Hornblower: The Frogs and the Lobsters (1999) (TV)

User Rating:

7.9/10   

Director:

Andrew Grieve

Writers:

C.S. Forester (novels)
Chris Ould (screenplay)

Release Date:

25 April 1999 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | War

Plot:

Lt. Hornblower and his mates are sent to accompany a doomed royalist invasion of revolutionary France.

Plot Keywords:

Invasion | Guillotine | Bridge | Schoolteacher | Navy

Awards:

Won Primetime Emmy. Another 1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Ioan Gruffudd	...	Horatio Hornblower
Robert Lindsay	...	Capt. Sir Edward Pellew
Antony Sher	...	Colonel Moncoutant
John Shrapnel	...	General Charette
Samuel West	...	Major Edrington
Peter Vaughan	...	Admiral Lord Hood
Jean Badin	...	Fauré
Jamie Bamber	...	Acting Lt. Archie Kennedy
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Paul Copley	...	Matthews
Jonathan Coy	...	Lt. Bracegirdle
Sean Gilder	...	Styles
Ian Lindsay	...	Collins
Colin MacLachlan	...	Master Bowles
Simon Sherlock	...	Oldroyd
Estelle Skornik	...	Mariette

Directed by
Andrew Grieve

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
C.S. Forester		novels
Chris Ould		screenplay

Produced by
Andrew Benson	....	producer
Delia Fine	....	executive producer
Vernon Lawrence	....	executive producer
Peter Richardson	....	line producer

Cinematography by
Alec Curtis

Costume Design by
John Mollo

Makeup Department
Elizabeth Minshull	....	hair stylist (as Liz Minshull)
Elizabeth Minshull	....	makeup artist (as Liz Minshull)

Art Department
Augusto Mayer	....	art director: Portugal

Sound Department
Rudi Buckle	....	production sound mixer
Colin Codner	....	boom operator
Sue Lenny	....	sound effects editor
Dave Sloss	....	foley recordist
Julie Ankerson	....	foley artist (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Graham Aikman	....	special effects assistant: pyro supervisor
Jeremy Lovett	....	special effects senior technician: model unit

Visual Effects by
Mark Thomas-Stubbs	....	digital effects

Camera and Electrical Department
David Bourke	....	best boy
Paul Donachie	....	focus puller
Tom Gates	....	gaffer
Jon Head	....	grip
Micky May	....	generator operator
Jamie Summers	....	electrician

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Gordon Harmer	....	wardrobe supervisor

Editorial Department
Matthew Tucker	....	first assistant editor
Marc Eskenazi	....	on-line editor (uncredited)

Other crew
Anna Callaghan	....	production assistant
Matt Cooke	....	production runner
Dani Gordon	....	assistant to producer
Pauline Granby	....	production accountant
Amanda Lean	....	script supervisor
Erhan Ozogul	....	assistant accountant
Gerry Savage	....	nurse
Adele Steward	....	production coordinator
Chris Tarry	....	assistant accountant

Production Companies

• Meridian Broadcasting
• United Film and Television Productions

Distributors

• A&E Home Video (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• A&E Home Video (2002) (USA) (VHS)
• A&E Television Networks (1999) (USA) (TV)
• Cinema Club (2002) (UK) (VHS)
• Cinema Club (2003) (UK) (DVD)
• ITV DVD (2006) (UK) (DVD)
• Independent Television (ITV) (1999) (UK) (TV)

Other Companies

• Celtic/Picture Palace  developed by

Also Known As:

Horatio Hornblower: The Wrong War (USA)

Runtime:

Brazil:100 min

Country:

UK

Language:

French | English

Color:

Color

Certification:

Netherlands:12 | Singapore:PG | UK:PG

Filming Locations:

Peniche, Portugal

Company:

Meridian Broadcasting

Goofs:

Anachronisms: The story is based on the Quiberion Expedition of 1795, albeit loosely. Captain Sir Edward Pellew quotes "As idle as a painted ship/Upon a painted ocean" from S T Coleridge's Rime of the Ancient Mariner. This poem was not published until 1798 (in Lyrical Ballards).

Quotes:

Major Edrington: I take it the welcoming ceremony is now over.

Movie Connections:

Followed by Hornblower: Loyalty (2003) (TV)

Soundtrack:

La Marseillaise

Superb!

This is a wonderful finale to a wonderful series. It is not, in my opinion, the best of the lot, but that does not mean that it doesn't have it's strong points.

I skimmed Mr. Midshipman Hornblower, the book that these four films are based on. Consequently, as someone who enjoyed this particular chapter immensely, I could have skipped the love story - but then again, I'm not a romantic by any stretch of the imagination. I thought that because of time constraints, the whole thing was rather rushed. Falling in love in the course of a day is something for a sitcom, not a serious movie, but the actors did an amazing job with what they were given.

The good greatly outnumbers the bad. Ioan Gruffudd did a wonderful job as Horatio throughout the series and he remained consistent throughout this episode. I consider him to be a wonderful actor - the perfect one to play the young, gangly seventeen year-old who comes into his own gradually.

Gruffudd's performance was only accentuated by the brilliance of his dynamic co-star Robert Lindsay, himself an amazing actor. Lindsay's performance as the indomitable (and indefatigable) Captain Pellew was right on the mark.

The rest of the cast was wonderful, including poor Mariette, played by Estelle Skornik. I will never tire of watching Matthews, Styles and Oldroyd and Paul Copley, Sean Gilder, and Colin MacLachlan fit these roles perfectly. Jamie Bamber as Midshipman (Acting-Lieutenant) Kennedy also did very well. John Shrapnel as Charette affected a decent French accent, as did Antony Sher as the infamous Moncoutant.

One last praise goes out to the fabulous Sam West, admitibly one of my favorite actors. West does an amazing job portraying Major Edrington and that dry, upper-class sarcastic wit never fails to earn a grin from me. The character of Edrington is one of my favorites in the book and West does an amazing job portraying him.

I find it a horrible pity that wonderful actors such as these listed above have trouble finding roles in internationally acclaimed films. After seeing this particular film, I performed an extensive search for the above actors. Armed with a list of some of the ones I desperately wished to see, I visited all of the local movie stores. Apart from Howard's End (Sam West), Fierce Creatures (Robert Lindsay), and 102 Dalmatians (Ioan Gruffudd), I came up empty-handed. So, here I am, armed only with a taped version of the Frogs and the Lobsters.

You will not be disappointed with this film - at least I doubt you will. I have yet to find someone who didn't enjoy it throughly. The costuming is accurate, the characters wonderful, the story is gripping and the acting is phenomenal. I highly recommend it to just about anyone.