Captain Horatio Hornblower R.N.

Pecking Order

Captain Horatio Hornblower R.N.
aka Captain Horatio Hornblower
Directed by Raoul Walsh 
UK/USA/France 1951 
Warner Brothers
Spanish Blu Ray Zone B 

This will be, not much more than a short series of notes on Captain Horatio Hornblower R.N. rather than a full blown review because, well, I felt the film was hugely entertaining but don’t have much to say about the cinematography, shot composition or music, to tell the truth. The acting is all excellent but, it’s what you’d expect from a top notch cast like this, working with some very well written dialogue.

Ever since I was a barely conscious child, I remember being impressed by my dad’s bookshelves but three specific sets of books remain in my memory to this day. One was his collection of hardbacks of the main works of Alexandre Dumas, another was a small Mervyn Peak boxed edition and, last but by no means least, his impressive box of C. S Forester’s Hornblower novels. Now, the film and TV shows have been on numerous times over the years on British TV but, I’ve somehow never got around to seeing any of them. For Father’s Day this year I wanted to get him a good Blu Ray transfer of the film starring Gregory Peck as the titular character but, nobody in the UK or the US seem to have put it out in a restored format. But I got one put out in Spain and, I have to say, it’s a fine transfer and has the full English language track on it. 

Forester himself helped somewhat to adapt his stories to the big screen for this one, which is based on three Hornblower tales (two novels and one short story I am told). I don’t know how this one is handled as an adaptation but, in one section where an officer has his leg injured but recovers sufficiently in order to have more adventures later in the movie, well... all my dad said was about this matter was that, in the book, he loses that leg. 

The film starts us with a scene of Hornblower having one of his crew flogged and it shows everything about his character as he takes an officer aside and impresses on him that it’s because that officer threatened the crew member with flogging that he has ordered it so. He personally disagrees with it and thinks it a harsh punishment but needs to uphold the officer’s judgement in the eyes of the men... but that said officer should think twice before lightly referring to this kind of judicial penalty in future. Which says everything, I think, about the kind of man Hornblower is.

And from hereon in it becomes a series of naval adventures where political decisions are enforced with broadside cannon runs and swordfighting. There’s even a love interest in the form of Lady Barbara Wellesley, played by Virginia Mayo, who was something of an afterthought in the casting, it would appear but who handles the role magnificently. Alas, both Hornblower and Wellesley are married to other people but, the film makes that right in the end so they can continue their shipboard romance on the mainland by the end of the movie. 

There are a few other actors of interest such as an early role for Stanley Baker and a character played by Mr. Pastry himself, Richard Hearne. Not to mention uncredited roles for Sam Kydd and Richard Johnson. Perhaps the most striking of the uncredited roles was the captain of a Spanish vessel who swordfights with Hornblower in one scene, played by Christopher Lee, still a few years away from his big break out role in the Hammer films. 

But my biggest surprise in the movie was the presence of James Roberston Justice as seaman Quist. Now I’m used to seeing the hulking, portly presence of Justice in comedy roles as pompous authority figures in films in the Doctor or Carry On series (for instance). In this one he’s a little slimmer than I remember him, doing a different accent but still as lovable a character as he is in his more comedic roles, for sure. I really loved him in this and I think I need to try and track down some more films where he’s playing against type. 

And that’s me done with Captain Horatio Hornblower R.N., I think, other than to note that another great Forrester novel which caused a big splash in Hollywood was Humphrey Bogart’s Oscar winning vehicle The African Queen. Another entertaining movie but, I think this is pretty good too. I remember reading back in the day that Gene Roddenberry’s concept for Star Trek was Hornblower in Space and this movie certainly bears that out, I think. Even the three note motif that the sailors use to pipe the Captain on and off board, sounded vaguely familiar to my ears... and then I realised it’s the same three notes that Roddenberry used on his communicators in the original Star Trek series so, yeah, Hornblower in space indeed. Captain Horatio Hornblower R.N. is a splendid adventure yarn, though and, I’d certainly recommend it to lovers of old Hollywood movies. Very entertaining.