A Whale of a Tale – 70 Years On
Gregory Peck was cast as Captain Ahab.
Years ago, whilst driving through the East Cork town of Youghal and feeling in need of a refreshing pint, I pulled up outside an impressive looking pub on the quayside called “Moby Dick’s”. The interior of the brightly lit pub had a distinct maritime theme; a huge ship’s wheel hung on the wall flanked by harpoons, models of fully rigged schooners, and framed prints depicting whaling scenes. Sensing my interest, the landlord, a tall middle-aged affable man called Paddy Linehan produced a scrapbook from beneath the counter and for the next couple of hours I became absorbed in his carefully compiled account of the filming of a major motion picture outside the door of his pub in the summer of 1954, 70 years ago this year.
It had always been an ambition of director John Huston to make a film of Herman Melville’s great American novel “Moby Dick”, the story of a whaling skipper, Captain Ahab, and his determination to harpoon a great white whale that had deprived him of his leg.
All the major Hollywood studios shied away from the project, considering it a dark depressing story, without any female parts or love interest. Finally, after directing two smash hits, ‘The African Queen’ and ‘Moulin Rouge”, Huston got backing from Warner Brothers and a budget of $2 million.
Gregory Peck, a huge star at that time, was signed up to play the arduous role of Captain Ahab. Richard Basehart was picked to play Ishmael, the young harpooner, through whose eyes the story unfolds. Supporting players included British stalwarts Leo Genn as Starbuck, Harry Andrews as Stubb, Bernard Miles as Manxman, and James Robertson Justice as Captain Boomer.
Irish actors also played character parts. Joseph Tomelty was Peter Coffin, The Irish Times journalist Seamus Kelly was Flask, and Noel Purcell played the ship’s carpenter.
Orson Welles received a huge fee for his cameo role as Father Mapple, which enabled him to mount his own stage production of “Moby Dick”.
Years afterwards John Huston would look back on “Moby Dick” as the most difficult film he ever made. A huge fake whale, 75 feet long and weighing 12 tonnes, which required 80 drums of compressed air and a hydraulic system in order to remain afloat and operational, kept breaking loose during filming in the Irish Sea and at one time caused obstructions in the shipping lanes. This forced delays in the filming schedule and the budget soared to four and a half million dollars. Miniature models of the whale were constructed and filming continued in the safer environs of a studio tank.
Meanwhile, filming proceeded much more smoothly in Youghal, which was transformed into a New Bedford whaling port in 1840. False wooden fronts were erected on all the modern dwellings and shops on the quayside, and the harbour was dredged to accommodate Captain Ahab’s whaler “The Pequod” and other vessels. Telegraph poles were sunk in the ground and filled out with sails to resemble masts. Hundreds of locals were hired as extras, dressed in costumes of the period, and were paid handsomely for their efforts.
Most of the cast and production team stayed locally, but Gregory Peck stayed in the Metropole hotel in Cork and was driven to the location by limousine every day. People came from far and wide to spot the stars and to marvel at the filmmaker’s ingenuity.
Other locations used during the long shooting schedule included a whaling village in the Madeira Islands, Portugal, Las Palmas and interiors were shot at Shepperton and Elstree studios in England.
After many months of post production “Moby Dick” was released in 1956 to mixed reviews. Many of the critics felt that Gregory Peck had been miscast as Captain Ahab. In most of his previous films he had played “good guys” and it was difficult to accept him as the obsessive sea captain. The film made money, but not enough, given the budget and the excessive hype. Even though in the box office stakes it ranked ninth for the year, making $10.4 million in the US, its costs were so high it never went into profit.
In recent times “Moby Dick” has been reassessed and is now regarded as a classic.
Gregory Peck went back to playing “good guys”, winning an Oscar in 1962 for his portrayal of the lawyer in “To Kill A Mockingbird”. He remained a popular star until his death in 2003.
Richard Basehart went back to sea again as Admiral Nelson in the popular sixties TV series “Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea”. Possessed of a fine speaking voice, which he used to great effect as the narrator of “Moby Dick”, he was an announcer at the finale of the Los Angeles 1984 Summer Olympics a month before his death aged 70.
John Huston continued to make movies ranging from Biblical epics to westerns and musicals with varying success. A larger than life character, and the screen’s greatest exponent of the written word, he never lost his love for Ireland where he lived for many years and where he set a number of his films. His last film was a fine adaptation of James Joyce’s short story “The Dead”. A fitting end to a great career.
