Captain Horatio Hornblower

source: Captain Horatio Hornblower

C. S. Forester was the Patrick O'Brian of his day. Like O'Brian, he was the author of a series of novels which had as their hero a British naval commander of the Napoleonic Wars and, like O'Brian, he was highly popular with the reading public. Although the exploits of Forester's hero, Horatio Hornblower, have recently been made into a television series, they have only served as the basis for one feature film. I have not read all the Hornblower novels, and it is a long time since I read any of them. It is, however, quite clear that the film was based upon episodes cobbled together from at least two different novels. During the first half of the film, Captain Hornblower is commanding a British ship off the coast of Central America, where he tangles with a local ruler who has declared independence from Spain and made himself dictator. In the second half, Hornblower leads a daring raid on a French naval base and is taken prisoner by the enemy, but manages to escape back to Britain. The lack of any real connection between the two halves of the film means that it is not completely satisfactory in terms of structure; it might have worked better as two separate films. There is one thread that links the two halves; the love affair between Hornblower and Lady Barbara Wellesley, the sister of the Duke of Wellington. The two fall in love after the unhappily married Hornblower rescues Lady Barbara, the fiancée of his superior officer Admiral Leighton, during his Latin American adventure. Following their return to Britain, Lady Barbara and Leighton are married, but Hornblower's wife and the Admiral both conveniently die before the end, leaving the lovers free to marry. Hornblower's wife does not appear in the film, so there is nothing to suggest what sort of a woman she was and why he was so unhappy with her. Again, I found this ending unsatisfactory for two reasons, both because it was too neat and because it seemed heartless to kill off two people to provide a "happy" ending for two others. The scriptwriters seem to have been following the plot of the novels too slavishly; it might have made for a better film if they had felt free to depart from Forester's text and make one, or both, of the lovers single. This was the first of two successive films in which Gregory Peck played an officer in the armed forces; the other was Captain Richard Lance in "Only the Valiant". The two characters, however, are quite different, with very different styles of leadership. Whereas Lance is a strict disciplinarian, Hornblower is more liberal. We do see one seaman being flogged, but the order for this punishment is given by a junior officer. Hornblower reluctantly allows the flogging to go ahead on the grounds that to countermand an order given by a subordinate would undermine discipline, and in the hope that the barbarity of the procedure will persuade the young man to be more humane in future. Although there were exceptions such as his excellent Ahab in "Moby Dick", Peck was often at his best playing rational, liberal men of integrity, and I found this a better performance than the one he gave in "Only the Valiant". Most people will not, however, watch this film either as a love story or as a study in leadership, but as a swashbuckling historical adventure, and on this level it works well. Although they are not quite as realistic as those in a modern film such as "Master and Commander", the battle scenes are well done. Forester was capable of writing stirring tales of adventure, and, at its best, this film succeeds in capturing his spirit of excitement. 6/10

The books of Cecil Scott Forrester were brought to my attention by my first English teacher and I am still thankful for that. The books about Hornblower are in a series of 12 volumes and they are all great. The strength of the 8 episodes (TV movies) with Ion Gruffith are very very well in there description of the characteristic doubtfulness of the character Horatio Hornblower. In this movie, however, there is not as much time as in the latter TV series... where the TV series only describe part of a book, this movie is the story of 3 books in all. Keeping that in mind, Gregory Peck makes quite a good Hornblower in a great story, that more takes the action from the books then the doubts of the main character. But what great actions! This movie is really, even after more then 50 years worth to watch. It hardly has aged.... it is an excellent movie... and I wonder: why is it so hard to get? I had expected that this movie would be for sale on DVD in all regions. Pity it is only a hard to get movie on NTSC VHS tape, because the movie is of such quality that it can most certainly be compared with the TV series, and... of course keeping in mind it is 50 years older, with "Master and commander, the far side of the world" from that other great novelist in this topic: Patrick O' Brian.

In the very best traditions of the British Royal Navy, this is a story of a Captain, Horatio Hornblower and square rigged Warships (Ships of the Line) fighting at the time of Napoleon. Plenty of action and the special effects work extremely well. The film encompasses a truly delightful love story between Virginia Mayo and Gregory Peck (Hornblower) who are thrown together not by their choosing. Filmed in colour and part shot on location in Rye East Sussex England. Look out for 'HMS Victory' in Portsmouth near the end. A superb film for all ages with a great cast, not to be missed.

I don't think the good citizens of the United Kingdom with their proud tradition of sea power could complain too much about the American leads in a film about one of their popular fictional heroes. You can't get too much more heroic than Gregory Peck on screen and he certainly does fit C.S. Forrester's conception of Captain Horatio Hornblower, R.N. In fact even recently with Russell Crowe's Master and Commander kind of reinvigorating this genre of literature, I still kind of like what Gregory Peck did with the role. The age of Napoleon where Great Britain stood for a time very much alone against his domination of Europe was another their finest hours. The film is taken from two of the Hornblower novels and sad to say the film's weakness is that the first part of it is much the superior of the second. Personally I think they should have padded out the first part and dealt with it alone. Recurring characters from the Hornblower novels appear here such as the Duke of Wellington's fictional sister Lady Barbara Wellesley played by Virginia Mayo and members of Hornblowers crew played by Robert Beatty, James Robertson Justice, and Terence Morgan among others. There's also a very touching performance by young James Kenney as the midshipman on board the HMS Lydia. The first part of the film deals with Hornblower sailing the Lydia to the western coast of Central America in secret to reach a potential rebel ally against Spain which has joined with France. Hornblower makes contact with Don Julian Alvarado, the self-styled El Supremo. Hornblower captures a Spanish ship of the line and gives it to his new ally. Then he learns that Spain has switched sides in the Napoleonic War while he's been at sea and now this heavily armed vessel is in the hands of a real psycho. Now he has to undo what he did. If you don't see Captain Horatio Hornblower, R.N. for any other reason, than see it for Alec Mango's over the top performance as the psychotic El Supremo. It's a piece of scenery chewing for the ages and it fits with the character. You take your allies in war where you find them and Spain was not the first or the last country that ever switched sides during a conflict. The second half concerns Peck and the crew in action off the Bay of Biscay and the vessel Lydia runs aground. Peck and the crew are taken prisoner and the rest of the film concerns with their escape. These are in fact two different Hornblower stories and the first is much the superior of the second. Of course another viewer might feel differently and the film is recommended for all of you who like a good sea yarn.

C S Forester was my favourite author growing up (I have now switched to Patrick O'Brien) and "A Ship of the Line" (the middle part of the film) remains my favourite book. Films of favourite books seldom fare well but even without that issue this film is seriously flawed at its conclusion. In the book Hornblower places his ship between four enemy ships and their port at his Admiral's orders. Before surrendering (with half his crew dead or wounded and not a mast left standing) he damages the enemy seriously enough that they remain confined to port where three of the vessels are subsequently destroyed by fire ships. He lost his ship but cost the French much more. After escaping back to England he is court martialled for surrendering (a standard procedure) but honourably acquitted (as he should be). In the film he is ordered NOT to attack a port containing some French ships but does so anyway and loses his ship. He escapes and is told before his court martial that he will be acquitted and knighted. RUBBISH. He disobeyed a direct order. As a result his ship was lost and his crew captured. Hang the idiot. He has no right to live. It is ridiculous to have any other verdict. Even if he hadn't lost his ship he should still have been court martialled and, at best, dismissed from the service. Add to this arrant piece of nonsense the Americanisation of the terminology (the Royal Navy had midshipmen not ensigns) and the tinkering with all the characters and you have a film that severely disappoints a fan of the books. In comparison "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World" is even further removed from the plot and characters of the various books from which it borrows but it is possible to watch and enjoy. Not so with Hornblower, I fear.

The Hornblower series of sea novels, written by C.S. Forester, are among the most admired adventures in the English language. There are eleven in all, which can be read independently or in series (although they were written out of sequence). In this attractive, rousing and well-acted compilation of two of the novels, the screenwriter, Aeneas Mackenzie, has taken liberties of course. But what we have, substituting U.S. accents for some upper class British types, is I assert a faithful and exciting realization of the Forester vision. Having read the series more than once, I suggest that Gregory Peck was almost a perfect choice for the hero's part apart from not being British. Others in the cast include Robert Beatty, virile as Mr. Bush, First Mate and Terence Morgan. As Lady Barbara Wellesley, pretty Virginia Mayo is equally un-Britannic and acquits herself with beauty and understanding of her role. The central character of these adventures is given in this film his most difficult assignment. He sails around the Cape of Good Hope and by use of a sextant alone contacts England's ally in the Pacific; only by the time he arrives, Don Julio Alavarado has renamed himself El Supremo and is demanding divine honors, while setting up a reign of terror. Obtaining the supplies he needs from the madman, Hornblower proceeds to capture a French ship much larger than his own; then when peace is declared between France and England and her allies, he has to attack El Supremo, in that larger vessel, to whom he delivered the vessel as his orders read; he Mundt do this to avert having made an enemy of England's new friend, France, into a dangerous force. What happens then, how he falls--hopelessly--in love with the Duke of Wellington's sister and what happens when he is captured, escapes the guillotine in France and brings home a lost ship and many impressed English seamen forms the bulk of the film. The direction by action film legend Raoul Walsh is often splendid; so are the battle scenes. The music, sets, costumes and lighting all deserve mention; the art director for the film was excellent also. This is a very intelligent film, with wonderful Forester dialogue, a triumph for all concerned. The climax actually takes place at the Admiralty when Hornblower reports to his superiors; the ending is satisfying and memorable. The only shame is no sequel was ever made. The underplot of Hornblower being a lower-class servant of upper-class masters and hiding his fears in battle by simply fighting through them is handled here in subtle fashion; but the idea of being a captain in the Royal Navy of the Empire poorly paid, without personal wealth and at the whim of fortune and Admiralty enemies adds to the goings-on enormously. This is splendid adventure film-making by any standard.

Captain Horatio Hornblower RN is a 1951 tale of, well, the exploits of an impossibly perfect captain and his ship during the Napoleonic War era of big sail and cannons. By the standards of 1951, it was an exciting, technologically advanced, swashbuckler. Today, we as audiences are more mature and more demanding, and as such significant portions of the movie have aged very, very badly. Nevertheless, it remains a decent picture - far better than many of its era and is worth seeing by those such as myself who enjoy high seas adventure. However, modern films such as Master and Commander and the updated Hornblower mini-series are infinitely better. Here are some random observations: - the accents are laughably bad. The Duke of Wellington's daughter in the move has a pure American accent - and that's probably the best accent of them all since this meant that the actress didn't even try to fake a British accent - something many other roles in the film did--and did very very very badly. Perhaps the worst accents I have ever heard on film. I'm amazed - I'm guessing this was a Hollywood picture. Were there no Mexicans around somewhere nearby to at least show them a Spanish (or Mexican, which for the purposes of this movie would have been infinitely better) accent. Were we really so backwards of a people in 1951 that our actors simply felt that they could affect whatever accent they wanted by rolling their Rs in some random way? Related to the above, there is a lot of ridiculous ethnic stereotyping and several characters that don't act as real humans do. This movie pretends to be serious, but, it was from 1951. The British are human and basically everybody else is a cartoon. This seems inappropriate, even for 1951. I can excuse the blackface as a technical necessity (of sorts), but the actual characterizations were insulting to anybody with half a brain. The basic plot is sound, and could be updated. However, if this movie were done today, the character of Hornblower would need to be completely revamped. He's unrealistically flawless in this movie, and the characters spend a heck of a lot of time standing around saying things like "Hornblower is flawless!". High comedy. Special effects are good. This movie today is a solid 5/10. Anybody who gives it more than that is adding extra stars out of nostalgia.

This is a superior technicolor sea epic with Gregory Peck as a British Fleet captain during the Napoleonic Wars. Fine sea battle sequences top off this entertaining story of this Captain away from his wife at sea who also meets a beautiful British lady (Virginia Mayo) whom he must return to England in safety.

Not every movie that has been made in 50-s or 60-s is a classic movie and Captain Hornblower is such a case. This sea/war adventure is loosely based on three S.S.Forrester's novels (Beat to Quarters, Ship of the Line and Flying Colours) which for some inexplicable reason were united in one movie. Here's the first and the biggest mistake of the filmmakers. Such decision caused that the movie consist of numerous hardly related with each other scenes and episodes which change each other with kaleidoscopic speed. To fill up numerous gaps and unite the parts screenwriters were forced to invent several short ridiculous scenes (like one-minute journey through entire France and Dutch officers in Nant) and of course such substitutions couldn't save so much flawed script. In fact so many parts of the books have been missed in the movie that those omissions caused inevitable plot holes with many illogical or even preposterous scenes and story lines. Due to lack of screening time majority of characters from the books have been deleted and only three lieutenants, one midshipman and couple of sailors were personalized. The same happened with all the dialogs. They were completely re-written and instead of thoughtful and meaningful lines from the books in the movie appeared only one-lined silly dialogs like in formulaic modern action flicks. Finally, the main character, captain of the Royal Navy Horatio Hornblower has lost all of his charms and instead the excellent development of his character in the novels we got only terribly weak love story and repeated "Ha-hmm" line. I was so much surprised seeing the S.S.Forrester among the screenwriters. How the filmmakers could press him to make such terrible script from his novels? We can only guess about possible answers. Despite such a flawed idea and script I couldn't blame the actors. They did the best at they parts, though the galloping story didn't leave enough place for acting. The cinematography is the only really decent part of the movie as it bring to us the magic of old-fashioned Technicolor. But that's all. I have no idea why so many critics and viewers praised so much about reality and greatness of the sea battle scenes. Sorry but I've noticed there only absurdity, lack of simple logic and reality. Overall this movie is a very good lesson how critical flaws and mistakes of the movie script can cause in the result only a disappointed mediocrity. Especially it's easy to see now when we have such movie like Master & Commander, a perfect masterpiece of film-making. With any unprejudiced look the colossal difference in quality of these movies should be evident for everybody. My grade 5 out of 10. Not every old movie is a classic.