HotToastyRag Calling all sea-faring film fans who want to see Gregory Peck in a beautiful uniform! Greg plays the title character in Captain Horatio Hornblower, a strict man who follows the rules, corrects his mistakes, and clears his throat to excess when he's nervous. The main plot of the movie is international conflict during the Napoleonic wars. Since communication wasn't instantaneous back then, Greg didn't get the memo that Spain switched sides. While he's busy fighting Spanish ships, he doesn't know that Spain's loyalty has changed from France to England, and once he finds out, he has to somehow figure out a way to fix the mess, lest he and his crew be tried for treason. The side plot of the movie isn't war-related, it's romance-related. Virginia Mayo becomes a passenger on the ship, and naturally, she and Greg hit it off-in between his massive throat clearings.I know we weren't supposed to take the romantic part of the movie seriously, but Virginia Mayo's character really irritated me. In that day and age, when a lady's reputation was sacred, why would she ever put herself on board a ship with dozens of rough and tough sailors? She takes Greg's stateroom, meaning he'd have access to her chambers if he wanted, and flirts shamelessly with him the moment she comes aboard. Then, after claiming she hardly had time to pack her trunks, she dresses up in a different lavish gown for every scene. As Greg told her from the beginning, his men have been away at sea for eight months, and she expects to be able to prance around in a chest-baring, form-fitting, gorgeous gown and have the men ignore her feminine presence? It was pretty absurd, but if you're only in it for the fashion eye candy-or the Gregory Peck eye candy-you might not mind as much.

Prismark10 Raoul Walsh has directed this film in glorious Technicolour with great sets and costumes. An adaptation of the books from C S Forester, it cast Gregory Peck as the steely, calm and cerebral Horatio Hornblower aboard His Majesty's ship, 'Lydia.'The film is a combination of swashbuckling high seas adventure, a study of leadership and romance as Hornblower meets Lady Barbara Wellesley, the sister of the Duke of Wellington and fall for each other when she has been rescued by his ship.The film has a broad scope but is very much of its time. Its limitation are that the story is told in a rather dry way and does not always sustain your interest. I did not feel that the film was exciting enough. Its beautiful to look at but I saw Peter Weir's more modern film, 'Master and Commander' first which told a complex (and in ways a similar tale) in a more riveting manner.

ebiros2 Until the mega million dollar production of Pirates of the Caribbean, good high seas adventure were all made in the '40s to '60s. Out of all of them, this one stands out as one of the best. Gregory Peck stars as the capt. Horatio Hornblower. His acting is superb in this movie. Of all the years I've watched sea adventures, this one still stands out as one of the best. The influence of this movie is far reaching as Gene Roddenberry took part of his Star Trek idea from this movie. In the book "The Making of Star Trek" (by Stephen E. Whitfield and Gene Roddenberry (Jul 1, 1970)), Roddenberry mentions about the concept of Star Trek in the early days was to create an adventure like Capt. Horatio Hornblower in space. Even the horn theme that this movie has sound's a bit like the one used in Star Trek TOS.Capt. Horatio confounds the Mexican tyrant, French navy, and steals a Dutch ship to make it back to his home port. All with esprit like never seen in other movies.Certainly one of the best if not the very best sea adventure movie ever produced.

Terrell-4 "Make sail, men!" cries Horatio Hornblower, "We're on our way to England!" But before we arrive at this point in the movie we've taken part in a rousing boy's own adventure of the naval wars pitting the Royal Navy against Napoleon. We're with Captain Hornblower (Gregory Peck) on the 38-gun frigate H.M.S. Lydia as he deals with a Central American megalomaniac who calls himself El Supremo, then battles and beats -- twice -- the 60-gun Spanish ship- of-the-line Natividad. When he returns to England and assumes command of the 74-gun H.M.S. Sutherland, we're right there as he takes on four French ships-of-the-line, nearly destroys them and, as his ship sinks, deliberately holes her so she bottles up a vital French port. And then, captured by the French and on his way to Paris to be tried as a pirate, we're with him as he and his two companions escape, make it to a Dutch port, manage to steal a captured sloop, man it with English prisoners-of-war and then sails it across the channel to England. And what had seemed a doomed romance with the brave and beautiful Barbara Wellesley (Virginia Mayo), sister of the Duke of Wellington, comes to a happy conclusion due to various deaths in battle or to small pox. Movies about iron men in wooden ships, who battle scurvy and thirst as well as the French, are for me always stirring occasions. Grape shot, flogging, amputations without anesthesia and oaken splinters flying into one's face would be enough to convince me that even accounting would be a better profession than the navy in those times. Captain Horatio Hornblower, the movie, is an audience-pleasing romantic adventure where the battles are packed with lots of action but little gore, and that's not a bad thing. The two-hour movie slows down only in the middle when Hornblower and Lady Barbara, sailing back from Central America to England, realize their deepening feelings for each other. But he is married, and she is not only above his station in life, but engaged to a suspicious prig of an admiral under whom Hornblower will find himself assigned. Peck manages not to embarrass himself. He wisely avoids trying an English accent. Hornblower is a smart, decent man, harrumphing now and then when he's caught off guard or at a loss for words, respected by his crew, a skilled navigator, a gifted battle tactician, a captain who inspires love and loyalty. Peck's own great gift as an actor of projecting decency serves him well. Mayo may not have a lot to do, but she's gorgeous to look. The one amusing aspect of the movie is the propensity for the officers to wear dress uniforms during their everyday duties. We're treated to them sailing on the hot Central American waters in their best wool uniforms, complete with white weskits, cocked hats and shiny swords dangling from their waists. One assumes the Hollywood producers had no confidence that the audience could distinguish officers from the men without the equivalent of signs around the officers' necks. Lady Barbara also has a habit on board of wearing gowns that risk sunburn and peeling on some sensitive parts of her upper anatomy. The movie features fine performances from familiar faces and names, including Robert Beatty, James Robertson Justice, Terence Morgan and Denis O'Day. In smaller roles are faces that later became much better known, those of Stanley Baker and Christopher Lee. Alec Mango gives us an over-ripe and enjoyable turn as the strutting, sweating El Supremo. The movie is drawn primarily from C. S. Forester's Beat to Quarters, with the later half of the movie pulled from episodes from Ship of the Line and Flying Colors. These are the first three Hornblower novels Forester wrote. The Hornblower series still holds up as exciting adventures in the age of sail and the life-and-death struggle pitting Britain against Napoleon.