In 1807, during the Napoleonic Wars, Royal Navy Captain Horatio Hornblower commands the 38-gun frigate HMS Lydia on a secret mission to Central America. He is to provide arms and support to a megalomaniac named Don Julian Alvarado, who calls himself "El Supremo", in his rebellion against Spain, an ally of Britain's enemy France. Upon arrival, Hornblower is told that a larger, much more powerful Spanish warship, the 60-gun Natividad, has been sighted. When it anchors nearby, Hornblower and his crew board and capture it in a surprise night attack. He then reluctantly hands the ship over to Alvarado to appease the madman, and they go their separate ways. Later, he encounters a small Spanish vessel and learns that Spain has switched sides, so the Lydia will have to attack the Natividad again. Two passengers transfer to the Lydia : Lady Barbara Wellesley and her maid, fleeing a yellow fever epidemic. As Lady Barbara is the sister of the Duke of Wellington, Hornblower cannot refuse her request for passage to England. Using superior seamanship and masterful tactics, Hornblower sinks the more powerful Natividad. When the ship's surgeon is killed during the battle, Lady Barbara insists on tending the wounded. When she later falls gravely ill, Hornblower nurses her back to health. On the voyage back to England, they fall in love. However, when she speaks of her feelings, Hornblower gently tells her he is married. Later they meet in a passageway and embrace passionately. She promises her maid’s discretion, he says that they are not free. After arriving home, Hornblower learns that his wife has died in childbirth, leaving him an infant son. Later, he is given command of the Sutherland, a 74-gunship of the line captured from the French, and is assigned to a squadron commanded by Rear Admiral Leighton, an arrogant officer who owes his position to influence more than skill. Leighton has just returned from his honeymoon with Lady Barbara. Outside the Admiralty, Lady Barbara tells Hornblower that she did not learn of his wife’s death until she returned from Ireland. Leighton’s squadron is to help enforce the British blockade against Napoleonic France. Hornblower learns that four French ships of the line have broken through the blockade. Leighton assumes they will make for the Mediterranean, but Hornblower suggests that they mean to support Napoleon's campaign on the Iberian Peninsula. Leighton decides to cover both possibilities by detaching one ship to patrol the French coast. When he learns that Hornblower's Sutherland is best suited for this task, having the shallowest draught, he accuses Hornblower of pursuing glory and prize money and expressly forbids Hornblower’s taking any independent action if he sights the French. Hornblower's French-built ship is subsequently mistaken for a friendly vessel by a small French brig, which flies the enemy's recognition signal for the day. After capturing the vessel, Hornblower learns from its captain that he was transporting powder, beef and oats to the four warships for use in Spain. Rather than return to the squadron, Hornblower enters the enemy harbour where the French ships are anchored and guarded by a well-armed fort. By flying a French flag and the recognition signal and taking advantage of his ship's French design, Hornblower fools the garrison into believing that the Sutherland is friendly. His gun crews dismast all four enemy ships before French cannon fire forces the British to abandon ship. Hornblower scuttles his ship in the channel, bottling up the French ships. As the rest of the British squadron arrives to complete the job, Hornblower, First Lieutenant Bush, and seaman Quist are taken by carriage to Paris to be tried for piracy. However, they escape en route and make their way to the port of Nantes. Disguised as Dutch officers, they board the Witch of Endor, a captured British ship. They overpower the skeleton crew, free a working party of British prisoners of war to man her, and sail away to freedom. Hornblower is hailed as a national hero and learns that Leighton was killed in the battle. Hornblower returns home to visit his young son and finds Lady Barbara there. The two embrace.
Diane Cilento as the voice of Maria, Hornblower's wife
Jack Watson as Capt. Sylvester
Alexander Davion as Spanish officer
Casting
acquired the film rights to the first three Hornblower novels – Beat to Quarters, A Ship of the Line, and Flying Colours – as a star vehicle for Errol Flynn when they were first published. For reasons that may have included the financial failure of the 1948adventureromance filmAdventures of Don Juan, the growing difficulties of working with the actor, and/or his advancing age, Flynn was not cast. Warner's was already building upBurt Lancaster as their new swashbuckling screen star, but the role of a British sea captain seemed to be outside his range, so Peck was ultimately cast on a loan-out from David O. Selznick, who received screen credit in the opening titles. Virginia Mayo was only cast after a number of high-profile British actresses were either not free or not interested. Peck's personal choice was Margaret Leighton. Studio head Jack Warner found Virginia Mayo more attractive.
Production
The film was originally developed for Errol Flynn. The film was shot at studios inside the United Kingdom, on Mermaid Street in Rye, East Sussex, at and also on location in France. To save costs, the Hispaniola set from the 1950Disney film adaptation of Treasure Island was reused as the frigate HMS Lydia. Instead of moving the horizon background in order to simulate movement on the water, the ship itself was rocked. This caused many problems because of the combined weight of ship, crew and equipment. The ItalianbrigantineMarcel B. Surdo represented the Witch of Endor for all at-sea exterior footage. The Marcel B. Surdo would also appear in such seafaring films as The Crimson Pirate, The Master of Ballantrae, and John Paul Jones. The explosive and fire effects were supervised by Cliff Richardson.
Premiere and reception
The film had its worldwide premiere in the presence of Princess Margaret at the Warner Theatre, Leicester Square, London on 12 April 1951. The premiere was in aid of King George's Fund for Sailors and the "Foudroyant" appeal It was the 9th most popular film at the British box office that year. The film has been well received by modern critics. The film review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes gives it 7.3 out of 10 and a 100% "fresh" rating.
Other versions
Gregory Peck and Virginia Mayo recreated their roles on a one-hour Lux Radio Theater program broadcast on 21 January 1952, which is included as an audio-only feature in the film's DVD release.
Reception
According to Warner Bros' accounts, the film earned $2,598,000 domestically and $2,735,000 foreign. It was the studio's most expensive film of the year but also their most popular.
