Moby Dick (1956 film) Moby Dick (1956 film) Moby Dick is a 1956 film adaptation of Herman Melville's novel "Moby-Dick". It was directed by John Huston with a screenplay by Huston and Ray Bradbury. The film starred Gregory Peck, Richard Basehart, and Leo Genn. The music score was written by Philip Sainton. Set in 19th-century New England, the story follows the whaling ship "Pequod" and its crew. Leading them is Captain Ahab, who was almost killed in an encounter with the "great white whale", Moby Dick, which bit off much of his left leg. Now he is out for revenge. With the crew that
Whaling in the Sea of Okhotsk were fitted out for as long as a fortnight, sailing about for bowheads during the day and camping on the beach at night. American and Russian crews sometimes camped together. Whereas boats were often sent inshore to look for bowheads, right whaling offshore was always ship-based, with three or four boats usually being lowered for whales. Boats after right whales were gone from their ship for hours (not days or weeks, like boats searching for bowheads sometimes were), and seldom ventured far from their ship. While bowheads could be caught at night, boats that were still fast to right whales