The full power of Herman Melville's tale of Captain Ahab and his obsessive hunt for the white whale that crippled and scarred him is brought vividly to the screen by director John Huston. The action is terrific, the talk tends to be boring and the seemingly wayward casting of Gregory Peck as Ahab works surprisingly well, although he never has enough to do to be able to build the proper stature into this classic character. Still, the mystery and romance of the sea is well captured and the climactic battle with the whale is as epic a piece of cinema as you are likely to see. A roster of fine English and American stars that fills out the supporting cast includes Orson Welles, Leo Genn, Richard Basehart, Bernard Miles, Harry Andrews (best of all as Stubb) and James Robertson Justice. Huston, together with sci-fi writer Ray Bradbury, wrote a script that was pretty faithful to the book, stamping this film in its best sequences as one of the more exciting sea sagas. Oswald Morris's unusual colour photography - impressive though hardly realistic - vividly conveys the bleaker qualities of the hunt.

©ipc tx. Film content from TVTimes