Role of Ahab?

Huston tried to make the film as early as 1942. There's a photo of him around this time holding a "Moby Dick" screenplay (I think there was an early draft by Peter Viertel - I may be wrong on this). John wanted Walter Huston to star, but the war intervened and Walter died in 1950. Subsequently, John Huston, himself, wanted to take on the part. But, or course, no studio would finance a vehicle starring John Huston (even though much of the film was financed by the revenue from Huston's own "Moulin Rouge"). I don't know how Gregory Peck came on to the project, except that Warner Bros. insisted on a bankable star. One rumor is that during filming, John tried to "make Peck into Walter" by physically showing the actor how he wanted a scene performed with great specifity. Angela Allen, the script supervisor, claimed John's rehearsals were infinitely better than Greg Peck's final perfomance (Angela Allen: "For me, it was like eating suet pudding after expecting a souffle.") Peck, for his part, felt Huston was no help to him as a director. (Peck: "In one scene, he told me to 'feel the camera on my face.' Is that directing?") In fact, the actor felt he was better suited to play the more subdued Starbuck.

A last note: Sadly, John Huston and Gregory Peck had a falling out a year or so after the film was released, which was never resolved. Huston mistook Peck's slight of him with having to do with an unintentional flirtation with Peck's wife. In a recent Gregory Peck biography, however, the claim is that the actor, who had thought Huston had selected him personally to play Ahab, was disappointed to found out it was the studio which foisted Peck on Huston. Peck felt betrayed by the deceit, and the two never spoke again. Until the falling out, they had formed a strong bond and were trying to make a movie of Herman Melville's "Typee." Still, one wonders if there would have been any problems had MOBY DICK been a financial success.

This info is gleaned from "The Hustons" by Lawrence Groebel.