Herman Melville
Writing
Biography
Herman Melville (August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and poet. He is best known for his novel Moby-Dick and the posthumous novella Billy Budd. His first three books gained much contemporary attention (the first, Typee, becoming a bestseller), but after a fast-blooming literary success in the late 1840s, his popularity declined precipitously in the mid-1850s and never recovered during his lifetime. When he died in 1891, he was almost completely forgotten. It was not until the "Melville Revival" in the early 20th century that his work won recognition, especially Moby-Dick which was hailed as one of the literary masterpieces of both American and world literature. He was the first writer to have his works collected and published by the Library of America.
Known For
A writer leaves his upper-class life and journeys with a woman claiming to be his sister, and her two friends.
Pola X
The sole survivor of a lost whaling ship relates the tale of his captain's self-destructive obsession to hunt the white whale, Moby Dick.
Moby Dick
In 1841, young Ishmael signs up for service aboard the Pequod, a whaler sailing out of New Bedford. The ship is under the command of Captain Ahab, a strict disciplinarian who exhorts his men to find Moby Dick, the great white whale. Ahab lost his leg to that creature and is desperate for revenge. As the crew soon learns, he will stop at nothing to gain satisfaction.
Moby Dick
The sole survivor of a lost whaling ship relates the tale of his captain's self-destructive obsession to hunt the white whale, Moby Dick.
Moby Dick
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars is an anthology series that was telecast from 1951 until 1959 on CBS. Offering both comedies and drama, the series was sponsored by the Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company. The title was shortened to Schlitz Playhouse, beginning with the fall 1957 season.
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
Foreign Legion officer Galoup recalls his once glorious life, training troops in the Gulf of Djibouti. His existence there was happy, strict and regimented, until the arrival of a promising young recruit, Sentain, plants the seeds of jealousy in Galoup's mind.
Beau Travail
That infamous whale is bigger, badder and a whole lot stronger in this sci-fi reimagining of Herman Melville’s classic tale of the battle between man, sea and sea creature starring “Xena” alum Rene O’Connor as the (traditionally male) narrator. But the boat — now a high-tech submarine — is also bigger, and Capt. Ahab is as determined as ever to settle the score and take down the mighty sea mammal that maimed him.
2010: Moby Dick
Pierre ou, Les ambiguïtés (Pierre or, The Ambiguities) is a 2001 three-part French miniseries created and written by Leos Carax, an alternate, extended version of his 1999 film Pola X ('Pola' is the acronym of 'Pierre ou les ambiguïtés'.). Both entities are based on Herman Melville's 1852 Gothic novel of the same name. A writer leaves his upper-class life and journeys with a woman claiming to be his sister, and her two friends.
Pierre or, The Ambiguities
Herman Melville's mad Capt. Ahab (John Barrymore) spends years hunting the white whale that got his leg.
Moby Dick
Billy is an innocent, naive seaman in the British Navy in 1797. When the ship's sadistic master-at-arms is murdered, Billy is accused and tried.
Billy Budd
The demented, ruthless Captain Ahab pursues the white whale which took off his leg years before.
Moby Dick
An adaptation of Herman Melville's short story "Bartleby, the Scrivener" told in the setting of a modern office.
Bartleby
Two 19th-century sailors jump ship only to discover their tropical paradise is a cannibal stronghold.
Enchanted Island
Based on Herman Melville's novel "Moby Dick."
The Sea Beast
An asocial and enigmatic office clerk refuses to do his work, leaving it up to his boss to decide what should be done with him.
Bartleby
Animated feature about a young whale named Moby Dick.
The Adventures of Moby Dick
A meta-theatrical adaptation of Moby-Dick in which a rehearsal evolves into a full performance, as actors are absorbed into the roles of Ishmael, Starbuck, and Ahab in a stripped-down, imagination-driven staging. Filmed by Orson Welles in 1955, the footage remains unreleased and is considered lost.
Moby Dick—Rehearsed
In 1841 young Ishmael signs aboard the whaling ship Pequod, under the command of the strict, one-legged Capt. Ahab. Ishmael soon finds out that Ahab is searching for the legendary white whale, Moby Dick, who cost Ahab his leg, and he will let nothing stand in the way of getting his revenge on the beast.
Moby-Dick
When Captain Amaso Delano approaches a three-masted ship in distress to offer his assistance, he discovers a most unusual situation: its captain, Don Benito Cereno, seems to command a very scant crew, moreover composed only of Africans. Cereno is in very bad condition and apparently survives only thanks to the affectionate care of his faithful body-servant slave Atimbo. When Delano leaves the dilapidated ship to seek relief, Cereno jumps in the boat and explains to the Americans that he has been the victim of a revolt of the slaves. The ship is now in their hands.
Benito Cereno
A version of Benjamin Britten's opera based on the Melville story. Will the virtuous young sailor Billy Budd be hanged for murder?