Customer Reviews

Moby Dick: the Screenplay

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"Moby Dick" is both my favorite novel and a favorite movie of mine. Recently, I re-read the novel and then sat down yesterday with Bradbury's screenplay and John Huston's movie. I wondered who did what and how much of the book had found its way into the movie. Most of the movie comes from the book. It is one of the best adaptations of a great novel I have ever seen. I know there was an authorship dispute between Bradbury and Huston. Consequently, I did a line by line comparison. The movie's dialogue is roughly sixty percent Bradbury and forty percent Huston. Additionally, Father Mapple's sermon was rewritten by Orson Welles. Huston greatly expanded Ahab's "... mild, mild day..." speech, which he took from the book. Another addition from the book was Huston's inclusion of the blacksmith's remaking of the harpoon blades. He also created the "Ahab beckons..." sequence. He specifically added a "...beckons..." statement to Elijah's prophecy. This he developed from Bradbury's dialogue on page 159 "...he will rise from the grave and beckon..." Huston made this line literally true instead of being implied. Huston cut out Bradbury's sailor songs and added his own. He also increased the number of songs. On page 180 of his script Bradbury kills Moby Dick "...the dying whale." Huston decided to return to the book and have Moby Dick survive. Thus I believe the title card at the beginning of the movie that says Screen play by Ray Bradbury and John Huston is an accurate reflection of the significant contributions by both men. Bradbury's name is rightly first because he was the majority author.

The only thing that they could of added to this book was Bradbury's essay on how he overcame the struggles to write the screenplay, which is very intriguing. Buyer Beware...you can find the screenplay online for free but I wanted to have something I can hold and take with me. I also thought that maybe there would be essays in the book detailing either Bradbury's struggle or a profound synopsis to act as a companion but alas, there is not. Still a great read though.