The rift between Gregory Peck and John Huston

While shooting MOBY DICK, Gregory Peck and director John Huston established a rapport and friendship that should've lasted years. In the biography, "The Hustons," by Lawrence Grobel, Huston claimed he found Peck to be honest, forthright and "not lacking in any area." Up to 1957, the relationship was sound even though Peck was sorely disappointed by the many bad notices he received from the critics for MOBY DICK. He defended himself by saying Huston didn't give him enough direction. "One time," Peck complained, "during an important speech, John told me, 'Just feel the camera on your face.' Is that direction?" Still, this did not sour the friendship; in fact, Huston was planning to star Peck in another Herman Melville adaptation, "Typee," which he intended as an ersatz follow-up to MOBY DICK.

Huston, until his death, thought things had gone wrong between him and the actor at a party. The director assumed Peck thought he was flirting with Peck's wife because of an innocent, but "clumsy piece of behavior" (Huston's words). As Peck was very possessive of his wife, Veronique, Huston believed this had to be the reason Peck stopped returning his phone calls and ended all correspondence. The director was confused and hurt. Sometime in the early 70's, Peck walked up to Huston, perhaps looking for a job, "acted friendly" as though nothing had happened. Reacting as if he'd been insulted by the sun, Huston turned on his heel and walked away. "It was far too late to start over," Huston contended to his biographer. Peck, who was always available for such functions never appeared at any tributes or lifetime achievements awarded to his one-time friend; and at his own AFI induction, Peck pointedly refused to name Huston as one of his favored directors.

What was later revealed - after Huston's death - was that Peck's bitterness towards Huston was, in fact, directly related to MOBY DICK. In a recently published Peck biography, the actor's animostity towards the director happened just after the Huston/Peck-attended 1957 party. Peck was told by a Warner's insider that Huston had "conned" him into playing Captain Ahab. Huston had originally approached Peck telling him that "nobody could do this part except you." Peck was so flattered by the director's confidence in him, he accepted a role he felt he was ill-suited for. Peck subsequently learned that Huston didn't want him to play Ahab at all, but was forced to by Warner Brothers executives, the Mirisch brothers, who told Huston they would not finance his dream project without a "bankable" actor (Reportedly, Huston wanted to play Ahab himself). Peck felt so betrayed by the revelation of Huston's deception (supposedly reminiscent of his own father) he turned the director off. A year later, the actor also had a major disagreement with director William Wyler during the shooting of THE BIG COUNTRY. That rift was soon after resolved, unlike the unfortunate disagreement between Peck and John Huston.