I just watched the 1956 'Moby Dick' starring Gregory Peck. I thought the technicolor did a disservice to the film, that the photography would have looked better in black and white. But overall it was a great movie - mythical, dreamlike. And the special effects were exceptional, reserved for the climactic moments of the film - only briefly forshadowed in the beginning of the movie as Ishmael ponders a painting of a whale breaching. I suspect the image of Ahab looking into the eye of the whale may be a significant one for understanding David Lynch's sensibilities.