 A direct reference to these similarities may be found in Spielberg's draft of the screenplay, which introduces Quint watching the film version of "Moby-Dick"; his continuous laughter prompts other audience members to get up and leave the theater.However, the scene from "Moby-Dick" could not be licensed from the film's star, Gregory Peck, its copyright holder.Screenwriter Carl Gottlieb also drew comparisons to Ernest Hemingway's "The Old Man and the Sea"