Captain Horatio Hornblower R.N. (1951)

Director:

Raoul Walsh

Writers:

Ivan Goff (screenplay) &
Ben Roberts (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

10 April 1951 (UK)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Drama | War

Tagline:

Wherever adventure beckons, you'll find Captain Horatio Hornblower!

Plot:

During the Napoleonic wars, a British naval captain has adventures in Central American waters.

Plot Keywords:

Napoleonic Wars | Frigate | Megalomaniac | British Navy | Fortress

Cast

Gregory Peck	...	Capt. Horatio Hornblower, R.N
Virginia Mayo	...	Lady Barbara Wellesley
Robert Beatty	...	Lt. William Bush
Moultrie Kelsall	...	Lt. Crystal (as M. Kelsall)
Terence Morgan	...	2nd Lt. Gerard (as T. Morgan)
James Kenney	...	Midshipman Longley
James Robertson Justice	...	Seaman Quist (as James R. Justice)
Denis O'Dea	...	RAdm. Sir Rodney Leighton
Richard Hearne	...	Polwheal (Hornblower's batman)
Michael Dolan	...	Surgeon Gundarson
Stanley Baker	...	Mr. Harrison (bosun)
Alan Tilvern	...	Hernandez
Alec Mango	...	El Supremo (Don Julian Alvarado)
Christopher Lee	...	Spanish captain
John Witty	...	Entenza

Also Known As:

Captain Horatio Hornblower (USA)

Runtime:

117 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French | Spanish

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

West Germany:12 (f) | Finland:K-16 | UK:U | Australia:G

Filming Locations:

Alpes-Maritimes, France

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Leslie Linder, John Benson, Frank Coburn and Basil Appleby. were all suggested for parts.

Goofs:

Factual errors: It's 1807, and when Hornblower invites his officers for dinner before they go to capture the Natividad, they toast the King while sitting down, rather than standing to do so. This privilege was only given to the Royal Navy after 1830 when William IV became King. He had been a Royal Navy officer for many years himself, and knew how cramped things were on a ship, making standing for a toast difficult.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Narrator: In the year Eighteen Hundred and Seven, a small ship of the Royal Navy set sail from England for a secret destination. With five million French and Spanish soldiers poised on the Continent under Napolean, nothing could save England from invasion except her 300 ships. HMS Lydia was soon far beyond battle-charged Europe. Under the most secret of sealed orders, she sailed for southern waters, fought her way around the Horn...

Movie Connections:

Featured in A Conversation with Gregory Peck (1999)

Only in technicolor can you get a sky like that!

This film has a great story (C.S.Forester wrote the script from his novels), solid lead acting from Gregory Peck, Virginia Mayo as the romantic interest, super supporting cast, and that beautiful '50s technicolor! Push the pause button on this film anywhere; the cinematography is lush, gaudy and gorgeous! I don't know how historically accurate the battle scenes are, but they kept me glued. (Questions I had during the battle scene: doesn't it hurt when a mast falls on you? How do they clean up after the battle?) I don't know a yardarm from a topsail, but Gregory Peck convinced me he knew every time he'd squint up at the top of the mast, or yell out "clear for action!" I was a sucker for Midshipman Langley and Lady Wellsely's exchange after the battle but El Supremo's makeup man should have been whipped with the cat'o'nine tails! The ending was "way too" convenient: Let's hope A & E's rendition is a winner!