Captain Horatio Hornblower R.N.
Directed by Raoul Walsh
Written by Ivan Goff, Ben Roberts, and Aeneas MacKenzie; adopted for the screen by C.S. Forester from his novels
UK/1951
Warner Bros.
First viewing/Netflix rental
[box] Lt. Crystal: Signal from the lookout, sir. Natividad’s gone about – one more tack and she’ll be at the harbor mouth.
Capt. Horatio Hornblower, R.N: Very good, Mr. Crystal. Well, gentlemen, that leaves time for a rubber of whist.[/box]
This sea adventure makes a good popcorn movie.
The story is set during the Napoleonic Wars. The HMS Lydia is sailing in Southern waterns on a secret mission known only to its master, Captain Horatio Hornblower (Gregory Peck). As the story begins, the ship is becalmed and food and water are running short. Sailors are beginning to die of scurvy. The ship is saved from mutiny when Hornblower correctly predicts that the wind will pick up and the ship will reach land within 24 hours.
The ship’s mission was to reach a Caribbean island and join forces with a rebel in an effort to oust France’s Spanish ally from the a America’s. The idea was to keep Spain occupied so occupied in defending its colonies that it would have no time to aid France. The Lydia sets out at once and, after a battle, captures a Spanish galleon. Suddenly, the news arrives that Spain has switched sides and is now England’s ally. Hornblower must free the ship. In the process, he finds he must take Lady Barbara (Virgina Mayo), sister of the Duke of Wellington, on board. She had been fleeing a yellow fever outbreak in Panama.
In due course, Hornblower and Lady Barbara fall in love. But Hornblower is married and Lady Barbara is engaged to an admiral so this love is of the tortured variety. Most of the rest of the film, however, is devoted to sea battles and Hornblower’s daring escape with a couple of his men from French captivity.
When Raoul Walsh helms an adventure story like this, you are almost guaranteed an entertaining couple of hours. Gregory Peck made a speciality of this kind of manly but humane hero and does well here. Mayo (The Best Years of Our Lives, White Heat) is almost unrecognizable as the kind and pure Lady Barbara. so different from her usual slutty roles. There is a stirring score by Robert Farnon.
Trailer
