Also Ray's book, 'Green Shadows. White Whale', had to do with Ray's adventures with John Huston, Ireland, and the making of Moby Dick in the early 1950's.
[This message has been edited by Nard Kordell (edited 10-12-2003).]
Posts: 2280 | Location: Laguna Woods, California | Registered: 28 June 2002
I'd like know what people here think of the film. Though it is certainly a meeting of two major talents (one mights say "geniuses"), and Ray talks and writes so fondly about the experience, personally, I think they missed the mark. What do you all think?
Posts: 7 | Location: Antioch | Registered: 12 May 2002
I think it is a very fine film, given the length of Melville's novel and the need to compress that lengthy book into an approximate two-hour running time. As for Ray talking and writing "so fondly about the experience", I agree it is an experience he treasures, and that he feels it opened many doors for him and gave him many wonderful ideas for stories about Ireland (my personal favorite is "Banshee"). But if anyone has heard him talk about Huston's unpleasant treatment of Ray while in Ireland (or read GREEN SHADOWS, WHITE WHALE, or seen the filmed biography of Ray, RAY BRADBURY: AN AMERICAN ICON), you realize that there is a definite love/hate feeling there regarding the famed director. Moreover, even after the writing was over, Houston continued to make trouble. Houston apparently had little, if anything, to do with writing the screenplay, but added him name to the screenplay credits without first telling Ray and also put his name first in the credits. After going through an arbitration process, Houston was awarded the right to include his name in the screenwriting credits (a result Ray strongly feels was unwarranted by the evidence and which came about only as a result of Houston's fame as a director), but his name was relegated to appearing after Ray's.
The following incident may reflect Ray's feelings about the matter. Ray appeared in Chicago for a signing at a local bookstore in the 1990's. I took to have signed by him my beautiful, linen-backed one-sheet poster for the 1956 film MOBY DICK. I proudly unrolled it and asked Ray if he would sign it. He looked at it and simply said "OK." He signed his autograph by his name. He then took his pen, struck through Houston's name where it appeared by the screenwriting credit on the poster, and wrote above it, "S.O.B." (!!!). That signed movie poster is one of my favorite items in my collection!
It is an ok movie. And after reading Green Shadows, White Whale I like it less. I didn't like Huston's Maltese Falcon either. As for mystery classics I'd go with Bogey in The Big Sleep. I would love to see Bradbury's Death is a Lonely Business on film though. One of my favorites of Bradbury's and of the mystery genre.
