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.

Horatio Hornblower was a very complex man and although it isn't actually necessary to know his life story to enjoy Mr R.Walsh's fine film,Mr G.Peck's excellent performance is even more impressive when you appreciate how he has grasped the small print - as it were - behind his character.Whether or not Mr Peck was familiar with the canon I do not know,but behind Hornblower's facade of confidence was a wariness befitting a relatively poor man in a navy run principally by very rich men.Unless he was actually engaged in running a ship,a Captain in good old King George's day was put on half - pay,a financial burden men like Hornblower could not afford to bear for long. Although marked as a "coming man" from his first midshipman's post,his progress was only grudgingly conceded by the upper - class Admiralty Sea Lords.To end up as he did - an Admiral - was a truly remarkable achievement. Being in charge of one of His Majesty's ships was not a job for a bleeding heart.The majority of the crew would have been press - ganged and were - to say the least - unwilling sailors.In order to maintain discipline it was necessary to employ the carrot and stick;and if the stick was threatened it had to be applied. Thus,at the beginning of the film a seaman is flogged because a young and inexperienced officer had threatened him with a flogging and Hornblower,although he finds the punishment abhorrent,points out to his junior that if he watches the flogging he may not be so cavalier in using it as a threat in future. Engaged on a secret mission from The Admiralty HMS "Lydia" is ordered to give aid and assistance to a megalomaniac dictator - an ally in the war against Napoleon.Hornblower captures a Spanish ship and hands it over to this madman only to subsequently discover that Spain has in fact changed sides and the captured ship will be used against the British navy. At the same time he is forced to take as a passenger the sister of the Duke of Wellington and return her to England. The consequences of both these actions turn his comfortable world upside down. I saw the movie when I was 12 years old and thoroughly enjoyed it as a rousing sea adventure.60 years on I can still enjoy for the same reason,but also as a study of an honourable man trying to act in an honourable fashion as fate moves the goalposts around him.A typical Gregory Peck role,in fact.I can only remain thankful that Mr E.Flynn was too drunk to play it.It certainly would have ended up a totally different movie.

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.

I don't think the good citizens of the United Kingdom with their proud tradition of sea power could complain too much about the American leads in a film about one of their popular fictional heroes. You can't get too much more heroic than Gregory Peck on screen and he certainly does fit C.S. Forrester's conception of Captain Horatio Hornblower, R.N.In fact even recently with Russell Crowe's Master and Commander kind of reinvigorating this genre of literature, I still kind of like what Gregory Peck did with the role. The age of Napoleon where Great Britain stood for a time very much alone against his domination of Europe was another their finest hours. The film is taken from two of the Hornblower novels and sad to say the film's weakness is that the first part of it is much the superior of the second. Personally I think they should have padded out the first part and dealt with it alone. Recurring characters from the Hornblower novels appear here such as the Duke of Wellington's fictional sister Lady Barbara Wellesley played by Virginia Mayo and members of Hornblowers crew played by Robert Beatty, James Robertson Justice, and Terence Morgan among others. There's also a very touching performance by young James Kenney as the midshipman on board the HMS Lydia.The first part of the film deals with Hornblower sailing the Lydia to the western coast of Central America in secret to reach a potential rebel ally against Spain which has joined with France. Hornblower makes contact with Don Julian Alvarado, the self-styled El Supremo. Hornblower captures a Spanish ship of the line and gives it to his new ally.Then he learns that Spain has switched sides in the Napoleonic War while he's been at sea and now this heavily armed vessel is in the hands of a real psycho. Now he has to undo what he did.If you don't see Captain Horatio Hornblower, R.N. for any other reason, than see it for Alec Mango's over the top performance as the psychotic El Supremo. It's a piece of scenery chewing for the ages and it fits with the character. You take your allies in war where you find them and Spain was not the first or the last country that ever switched sides during a conflict.The second half concerns Peck and the crew in action off the Bay of Biscay and the vessel Lydia runs aground. Peck and the crew are taken prisoner and the rest of the film concerns with their escape. These are in fact two different Hornblower stories and the first is much the superior of the second.Of course another viewer might feel differently and the film is recommended for all of you who like a good sea yarn.