Moby Dick (1956 film) eyes. The head apparatus which could move like a rocking horse was employed when actors were in the water with the whale. Gregory Peck's last speech is delivered in the studio while riding the white whale's hump (a hole was drilled in the side of the whale so Peck could conceal his real leg). The "Pequod" was portrayed by, appropriately, the "Moby Dick". Built in England in 1887 as the "Ryelands", the ship came into the hands of the film industry in the 50s, and was also used in "Treasure Island". It was destroyed by fire in Morecambe, England in
Moby Dick (1956 film) 1972. The schooners used were "Harvest King" and "James Postlethwaite", both from Arklow, Ireland. The film went overbudget, from $2 million to around $4.4 million, which crippled Moulin Productions; "Moby Dick" was ultimately sold to United Artists (The rights would later revert to MGM starting in 1981) in order to recoup some of the Mirisch brothers' debt (Warner Bros. still distributed the film, corresponding to their original licensing agreement; When the agreement ended, United Artists took over the film's distribution rights). "Moby Dick" did not recoup its budget upon its initial release. Peck and Huston intended to shoot Herman Melville's