IMDb > Moby Dick (1956)
Moby Dick
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Moby Dick (1956) More at IMDbPro »

Videos (see all 2)
Moby Dick (1956) -- Trailerfan.com - Trailer (Flash)

Overview

User Rating:
7.4/10   5,358 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?

Down 8% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.

Director:

John Huston

Writers:

Herman Melville (novel)
Ray Bradbury (writer) ...
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Contact:

View company contact information for Moby Dick on IMDbPro.

Release Date:

27 June 1956 (USA) more

Genre:

Adventure | Drama more

Tagline:

The most eagerly awaited motion picture of the year! more

Plot:

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. full summary | add synopsis

Plot Keywords:

more

Awards:

4 wins & 2 nominations more

NewsDesk:
(42 articles)

Standing Eight Count
 (From t5m.com. 2 November 2009, 4:38 AM, PST)

tMF Perspectives: Lars von Trier's Antichrist, Roger Ebert and Dogville's 'Poetic effect'!
 (From The Movie Fanatic. 25 October 2009, 6:26 PM, PDT)

User Comments:

no remakes - - PUH-LEEZE!! more (78 total)


Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)
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Additional Details

Also Known As:

Herman Melville's Moby Dick (USA) (complete title)
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Runtime:

116 min | 115 min (TCM print)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1 more

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)


Fun Stuff

Trivia:

Orson Welles suffered from stage fright while filming Father Mapple's sermon. To quell the actor's nerves, John Huston hid a bottle of brandy on the set so Welles could visit it as needed. more

Goofs:

Continuity: Early at sea (on the Cape Verde grounds) the first whale is spotted and then harpooned by harpooniers on each of the three boats. As the whale runs, towing each boat behind him, a call of "man overboard" is made and we see a close-up of a crewman cutting his boat's harpoon line and then another shot of both remaining boats being towed by the whale. But in the next shot, facing forward from the whaleboat's perspective, we see three taut lines leading back from the whale. more

Quotes:

Starbuck, first mate: [to Stubb and Flask] It is an evil voyage, I tell thee. If Ahab has his way, neither thee nor me, nor any member of this ship's company will ever see home again.
Stubb: Aw, come on, Mr. Starbuck, you're just plain gloomy. Moby Dick may be big, but he ain't THAT big.
Starbuck, first mate: I do not fear Moby Dick - I fear the wrath of God.
more

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Neues aus der Anstalt: Jahresabschluss-Therapie (#1.10)" (2007) more


FAQ

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19 out of 25 people found the following comment useful.
no remakes - - PUH-LEEZE!!, 20 August 2004
Author: march9hare from sparks nv

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.

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Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for Moby Dick (1956)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
English Subtitle ? SoftICE
They should do another Moby Dick and cast Daniel Day Lewis as Ahab rspear61
The Name of the Ship rockcairn69
Peck was Unbelievable in This!!! movienut710
I need a technical expert to explain the following: tom-1536
Call me Ishmael eansor-1
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