very good in this part. Rather than portraying Ahab as one-dimensional and unrelenting raving lunatic, Huston saw him as reserved, brooding, and determined in the beginning. Then, as the movie progresses, he evolves into a madman as he approaches the area in the Pacific where he knows the great white whale will be on a certain date. The crew knows of his madness by reputation. But, his first mate, Starbuck (Leo Glenn), gets to know of it first hand through conversations with Ahab....-------------------------------"Speak not to me of blasphemy, man; I'd strike the sun if it insulted me. Look ye, Starbuck, all visible objects are but as pasteboard masks. Some inscrutable yet reasoning thing puts forth the molding of their features. The white whale tasks me; he heaps me. Yet he is but a mask. 'Tis the thing behind the mask I chiefly hate; the malignant thing that has plagued mankind since time began; the thing that maws and mutilates our race, not killing us outright but letting us live on, with half a heart and half a lung."---------------------------------It is Starbuck that had learned of Ahab's carefully drawn charts of all the world's waters, every aspect of which is to hunt down and kill the great white whale. And, it is Starbuck that considers mutiny, or worse, as the ill-fated voyage continues after a great storm that portends the encounter with Moby Dick.This movie was not made in wide screen format, even though Cinamascope was available at the time. The thing that I liked least about it was its color. Instead of being bright and vivid, as it could have been, it is dark, dull and brownish. Nevertheless, both narration and photography capture the Melville' s allegory quite well.

Sam Ferdinand (alvor-sam) And I don't mean that in a good sense. It's slightly better than Treasure Island from 1950. A movie that is "old" doesn't make it a "classic", you know. Yes, it was the first and most important movie version of the acclaimed book, but the directing isn't particularly good in the dialogue scenes, they are too stiff and unnatural—I'm guessing the tone and spirit on the set wasn't the easiest (an assumption). Not going to call it over-played, I instead blame it on the director. On the flip-side the filming on the ship is fantastic, technically speaking.I heartily recommend the 1998 made-for-TV picture with Patrick Stewart instead. But don't forget to watch this for historical reasons, and to be able to answer "yes" when people ask you if you've seen it.If you like this review, I'll buy you a glass of rum. - Thank you for reading!

CaptainAhab12345 Last Time I watched this movie I was a young boy,so I viewed it with a child's mind. Having just watched it again,I enjoyed it very much and rate the 1956 version highly.Though there where certain things left out of the 1956 version in comparison to the book, it did not take away from my enjoyment of the film,though Nantucket being referred to as New Bedford did annoy me a little, but I soon got over that.Still trying to decide who said this line best "I'll follow him around the Horn, and around the Norway maelstrom, and around perdition's flames before I give him up". Ricardo Montalban (Wrath of Khan) or Peck !Overall this is an absolute classic movie and for me one of Pecks best performances. For the younger people out there, don't be put off by this being an old film, it is well worth watching, but try to read the book first to fill in the gaps.

John Perez This movie is an interesting failure. Gregory Peck is not very well cast as Captain Ahab. He tries to make his performance as the monomaniacal captain work. However some scenes with him in it are just hilarious. For example I find his final confrontation with the giant white whale the funniest part in the film. He literally climbs on the back of Moby Dick and begins stabbing him with his harpoon while yelling obscenities at the whale. The whale is poorly constructed. It looks like a maniacal whale puppet come to life and then set in a bathtub with a bunch of model boats. One scene is even screened in so badly that I was surprised with how bad it looked even for its time. The only thing I liked about this film is Starbuck. I forget the name of the actor, but he does a lot better than Peck. He makes this film come close to working. However I feel that the most recent adaption of Moby Dick, a miniseries made in 2011 with William Hurt and Ethan Hawke, superior in every sense. True the whale in that film isn't really realistic, but comparing it to the one in this version you'll see the improvement. If you want to see a good adaption of the novel watch the 2011 miniseries. I haven't seen the adaption of Moby Dick with Patrick Stewart and Ted Levine, but it looks a lot better than this movie. The only adaption that seems beneath this one is the one made in 2010 by the SyFy channel called 2010: Moby Dick. This movie has horrendous casting, special effects that make Jaws 4 look realistic and a whale that can walk on land. What more can be said about 2010: Moby Dick. Another problem I found a problem in this adaption of Moby Dick is Ishmael. In the books it is hinted that he is a young man of about 20 or so. In this adaption he is portrayed as being in his late thirties or early forties. This film in the end is not worth your time.