John Barrymore was undoubtedly one of the finest actors of his era. However, in this Hollywood fantasy, he is nowhere near the character so carefully drawn up by Herman Melville's great novel. Gregory Peck would go on to portray this role far more accurately in the 1950s production several years in the future. In this version, the studio decided the audience was too stupid to appreciate the character drawn up by Melville, so they created a Captain Ahab character of their own, and, of course, it predictably fails miserably. A happy-go-lucky, devil may care Ahab just does not fit the bill for the Melville character. This is not the fault of the actor, but of the Warner Brothers studio. They were much better at gangster films.
Review of Moby Dick
