Welles as Ahab?
So was Orson ever really offered the role of Ahab? If so, why in heavens name did he reject it? He would've been ever so much more effective as the maniacal captain. Peck just seems too young and too much more humane.
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MovieChat Forums > Moby Dick (1956) Discussion > Welles as Ahab?
There's no evidence that Welles lobbied for the part of Ahab, and he certainly was never offered the role. John wanted his dad, Walter Huston, to play the lead, but he died in 1950. John Huston thought himself a suitable replacement, but he didn't have any box office appeal, especially for what became a $4.5 million production. He accepted Gregory Peck as Warner Bros. choice, not his own.
shareJohn Huston should have played Ahab himself, and let Welles helm the film. It might have been memorable for its casting and its direction.
"I've been beaten up but I'm not beaten, and I'm not quitting"
It wouldn't have been made. John Huston was having problems finding distributers and funding. He mainly accepted Gregory Peck to get the funds needed. Huston wanted his father (Walter Huston) to play Ahab, but by the time he was able to shoot, Walter had been dead for a few years.
Eat this!
What's funny here is Walter Huston wouldn't have been particularly "bankable" to the studios either. He would've been about 63 in 1954, and at the time of his death he was one of Hollywood's stable of supporting players. I don't think a studio would've been anxious to finance a $3 million film with him in the lead at this point either. A more logical choice from an economics standpoint would've been the actor Ray Bradbury wanted: Laurence Olivier.
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Welles produced produced/directed/starred in a stage version of MOBY in London in '56 or '57. It was a play-within-a-play because it concerned an acting troupe rehearsing MOBY. I also think Welles played Ahab on radio at least once in the 40's.
shareof course welles would have been sensational, but i think gregory peck did an amazing job, there is something very american east-coast about him that works, and i thought he was more than up for the role.
shareI agree. I think this is a role that works for Peck. He's got a stature that makes Ahab believable, and he's particularly good with the rhetoric in the quiet scenes. Peck, himself, thought he was too young for the role at 39 (this may be true), but as I watch the film I fall right in with it (I have other quibbles with the film). Most detractors say Peck was mis-cast simply because it's become a 50 year old habit.
shareI think the movie is nearly flawless. Peck and all. Especially Pecks' wide, mad, hypnotic eyes. Of course Welles would have been great. When wasn't he?
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