I think this is quite possibly the ultimate American Novel - dark and brimming of Old Testament. I have never ceased to be amazed by it. As for Orson Wells here, he displays total affinity for the text. Brilliant.
I read an interview with Welles on this scene. He was quite aware of the role/scene and felt it was one of most important to him he'd ever attempted. His nerves got the better of him and he had to steady himself with brandy before doing the scene. Arguably the greatest American novel and one of the most powerful parts(of many) in the novel. This version has never been surpassed in my mind. Grade AAAA actors, screenplay, and direction. Ray Bradbury did the screenplay(with John Huston)...yes RAY BRADBURY! I read/reread the book every year or so and am still amazed by it.
Interview with John Houston confirms: Orson requested some inspiration, and John concurred, offering some Brandy - resulting in a single & most perfect "take" of the scene. Houston said that Orson was "SUBERB:", in that low growl of his.
The set is a very good reproduction of the real Seamen’s Bethel in New Bedford, referenced in Moby Dick. The exception is the pulpit. In the day, it was a standard pulpit. They changed it to the bow of a ship after this movie. The cenotaphs on the walls are very faithful to what you find at the real Seamen’s Bethel. From time to time, the Bethel does a marathon read of Moby Dick, along with the singing of “ribs and terrors of the whale”, which is what they are singing in the movie. So if you’re in the area, you could join in and re-create the scene. Actually, you can find videos of this on UA-cam.
From this to "Chimes At Midnight" and "Other Side Of The Wind"............ what an enormous span of mind and creative spirit. What a staggering, delightful, challenging, total talent. Beyond words.
"O Father! - mortal or immortal, here I die. I have striven to be Thine, more than to be this world’s, or mine own. Yet this is nothing; I leave eternity to Thee; for what is man that he should live out the lifetime of his God?"
@@izitsosongs It was co-written by John Huston and Bradbury (much of it was Huston because, unknown to him at the time, Bradbury had never read Moby Dick). But it was common for Orson Welles to re-write any scene he was in so Huston told him to go ahead and do it. There's a documentary on Welles where Huston explains the whole story. ua-cam.com/video/JgsEvQMsC0o/v-deo.html
John Huston said in interview, it was done in 3 takes, but each one was comma perfect. They had scheduled 2 days to do the scene, and Welles finished it before noon on the1st day.. Magnificent.
I gave this chapter to my students of American Litt to read and comment and one of them wrote, 'if more priests spoke like this, I WOULD GO TO CHURCH MORE OFTEN'
"if we are to obey God, we must disobey ourselves". That is a profound truth that I learned the hard way. Of course the whole book just carries on with countless incredible insights. As well as perplexing questions. I'm more or less"read"Moby Dick in the 5th grade because I thought it was a story about a whale 🤔 needless to say most of it was over my head but a lot of it wasn't and every time I listen to it it gets more and more profound to me. Part scripture part Shakespeare pure American genius.
The sermon about Jonah by the preacher (Orson Welles) provides a little structure for the story in the movie. Captain Ahab (Gregory Peck) is the Jonah who seeks to escape God's rule by traveling on ship to a distant place. Elijah is the Jonah who scrambles around the docks of the port and is mocked by the sailors. Ishmael is the Jonah who is spit out by the whale (Moby Dick) to the safety of the coffin and then the ship Rachel. Queequee is the Jonah who is cast into the ocean (his coffin rises out of the ocean). Starbuck a little more complicated, is the Jonah who seeks to be cast into the ocean by the sailors. Stubb, the second mate, has something to do with Jonah who comes to recognize God's will. Flask, the third mate, is the Jonah who deals with and comments on authority. Matesman has something to with Jonah who reasons and debates about God. The crew has something to do with the Jonah who is swallowed up by the whale in the ocean. Probably more that can be talked about.
This serious, passionate & inspiring style of preaching has almost disappeared from our churches. Nowadays it's often froth, bubble, entertainment and silly silly jokes. I'm not laughing!
Love the imaginatively-designed pulpit! Orson Welles as Father Mapple, giving a sermon for the ages but which also has immediate-relevance to the seafarers among the congregation. A great hellfire & brimstone preacher right-out of the Old Testament. I gave-up on modern-day church-sermons years & years ago. Man needs to be reminded---and now more-urgently than ever---of his total-dependence on God, without the feel-good fluff of today's lackluster-sermons, though I'm sure there are exceptions here & there.
"Beloved shipmates, clinch the last verse of the first chapter of Jonah---'And God had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah.' Shipmates, this book, containing only four chapters--four yarns--is one of the smallest strands in the mighty cable of the Scriptures. Yet what depths of the soul does Jonah's deep-sea line sound! what a pregnant lesson to us is this prophet! What a noble thing is that canticle in the fish's belly! How billow-like and boisterously grand!"
Thanks for sharing this great portion of that great motion picture. However, note, the sailors don't "mock" Jonah, but "mark" him. To "mark" someone is to watch them with keen curiosity. The sailors marked Jonah.
Jim Bogle BTW "And Jonah cries unto the Lord, out of the fish's belly." In those days whales were referred to as fish because the Bible referred to them as such which is why pilot whales are often called blackfish.
@@eb311235 There is a whole chapter in the book providing proofs that whales are fish and not mammals. And, indeed, the sailors marked Jonas both times.
The mythos is that this entire scene was a camera angle and lighting/sound test rehearsal shot. Wells so nailed this take that Huston called a "cut and print it"!
I really liked this movie... MORE so than the book. I liked the movie of 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea MORE so than the book as well, AND the Mysterious Island.
i watched this scene in total awe.it is simply one of the best acting scenes on screen.the only one i think comes close is oddly robert shaws indianapolis speech in similarly nautical jaws! this movie is a miracle .frankly thought by many to be unfilmmable huston overrode multiple difficulties to get it onscreen.production was hard enough as anyone who knows the history of jaws knows anything on water is difficult add in a mechanical shark or whale and it becomes nigh impossible.add to that the incredibly complex story metaphysical religeous and philosophical undertones and the basic problem of getting across what melville was striving to say and you have to say huston was a genius in getting a average version of the story on screen but he surpassed that and made the movie an absolute classic.ahab is said by actors to be the hardest part to play eclipsing even lear or hamlet casting gregory peck not an obvious choice was a stroke of genius.peck more familiar then as a matinee idol used his natural air of authority and commanding screen prescence to become ahab a stern resolute captain on the surface but with incredible depth as we see his dark side but never overacts or plays it large simply seethes with repressed emotion and hatred and incredible power as the man who stalks the whale and dares raise his fist to god! he is utterly convincing.huston used a lot of irish and british actors on the movie as well as a lot of non actors and filmed it in ireland after nantucket was very difficult about filmimg there and wanted a huge portion of the budget to permit the crew to make the movie.hustons revenge was to remove all reference to the town in the film substituting nantucket.as whalers were notoriously from all corners of the globe the largely non american supporting cast oddly add to the weird atmosphere of the film making them as strange as the events.there is an almost dreamlike quality to the film.it fits in with the sense of unease the fortelling by a brilliant royal dano and the climax when the crew succumb to the same madness as ahab.a breathtakingly good movie a piece of genius.
Wow! Terrific job by Orson Welles. This scene was one of my favorites in the book. I re-listen to it occasionally on Audible too.
Brilliant, absolutely brilliant speech ! I remember seeing this movie in 1956 when I was a kid. I was just in awe of this film...still am! 👍🌟👏
The likes of which we will never see again....Real men and women with real talent and good honest values...Orson Welles, my god what a performance....
I think this is quite possibly the ultimate American Novel - dark and brimming of Old Testament. I have never ceased to be amazed by it. As for Orson Wells here, he displays total affinity for the text. Brilliant.
Masterpiece. This scene and the whole movie.One of the best ever.
You may watch a Thousand Films and You not see a performance like this.Pure Brilliance.
You have got that right. No one could act like Welles.
Apparently, according to a John Huston interview, this was the first take and after a few shots of brandy
I read an interview with Welles on this scene. He was quite aware of the role/scene and felt it was one of most important to him he'd ever attempted. His nerves got the better of him and he had to steady himself with brandy before doing the scene. Arguably the greatest American novel and one of the most powerful parts(of many) in the novel. This version has never been surpassed in my mind. Grade AAAA actors, screenplay, and direction. Ray Bradbury did the screenplay(with John Huston)...yes RAY BRADBURY! I read/reread the book every year or so and am still amazed by it.
Agree 100% !
Interview with John Houston confirms: Orson requested some inspiration, and John concurred, offering some Brandy - resulting in a single & most perfect "take" of the scene. Houston said that Orson was "SUBERB:", in that low growl of his.
Worthy of Melville himself.
So, one could argue he was technically drunk?
I read that he was drunk in this scene,
This is the greatest sermon I have ever heard!
Acting 101. Nobody delivers a complete masterclass in dramatic acting in a single scene better than Welles.
What an actor, what a voice!
Bishop Robert Barron sent me here.
Same.
Me too
Its fair to say that Mr. Wells knocked it out of park in this scene.
No words. Am deeply moved. Forever grateful.
Can we just talk about the set real quick? It's beautiful! Really brought the pulpit to life.
The set is a very good reproduction of the real Seamen’s Bethel in New Bedford, referenced in Moby Dick. The exception is the pulpit. In the day, it was a standard pulpit. They changed it to the bow of a ship after this movie.
The cenotaphs on the walls are very faithful to what you find at the real Seamen’s Bethel.
From time to time, the Bethel does a marathon read of Moby Dick, along with the singing of “ribs and terrors of the whale”, which is what they are singing in the movie. So if you’re in the area, you could join in and re-create the scene. Actually, you can find videos of this on UA-cam.
@@saudade2100 well, looks like I'm adding another place to my bucket list. Thanks for sharing!
@@saudade2100 I figured the pulpit wasn’t really a ship, I get it’s a sailors church but come on that’s just silly.
Thanks, Tim, for adding the subtitles. This is my favorite sermon of all time.
Greatest cameo performance in movie history.
From this to "Chimes At Midnight" and "Other Side Of The Wind"............ what an enormous span of mind and creative spirit. What a staggering, delightful, challenging, total talent. Beyond words.
"O Father! - mortal or immortal, here I die.
I have striven to be Thine, more than to be this world’s, or mine own.
Yet this is nothing; I leave eternity to Thee; for what is man that he
should live out the lifetime of his God?"
Astonishing performance in this extraordinary adaptation of Melville’s great novel.
Orson Welles wrote this sermon himself and then did the piece in one take. Legend.
Most of it comes straight from Melville's text, actually, with only slight variation
Supposedly, he was inebriated when he did it. Huston was afraid he'd fall off the rope ladder and injure himself while climbing up to the pulpit.
@@UpperCrustthe3rdtrue but it was edited masterfully.
The end of this scene gives me goosebumps. Welles is hypnotic.
One of the greatist scenes from any movie all time! And I read he did this scene in one take!!!
Not only that, but he wrote it as well!
@@docmalthus I understand that the screenplay was written by Ray Bradbury.
@@izitsosongs It was co-written by John Huston and Bradbury (much of it was Huston because, unknown to him at the time, Bradbury had never read Moby Dick). But it was common for Orson Welles to re-write any scene he was in so Huston told him to go ahead and do it. There's a documentary on Welles where Huston explains the whole story.
ua-cam.com/video/JgsEvQMsC0o/v-deo.html
John Huston said in interview, it was done in 3 takes, but each one was comma perfect. They had scheduled 2 days to do the scene, and Welles finished it before noon on the1st day.. Magnificent.
@@Redlinesixtynine Awesome!
The only man who could have ever portrayed Judge Holden in Blood Meridian
I’ll have to think about this one.
That would've been A very interesting casting.
I gave this chapter to my students of American Litt to read and comment and one of them wrote, 'if more priests spoke like this, I WOULD GO TO CHURCH MORE OFTEN'
The greatest monologue ever recorded on film
No one could have done this Truth justice as this incredible actor of our time.
And the set, lighting, and background was superb; reminiscent of the art nouveau scenes in Citizen Kane.
I on the behalf of all actors bestow THE AWARD OF THE MOUNTAIN OF MAGIC, THE KING OF ACTORS AND OF ENTERTAINMENT TO GRAND MASTER WELLES!
When it came to acting, Orson Welles was a god!
"if we are to obey God, we must disobey ourselves". That is a profound truth that I learned the hard way. Of course the whole book just carries on with countless incredible insights. As well as perplexing questions. I'm more or less"read"Moby Dick in the 5th grade because I thought it was a story about a whale 🤔 needless to say most of it was over my head but a lot of it wasn't and every time I listen to it it gets more and more profound to me. Part scripture part Shakespeare pure American genius.
If my church delivered sermons like that I'm sure I'd go more often. What startling power this would have had to those whaling men!
+videowilliams Well said indeed!
One of my favorite chapters from the book.
The sermon about Jonah by the preacher (Orson Welles) provides a little structure for the story in the movie. Captain Ahab (Gregory Peck) is the Jonah who seeks to escape God's rule by traveling on ship to a distant place. Elijah is the Jonah who scrambles around the docks of the port and is mocked by the sailors. Ishmael is the Jonah who is spit out by the whale (Moby Dick) to the safety of the coffin and then the ship Rachel. Queequee is the Jonah who is cast into the ocean (his coffin rises out of the ocean). Starbuck a little more complicated, is the Jonah who seeks to be cast into the ocean by the sailors. Stubb, the second mate, has something to do with Jonah who comes to recognize God's will. Flask, the third mate, is the Jonah who deals with and comments on authority. Matesman has something to with Jonah who reasons and debates about God. The crew has something to do with the Jonah who is swallowed up by the whale in the ocean. Probably more that can be talked about.
Well thought out. Thank you!
This serious, passionate & inspiring style of preaching has almost
disappeared from our churches. Nowadays it's often froth, bubble,
entertainment and silly silly jokes. I'm not laughing!
Agreed
@@Pepsiguy Yes indeed.
trivial like the rest of modern life
Yes, Mr. Roger's Neighborhood homilies.
I guess church isnt very serious anymore. But i guess its more the times we live in. Cant blame them if they dont wanna be overly serious
The man knows what he is doing.
I'd be at that Church every Sunday with all the other shipmates.
The character of Father Mapples was based in part after one of my ancestors...pretty cool!!
Amen 🙏
Orson Welles muchachos, el hombre...La leyenda.
Love the imaginatively-designed pulpit! Orson Welles as Father Mapple, giving a sermon for the ages but which also has immediate-relevance to the seafarers among the congregation. A great hellfire & brimstone preacher right-out of the Old Testament. I gave-up on modern-day church-sermons years & years ago. Man needs to be reminded---and now more-urgently than ever---of his total-dependence on God, without the feel-good fluff of today's lackluster-sermons, though I'm sure there are exceptions here & there.
Give Pastor Carl Dixon a try: www.ccsrq.cc/
"Beloved shipmates, clinch the last verse of the first chapter of Jonah---'And God had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah.' Shipmates, this book, containing only four chapters--four yarns--is one of the smallest strands in the mighty cable of the Scriptures. Yet what depths of the soul does Jonah's deep-sea line sound! what a pregnant lesson to us is this prophet! What a noble thing is that canticle in the fish's belly! How billow-like and boisterously grand!"
When Unicron speaks, everybody listens...
This is gold shipmates!
I think this was his best scene as an actor. And that includes Kane.
Thanks for sharing this great portion of that great motion picture. However, note, the sailors don't "mock" Jonah, but "mark" him. To "mark" someone is to watch them with keen curiosity. The sailors marked Jonah.
Jim Bogle BTW "And Jonah cries unto the Lord, out of the fish's belly." In those days whales were referred to as fish because the Bible referred to them as such which is why pilot whales are often called blackfish.
@@eb311235 There is a whole chapter in the book providing proofs that whales are fish and not mammals. And, indeed, the sailors marked Jonas both times.
Artistic license to convey a message to contemporary audiences.
The mythos is that this entire scene was a camera angle and lighting/sound test rehearsal shot.
Wells so nailed this take that Huston called a "cut and print it"!
He's an absolute legend.
I really liked this movie... MORE so than the book. I liked the movie of 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea MORE so than the book as well, AND the Mysterious Island.
What a workhorse... im highly impressed
Thank you for posting this. All other posts the words do not match the lips. BTW, It is supposed to be 'the sailors mark him' not mock him.
Ridgway55 I noticed that because in the Bible , the sailors don’t mock him...
Only Orson could edit the Bible for its benefit.
@@MountainStreamLives this comment
That's the 'Seamen's Bethel on Johnny cake hill in New Bedford,I used to sleep upstairs from the chapel a flop house for sometime Fishermen.
You can see how important this scene was to him.
Pure brilliance
The sailors do not mock him like it says in the subtitles. The sailors Mark him, as in they take note of him.
Everyone critiquing “marked” and “fish’s” need to keep in mind they aren’t Orson Welles. He knew what he was doing and had reasons for doing so.
i watched this scene in total awe.it is simply one of the best acting scenes on screen.the only one i think comes close is oddly robert shaws indianapolis speech in similarly nautical jaws! this movie is a miracle .frankly thought by many to be unfilmmable huston overrode multiple difficulties to get it onscreen.production was hard enough as anyone who knows the history of jaws knows anything on water is difficult add in a mechanical shark or whale and it becomes nigh impossible.add to that the incredibly complex story metaphysical religeous and philosophical undertones and the basic problem of getting across what melville was striving to say and you have to say huston was a genius in getting a average version of the story on screen but he surpassed that and made the movie an absolute classic.ahab is said by actors to be the hardest part to play eclipsing even lear or hamlet casting gregory peck not an obvious choice was a stroke of genius.peck more familiar then as a matinee idol used his natural air of authority and commanding screen prescence to become ahab a stern resolute captain on the surface but with incredible depth as we see his dark side but never overacts or plays it large simply seethes with repressed emotion and hatred and incredible power as the man who stalks the whale and dares raise his fist to god! he is utterly convincing.huston used a lot of irish and british actors on the movie as well as a lot of non actors and filmed it in ireland after nantucket was very difficult about filmimg there and wanted a huge portion of the budget to permit the crew to make the movie.hustons revenge was to remove all reference to the town in the film substituting nantucket.as whalers were notoriously from all corners of the globe the largely non american supporting cast oddly add to the weird atmosphere of the film making them as strange as the events.there is an almost dreamlike quality to the film.it fits in with the sense of unease the fortelling by a brilliant royal dano and the climax when the crew succumb to the same madness as ahab.a breathtakingly good movie a piece of genius.
sorry meant to say substituting new bedford.
Nice work Tim
Wow!
Riveting! Bravo! 👏 👏 👏
"The sailors mark him..." (Not 'mock'.)
Bonjour merci
This reminds me of something Evangelist would have said to Christian in Pilgrim’s Progress. ❤️
Deliver me...
"out of the fish's belly"... not vicious belly...
the sailors mark him
What is the name of the song that the church choir sings at the beginning?
It's a shame that John Huston didn't cast Welles as Captain Ahab. Welles would have done such a great job.
+JimmySteller Wells wanted this character, the preacher.
As did Gregory Peck ...
@@PackerBronco Years later, in the TNT production of Moby Dick with Sir Patrick Stewart as Ahab, Peck finally got his wish to portray the preacher.
I do volunteer work as an Islamic minister. I've borrowed from this sermon for a few of my own.
02:44 should read "...out of the *fish's* belly..." (not "vicious")
What's the song they're singing?
*fish's belly
which hymn is this?
Are there academic interpretations of this?
He should have played the white whale.
That was cruel, but it made me laugh...
"The sailors mark him" not mock.
I know. The subtitles are from the DVD and I had no way of correcting them.
is this Rosen wells?
edited to ten percent of the original and hugely impoverished as a result.
eschew both hollywood and obfuscation!