HUSTON DIRECTS PECK IN MOBY DICK

year: 1955 cast: Gregory Peck, Richard Basehart, Orson Welles rating: ***

Thanks to a tight Ray Bradbury script (based on the famous Melville novel), the famous story flows from land to sea nicely till the real tale begins: of a mad sea Captain wanting to kill a big white whale at all costs. Gregory Peck's acting, though edgy and energetic, seems like a performance.

Resembling a bionic Abe Lincoln, director John Huston's camera does its best to enhance Peck's Captain Ahab, who, at times, seems like he's shouting to reach back row theater seats while the other shipmates, including Richard Basehart as Ishmael and Leo Genn as Starbuck, get lost in the background.

The special effects are decent for the time: especially the first whale hunt, trumping even the final battle that, after tons and tons of dialog, takes way too long to happen.

Orson Welles gives a fine speech in MOBY DICK