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| Captain Horatio Hornblower | |
|---|---|
| Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Raoul Walsh |
| Produced by | Gerry Mitchell |
| Written by | C.S. Forester Ivan Goff Ben Roberts Aeneas MacKenzie |
| Based on | Horatio Hornblower by C.S. Forester |
| Starring | Gregory Peck Virginia Mayo Robert Beatty Terence Morgan James Robertson Justice |
| Music by | Robert Farnon |
| Cinematography | Guy Green |
| Edited by | Jack Harris |
| Production company | Warner Bros. |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
| Release date | 10 April 1951 |
| Running time | 117 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $2,462,000 |
| Box office | $5,333,000 |
Captain Horatio Hornblower (a.k.a. Captain Horatio Hornblower R.N. in the UK, “R.N.” standing for “Royal Navy”) is a 1951 British-American naval swashbuckling war film in Technicolor from Warner Bros., produced by Gerry Mitchell, directed by Raoul Walsh, that stars Gregory Peck, Virginia Mayo, Robert Beatty and Terence Morgan.
The film is based on three of C. S. Forester‘s Horatio Hornblower novels: The Happy Return (Beat to Quarters in the United States), A Ship of the Line, and Flying Colours. Forester is credited with the screen adaptation.
Warner Bros. acquired the film rights to the first three Hornblower novels – Beat to Quarters, A Ship of the Line, and Flying Colours – as a star vehicle for Errol Flynn when they were initially published. However, influenced by the financial failure of the 1948 adventure romance film, Adventures of Don Juan, growing difficulties with the actor, or his advancing age, Flynn was not cast. Warner’s was already building up Burt Lancaster as their new swashbuckling screen star, but the role of a British sea captain seemed to be outside his range, so Peck was ultimately cast on a loan-out from David O. Selznick, who received screen credit in the opening titles. Virginia Mayo was only cast after a number of high-profile British actresses were not free or not interested. Peck’s personal choice was Margaret Leighton.
The film was shot at studios inside the United Kingdom, on Mermaid Street in Rye, East Sussex, at HMS Victory and also on location in France. To save costs, the Hispaniola set from the 1950 Disney film adaptation of Treasure Island was reused as the frigate HMS Lydia. However, the ship was rocked instead of moving the horizon background, which caused many problems because of the combined weight of ship, crew and equipment. The Italian brigantine Marcel B. Surdo represented the Witch of Endor for all at-sea exterior footage. The Marcel B. Surdo would also appear in such seafaring films as The Crimson Pirate, The Master of Ballantrae, and John Paul Jones. The explosive and fire effects were supervised by Cliff Richardson.
The film had its worldwide premiere in the presence of Princess Margaret at the Warner Theatre, Leicester Square, London on 12 April 1951. The premiere was in aid of King George’s Fund for Sailors and the “Foudroyant” appeal (the presently restored frigate renamed HMS Trincomalee afloat in the Historic Quay, Hartlepool, UK.) It was the 9th most popular film at the British box office that year.
The film has been well received by modern critics. The film review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes gives it 7.3 out of 10 and a 100% “fresh” rating.
According to Warner Bros’ accounts, the film earned $2,598,000 domestically and $2,735,000 foreign. It was the studio’s most expensive film of the year but also their most popular.
Watch the movie “Captain Horatio Hornblower”
Hornblower Mini Series
| Hornblower | |
|---|---|
| UK DVD cover | |
| Based on | Mr. Midshipman Hornblower Lieutenant Hornblower Hornblower and the Hotspur by C. S. Forester |
| Directed by | Andrew Grieve |
| Starring | Ioan Gruffudd Robert Lindsay Paul McGann Paul Copley Sean Gilder Jamie Bamber |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of episodes | 8 |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Meridian Broadcasting |
| Running time | 120 minutes |
| Release | |
| Original network | ITV |
| Original release | 7 October 1998 – 6 January 2003 |
Hornblower is the umbrella title of a series of British historical fiction war television films based on three of C. S. Forester‘s ten novels about the fictional character Horatio Hornblower, a Royal Navy officer during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.
The series ran from 7 October 1998 until 6 January 2003, with Ioan Gruffudd in the title role. It was produced by the British broadcaster ITV Meridian, and was shown on ITV in the UK and A&E in the US. It is often repeated on ITV4.
Production
Captain Pellew’s ship, HMS Indefatigable, is represented by the Grand Turk, a modern replica of the frigate HMS Blandford built in 1741. To represent Hornblower’s ship, HMS Hotspur, the Earl of Pembroke, a civilian ship, underwent some conversion. The Baltic trading schooner Julia and the brig Phoenix of Dell Quay were used to represent the smaller vessels. No real 74-gun ship existed any longer at the time of production (the last one, HMS Implacable, was scuttled in 1949), so HMS Justinian and HMS Renown had to be recreated as models. For the first series a quarter of a 74-gun ship (one exterior side and three open sides to shoot live action on several decks) called the pontoon was built. Later live action on the quarterdeck or the gundeck below was shot on the actual HMS Victory. Eleven scale models, ranging from 4.5 to 7 m in length, were used for the battle scenes, the largest weighing 1400 kg, and made with working rigging and cannons that were fired by remote control. Shooting locations included the Black Sea, the Livadia Palace, Portugal, and the former administration (Melville) building of the Royal William Yard and the Barbican, Plymouth in England.
Awards
- Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Miniseries (1999)
- Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Miniseries or Movie (1999)
Ioan Gruffudd had shown interest in participating in more Hornblower films. In 2007, he reportedly discussed the possibility of a big-screen version of Hornblower, and had been attempting to gain the rights to the books by C. S. Forester.”
The film series
The series consists of eight television films, which are notable for their high production values. All were later released on DVD (with the original aspect ratio of 16:9 widescreen in Europe and 4:3 in the US). In the US, the series was retitled Horatio Hornblower, and some of the films were known by different titles. The eight films cover the events of just three of the ten novels (Mr. Midshipman Hornblower, Lieutenant Hornblower, and Hornblower and the Hotspur), and various alterations and additions are made to the source material (e.g., the recurring characters of Lt. Archie Kennedy, Matthews and Styles).
The Even Chance (U.S. title: The Duel) (7 October 1998)
The Examination for Lieutenant (U.S. title: The Fire Ships) (18 November 1998)
The Duchess and the Devil (24 February 1999)
The Frogs and the Lobsters (U.S. title: The Wrong War) (2 April 1999)
Mutiny (24 March 2002)
Retribution (25 March 2002)
Loyalty (5 January 2003)
Duty (6 January 2003)
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