I was never a big fan of Gregory Peck but the length of his film career must be testament to his acting and star quality I suppose. I do think he was mis-cast as Captain Ahab but the film was quite good with some spectacular effects. Good cast also.

Above: The Studio Tank at Elstree where some of the climatic scenes were filmed.

Close up of the Great White Whale – in an action shot

This film though, does get great reviews on the imdb site – many people just love it – and you have to say that there was a great deal of work went into the making of it.

Just look at these scenes below :-

Above: Captain Ahab suitably deranged closing in on the Great White Whale.

One thing about the film is the remarkable depth of character actors who appear, sometimes in the smallest of roles, like Bernard Miles as a Manxman crewman, and Francis de Wolff as the captain of the whaling ship the Rachel, glimpsed only in distant long shots and yet still affecting in pleading with Ahab to aid him in searching for his missing son.

Richard Basehart was a bit too old for the part of Ishmael—at 40, he was two years older than Peck—but it’s certain that John Huston cast him for his open, yet weathered looks and rich baritone, which makes for a stirring voiceover.   The whole cast, even German actor Ledebur as Queequeg, seem chosen with such care they almost seem born for their roles.