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Quiz about Call Me Ishmael
Quiz about Call Me Ishmael

Call Me Ishmael Trivia Quiz


Although it varied from Herman Melville's novel in some details, John Huston's 1956 film of 'Moby Dick' avoided the 'Hollywoodization' of earlier film versions, and is considered a classic because of the many stellar performances on display.

A photo quiz by looney_tunes. Estimated time: 4 mins.
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Author
looney_tunes
Time
4 mins
Type
Photo Quiz
Quiz #
366,168
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Average
Avg Score
8 / 10
Plays
905
Awards
Top 10% Quiz
Last 3 plays: piperjim1 (6/10), Guest 208 (9/10), Guest 94 (8/10).
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Question 1 of 10
1. The title of this quiz comes from the opening sentence of Herman Melville's epic 1851 novel. What actor delivers this line over the opening credits of the 1956 film 'Moby Dick'? Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. The central character of the 1956 film 'Moby Dick' is a man who has lost his leg (and, some might argue, his sanity) during an encounter with the great white whale Moby Dick. Who was the captain who led his crew on a mission to seek vengeance on the great white whale? Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. Another central figure in 'Moby Dick' is the richly-tattooed chief harpooner. Which character's meeting with Ishmael led to their joint presence on this ill-fated expedition? Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. The chief mate on the voyage in search of Moby Dick contended that Moby Dick was a whale, not a force of evil, and should be hunted as such. Following his bitter opposition to the quest for vengeance, fueled both by his pacifism and his desire to return safely to his family, this character is nevertheless part of the final attack on the whale. What is his name? Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. Orson Welles has a wonderful cameo in the 1956 film 'Moby Dick', delivering a monitory sermon about the dangers of the sea. What is the (almost arboreal) name of his character? Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. A cargo schooner initially named Ryelands, later renamed Moby Dick, was used as the whaling ship in the 1956 film 'Moby Dick'. What was it called in the movie? Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. From what famous New England whaling centre does the voyage to seek revenge set sail in the 1956 film of 'Moby Dick'? Hint


Question 8 of 10
8. In Melville's novel, the menacing harpooner Fedallah ends up lashed onto the back of Moby Dick, held there by his own harpoon line. Does this happen in the 1956 film?


Question 9 of 10
9. After the captain's whale boat has been destroyed by Moby Dick, one of the survivors decrees that they are whaling men, and it is their lot to kill the whale, not return to their ship. Which character leads the final deadly assault on the whale? Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. Since he is the narrator we hear at the start of the film, it is obvious that Ishmael survives the final brutal encounter with Moby Dick. Who else is shown as surviving in the 1956 film? Hint



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Most Recent Scores
Mar 26 2024 : piperjim1: 6/10
Feb 19 2024 : Guest 208: 9/10
Feb 13 2024 : Guest 94: 8/10
Jan 30 2024 : Guest 174: 10/10

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quiz
Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. The title of this quiz comes from the opening sentence of Herman Melville's epic 1851 novel. What actor delivers this line over the opening credits of the 1956 film 'Moby Dick'?

Answer: Richard Basehart

Richard Basehart plays Ishmael, a character whose name is intended to suggest a state of social isolation akin to that experienced by the Biblical character. (Ishmael, the son of Abraam by the servant Hagar, was exiled after the unexpected birth of a son to Sarai, Abraam's apparently-barren wife. This story is worthy of an entire quiz in itself, but it is only tangentially related to the movie.) Ishmael signs on as an able seaman for a whaling voyage and the story begins to unfold.

Richard Basehart had a long and varied acting career. He was 'the Fool' in Fellini's 1954 film 'La Strada', among other major film roles. On television, he is probably best remembered for starring as Admiral Harriman Nelson in the 1960's sci-fi series 'Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea'.

Gordon Jackson had portrayed Ishmael in a 1955 Orson Welles stage production called 'Moby Dick - Rehearsed', Henry Thomas took on the role in a 1998 TV miniseries, and Charlie Cox appeared in the 2011 miniseries.
2. The central character of the 1956 film 'Moby Dick' is a man who has lost his leg (and, some might argue, his sanity) during an encounter with the great white whale Moby Dick. Who was the captain who led his crew on a mission to seek vengeance on the great white whale?

Answer: Captain Ahab

Herman Melville showed Captain Ahab as a man totally consumed by his need to gain revenge on his nemesis. The whale became for him the embodiment of malevolence, not just a large animal with whom he had had an unfortunate encounter. In some earlier film versions of 'Moby Dick', Ahab was turned into a romantic lead, returning in triumph to claim his love after defeating the whale (and, in some versions, his conniving half-brother). Director John Huston remained true to Melville's characterization, and Gregory Peck, chosen for the part because the studio wanted a big name to draw audiences, showed us a man being consumed by his growing obsession, and dragging others into sharing it with him.

The incorrect options were also (relatively minor) characters in the film.
3. Another central figure in 'Moby Dick' is the richly-tattooed chief harpooner. Which character's meeting with Ishmael led to their joint presence on this ill-fated expedition?

Answer: Queequeg

Queequeg, like the other harpooners, is from an 'uncivilized' background - he is the son of the chieftain of a South Sea tribe of cannibals who has left home to see the world. As Ishmael says of Queequeg, "Better a sober cannibal than a drunken Christian." Not only does his skill with a harpoon outweigh the prejudice against him as a non-Christian, we come to see him as in many ways a better person than some who are more easily accepted by the society in which they live.
4. The chief mate on the voyage in search of Moby Dick contended that Moby Dick was a whale, not a force of evil, and should be hunted as such. Following his bitter opposition to the quest for vengeance, fueled both by his pacifism and his desire to return safely to his family, this character is nevertheless part of the final attack on the whale. What is his name?

Answer: Starbuck

The Starbucks coffee chain is actually named after this character. There was a Nantucket whaling family of this name, responsible for naming Starbuck Island, now part of the country of Kiribati. The character of Starbuck is deeply disturbed by Ahab's quest, going so far as to call it blasphemy, and offers a voice of reason in the face of Ahab's growing madness. This makes his wholehearted participation in the final attack even more dramatic for him than for the rest of the crew.

The incorrect options are also members of the crew. Stubb is second mate and Flask is third mate; along with Starbuck, they are in charge of the ship's three whale boats. Elijah is responsible for the prophetic statement, "A day will come at sea when you'll smell land and there'll be no land, and on that day, Ahab will go to his grave, but he'll rise again, and beckon, and all save one shall follow."
5. Orson Welles has a wonderful cameo in the 1956 film 'Moby Dick', delivering a monitory sermon about the dangers of the sea. What is the (almost arboreal) name of his character?

Answer: Father Mapple

This scene is set in the Seamen's Bethel, a chapel for sailors that still stands in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Director John Huston used it for exterior shots, but the interior scenes were not filmed on location. Father Mapple, a former whaleman, delivers his sermon from a pulpit that resembles the bow of a ship, to which he ascends by means of a rope ladder. (The original Seaman's Bethel had no such pulpit, but one has since been built for the benefit of tourists.) Once he reaches the pulpit, Father Mapple delivers a sermon based on the Biblical book of Jonah and his encounter with a whale.
We see Ishmael and Starbuck, along with his wife and son, in the congregation. Although clearly affected by the message that challenging the sea is tantamount to challenging God, and endangers one's soul, Ishmael is not deterred from his planned voyage.

Orson Welles apparently completed this speech in a single take. The role of Father Mapple was taken on by Gregory Peck in the 1998 TV miniseries starring Patrick Stewart as Ahab, and Peck won a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor for the part.
6. A cargo schooner initially named Ryelands, later renamed Moby Dick, was used as the whaling ship in the 1956 film 'Moby Dick'. What was it called in the movie?

Answer: Pequod

The Ryelands was built in 1887, and sold to Disney in the late 1940s for use as a movie prop. Two high-profile film roles followed: the Hispaniola in 'Treasure Island' (1950) and the Pequod' in 'Moby Dick'. In later years, renamed Moby Dick, the schooner was a tourist attraction in the English town of Morecambe (home town of English comedian Eric Morecambe) until it burned out in 1972.

Melville named the Pequod after the Pequot tribe of Native Americans, resident along the Mystic River and the Pequot River (now known as the Thames) in what is now southeastern Connecticut. They were virtually annihilated in the 1630s by a coalition of European settlers and the Narragansett and Mohegan tribes. The choice of name seems to suggest the ultimate fate faced by the ship and its crew.
7. From what famous New England whaling centre does the voyage to seek revenge set sail in the 1956 film of 'Moby Dick'?

Answer: New Bedford

In Melville's book, Ishmael and Queequeg meet in New Bedford, but actually go to Nantucket to board ship. The film brings meeting and embarcation together in New Bedford. While Nantucket was the first site of a whaling industry in New England, it was New Bedford where it flourished to the point that New Bedford was known as the whaling capital of the world in the 19th century.

The last whaling ship left the port of New Bedford in 1927, but the city remained an important commercial fishing centre through the 20th century.
8. In Melville's novel, the menacing harpooner Fedallah ends up lashed onto the back of Moby Dick, held there by his own harpoon line. Does this happen in the 1956 film?

Answer: No

In fact, the character of Fedallah, Ahab's personal harpooner, is completely absent from the movie. It is Captain Ahab who gets tangled up with the whale, and whose lifeless body seems to beckon his crew on to their doom as Moby Dick thrashes around.

After the three boats have successfully landed multiple harpoons, the whale swims away and dives, resurfacing to grab Ahab's boat in its mouth, and the sailors fall out. After another dive and resurface, Ahab is seen roped to Moby Dick's back.
9. After the captain's whale boat has been destroyed by Moby Dick, one of the survivors decrees that they are whaling men, and it is their lot to kill the whale, not return to their ship. Which character leads the final deadly assault on the whale?

Answer: Starbuck

In Melville's novel, only Ahab's boat is attacked Moby Dick; the other two boats were damaged and returned to the Pequod, where they remained until it was attacked and destroyed in a ferocious attack by the whale. In the film, they are all still actively engaged at the time of the final confrontation.

A suggestion that the survivors should retreat after they see that Ahab has been lost is countered by Starbuck, whose opposition to the chase of Moby Dick has been reevaluated. The two boats proceed to attack, and are destroyed as the whale leaps out of the sea and crashes down on them. Only then does the enraged whale ram the Pequod.
10. Since he is the narrator we hear at the start of the film, it is obvious that Ishmael survives the final brutal encounter with Moby Dick. Who else is shown as surviving in the 1956 film?

Answer: Nobody

In the final minutes of the film, Moby Dick destroys the Pequod, sending it, and all those still on board it, to join those from the whale boats in the depths of the sea. Ishmael is shown treading water, and then seeing the (unused) coffin that had been prepared for Queequeg bob up. We then hear his voice describing his rescue, and concluding, "The great shroud of the sea rolls over the Pequod, her crew, and Moby Dick. I only am escaped, alone, to tell thee."
Source: Author looney_tunes

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor skunkee before going online.
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