Warner Bros. Pictures

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Captain Horatio Hornblower R.N.

Name: Captain Horatio Hornblower R.N.
Released: 1951-04-10T00:00:00.000000Z
Rating: 6.9

The sun never sets on his world of adventure.

1951 • 117 min • ★ 6.9 (144) • Released

Adventure History War

Captain Horatio Hornblower leads his ship HMS Lydia on a perilous transatlantic voyage, during which his faithful crew battle both a Spanish warship and a ragged band of Central American rebels.

IMDb ↗

Original title: Captain Horatio Hornblower R.N.
Language: EN
Country: GB
Budget: —
Revenue: —

Reviews & Ratings 2

CinemaSerf

Jun 1, 2024 · via TMDB

★ 7.0

This is effectively three short stories bolted together as Raoul Walsh creates quite an exciting and enjoyable seafaring story based around the Napoleonic Wars. Gregory Peck takes the lead role as the eponymous, rather stiff-necked, Royal Navy captain carrying out a mission to provision a rather unreliable ally with arms and munitions. When events in a Europe being terrorised by Napoleon take a series of more treacherous turns, he must now battle his way across the Atlantic and return to help protect his country from the French. Virginia Mayo provides the love interest and Robert Beatty and a feisty James Robertson Justice work well too, to help keep the ship off the rocks as the battle comes down to tactics and becomes personal! It is a good, old-fashioned and enjoyably paced, boy's own yarn based on the C. S Forester character and well worth watching.

John Chard

Sep 25, 2014 · via TMDB

★ 6.0

Beat To Quarters! It's fun, it's exciting, and it looks fabulous at times, it is however far from being a great movie. In the absence of Errol Flynn, Gregory Peck steps in to Hornblower's shoes and as much as he gives it his all (rumoured to have been one of his favourite performances), it's a spot of miscasting that thankfully doesn't kill the picture dead, he's just sadly a tad too straight laced to really make the role work. The same can be said for the casting of Virginia Mayo as Lady Barbara Wellesley, pretty as she is, it's an odd bit of casting that never quite comes off, yet as daft as it may sound, neither case of miscasting hurts the picture, and this comes down to the astute direction from Raoul Walsh. The pace never flags so we are never over concerned with the central actors struggles to make the characters work, backed up by Guy Green's camera work and Robert Farnon's jaunty score, the technical aspects of the piece steer the viewer on to safe waters (ahem). The sets are excellent and the recreation of the ships is first rate, with the final quarter of the movie giving us a blood pumping battle that's full of heroic bluster. It's a film that is easily recommended to adventure fans, though far from perfect and it remains a wasted opportunity in my eyes, but it's still a very enjoyable film for all the family. 6/10

User reviews courtesy of TMDB.

Keywords 3

battle napoleonic wars sea battle

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Cast 32

Gregory Peck

Capt. Horatio Hornblower R.N

Virginia Mayo

Lady Barbara Wellesley

Robert Beatty

Lt. William Bush

Moultrie Kelsall

Lt. Crystal

Terence Morgan

2nd Lt. Gerard

James Kenney

Midshipman Longley

James Robertson Justice

Seaman Quist

Denis O'Dea

RAdm. Sir Rodney Leighton

Richard Hearne

Polwheal (Hornblower's Batman)

Stanley Baker

Mr. Harrison (Bosun)

Alan Tilvern

Hernandez

Alec Mango

El Supremo (Don Julian Alvarado)

Christopher Lee

Spanish Captain

Michael Goodliffe

Col. Caillard - POW Escort

Eugene Deckers

French Commandant

Ingeborg von Kusserow

Hebe (Lady Barbara's Maid)

Amy Veness

Mrs. McPhee (Hornblower's Housekeeper)

Kynaston Reeves

Adm. Lord Hood

Ronald Adam

Adm. McCartney

Diane Cilento

Maria Hornblower (voice) (uncredited)

Alexander Davion

Spanish Officer (uncredited)

Patric Doonan

Seaman (uncredited)

Anthony Forwood

Lt. Woodford (uncredited)

Richard Johnson

Macrae (uncredited)

Jim Brady

Bosun's Mate (uncredited)

Fred Haggerty

Seaman (uncredited)

Sam Kydd

Seaman Garvin (uncredited)

Michael Mellinger

Spanish Officer (uncredited)

Jack Stewart

Seaman (uncredited)

Russell Waters

Seaman (uncredited)

Jack Watson

Capt. Sylvester (uncredited)

Byron Webster

Seaman (uncredited)

Crew 9

Ken Adam

Assistant Art Director

Guy Green

Director of Photography

Fred Haggerty

Stunts

Raoul Walsh

Director

Raoul Walsh

Producer

C. S. Forester

Adaptation

C. S. Forester

Novel

Æneas MacKenzie

Screenplay

Ivan Goff

Screenplay

Gallery

Videos

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US Release Dates 1

May 21, 1951

NR Theatrical