Captain Horatio Hornblower (1951)

"Starboard battery - Ready! Fire as your guns bare!"Captain Horatio Hornblower is a highly entertaining big-budget Technicolor seafaring epic from 1951, starring Gregory Peck in the title-role of Captain Hornblower. This classic film is grand in all ways and is one of the very best films of it's kind, that being a naval seafaring adventure, which is similar to, but NOT a swashbuckler movie. Captain Gregory Peck runs a tight ship in this rollicking seafaring classic and was reportedly one of his favorite roles of his long and successful career. Gregory Peck and Virginia Mayo, the two leads, are the only two American actors in this movie, the rest is made of an entirely British supporting cast, which certainly helps since it's based on an English naval hero. Warner Brothers entrusted directorial duties to the eye-patch wearing veteran director Roul Walsh (so they say, he lost his right eye by "an errant jackrabbit" which jumped through the windshield of his car while driving!), who had ample experience with expensive large-scale productions. The film is a deft blend of many aspects, such as: great acting (especially Peck), terrific ship battle sequences (the last one is the best of it's kind ever filmed), miniature effects (i.e. the model ship sequences), a bit romance, great scenery/location filming and a high-spirited musical score by the relatively unknown Robert Farnon.Taking place in the Napoleonic-era, the year 1807 to be exact. The beginning of the film captures well the air of a sickly ship that's running desperately low on provisions and to enforce the captains order aboard, we get a taste of the cat-of-nine-tails early on as well. Travelling half-way around the world, eventually arriving at the fortress one "El Supremo, Don Julian Alvarado" and unload their cargo of guns and ammo, at El Supremo's insistence they capture the Spanish galleon Nativida and turn it over to him for his intended conquests of the nearby countries of central America. However, as fate would have it, a change of sides occurs and allies they are no more and with cannons blazing, a rousing ship battle ensues - full broadside-action! Along the way they pick up "the love interest" a lovely female passenger (and her maid) one Lady Barbara Wellesley and with a boatload of horny seamen - she proves to be quite a distraction, much to the Captian's dismay, though he too has a hard time resisting her charms. Once back in England, Hornblower finds that his wife has died, but not before giving birth to a son, but with a war happening, he's soon off on another mission; that is to take a fortress and a harbor full enemy ships (and the battle sequence that erupts for this scene is truly a spectacle - thee overall best of it's kind I've ever seen and I've seen a lot of the vintage swashbuckler films). Taken prisoner with two other ship mates, they escape while en route to Paris intended to be tried and executed by the decree of Naploeon himself; in disguise they board a stolen English ship and with a crew of prisoners/sailors, they take it over and make sail for England. Ending in with the captain and his infant son, standing in the bucolic setting of a Technicolor rose garden, where then the Lady Barbara appears once again - conveniently recently widowed and presumably becomes the new Mrs. Hornblower.Captain Horatio Hornblower: A classic and timeless film you can watch many times. A big fan of nautical films (Treasure Island, 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, The Crimson Pirate, The 7th Voyage of Sinbad and Moby Dick - the 1950's where the best decade for such films) they don't get much better than this. With it's opulent sets and costumes, stirring ship battles and striking scenery, I find this to be one of the most handsomely-staged films from the Technicolor-era - there's no weak link in The Captain. And little not to like.....................

***SPOILERS*** Lavish production of the famous British Navy captain inspired by writer C.S Forester Horitio Hornblower played by Gregory Peck who got the part when the actor slated to play Captain Hornblower Errol Flynn blew it by being both too drunk and out of shape to be believable in the role.In the movie British Capt. Hornblower on his ship Lydia sails or blows around the South American continent into the Pacific Ocean to link up with South American rebel leader El Supremo, Alec Mongo. Together with El Supremo Hornblower plans to attack the Spanish Army who's in South America who at the time are allied with France's Napoleon whom Great Britan is a war with. Capturing a Spanish man of war the El Nitividad after a brief battle Hornblower against his better judgment hand the ship over to El Supremo who insists on having it. As things turn out El Supremo turns against Hornblower with it's learned that Spain became allies with Great Britian! This leads to an exciting sea battle between the British ship Lydia and the captured Spanish ship El Nitivda where El Supremo and his motley crew are blown away and end up at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean!It's when Honblower runs into, and later saves her life, Lady Barbara, Virginia Mayo, the sister of the Duke of Wellington that things get somewhat complicated for him. With Hornblwoer and Lady Barbara madly in love with each other it turns out that marriage is an impossibility for both of them! Hornblower is already happily married and Lady Barbara is slated to marry Hornblower's boss in the British Navy Admiral Leighton, Dennis O'Dea!***SPOILERS*** This of course is soon ironed out, by the movie screenwriters, with Hornblower's wife Marie dying while giving birth and Admiral Leighton, who hated Hornbower's guts, getting killed at sea when his flag ship was sunk by the French in the battle of Lateste! Hornblower who himself was captured during the battle by the French after sinking their entire fleet at Lateste escaped and made his way back, with the remainder of his crew, to England. It's there that Hornblower got the "good news" about Admiral Leighton's death and was now free to marry Lady Barbara, who didn't seem that distraught about losing her future husband, and live happily after after with her as both his wife and step-mother to his new born son.P.S Captain Hornblower almost blew it all by giving El Supremo the captured Spanish war ship that he later turned on the British Navy. But he soon vindicated himself by his heroic exploits at Lateste that more then made up for it.

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.