Captain Horatio Hornblower R.N.

"The sun never sets on his world of adventure."

1951 1h 57m EN

👍

7.0

SOLID

★7.0TMDB · 149

AdventureWarHistory

Synopsis

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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.

“The sun never sets on his world of adventure.”

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Cast

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

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Raoul Walsh
Writers: Ivan Goff, Ben Roberts, Aeneas MacKenzie
Languages: English
Countries: United Kingdom

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 7

ERA

Did you know

75 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Raoul Walsh, shot by Guy Green. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Robert Farnon. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Jack Harris shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 7

CAST

Did you know

Gregory Peck and Virginia Mayo and Robert Beatty carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 7

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "The sun never sets on his world of adventure.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 7

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0043379 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Raoul Walsh directs. Guy Green behind the camera. Robert Farnon scores. Jack Harris cuts. Produced in United Kingdom. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

175 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
2Directed by Raoul Walsh, shot by Guy Green. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
3Original score by Robert Farnon. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
4Editor Jack Harris shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
5Gregory Peck and Virginia Mayo and Robert Beatty carry the top of the cast.
6Marketing tagline: "The sun never sets on his world of adventure.".
7IMDB entry: tt0043379 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography: Guy Green
Original score: Robert Farnon
Editing: Jack Harris
Costume design: Sheila Graham
Makeup / hair: Tony Sforzini
Runtime: 117 min · 1h 57m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Original language: EN
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: Captain Horatio Hornblower R.N. (1951)

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Raoul Walsh

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Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2014-09-25
★ 6/10
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
CinemaSerf2024-06-01
★ 7/10
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.