Captain Horatio Hornblower (1951)

Top cast54

Edit

Gregory Peck

Capt. Horatio Hornblower R.N

Virginia Mayo

Lady Barbara Wellesley

Robert Beatty

Lt. William Bush

Moultrie Kelsall

Lt. Crystal
(as M. Kelsall)

Denis O'Dea

RAdm. Sir Rodney Leighton

James Kenney

Midshipman Longley

Terence Morgan

2nd Lt. Gerard
(as T. Morgan)

James Robertson Justice

Seaman Quist
(as James R. Justice)

Richard Hearne

Polwheal (Hornblower's Batman)

Michael Dolan

Surgeon Gundarson

Stanley Baker

Mr. Harrison (Bosun)

Alan Tilvern

Hernandez

Alec Mango

El Supremo (Don Julian Alvarado)

Christopher Lee

Spanish Captain

John Witty

Capt. Entenza

Michael Goodliffe

Col. Caillard - POW Escort

Eugene Deckers

French Commandant

Ingeborg von Kusserow

Hebe (Lady Barbara's Maid)
(as Ingeborg Wells)

Did you know

Edit

Trivia
Once the flogging of Seaman Hommel (Peter Morton) was complete, vinegar was applied to the wound as an (unfortunately painful) antiseptic. If vinegar were not available salt could have been used instead, hence the saying "rubbing salt in the wound" whenever one trauma follows another.

Goofs
Hornblower asks whether Lady Barbara is related to the Duke of Wellington. This is in 1807. Sir Arthur Wellesley was elevated to the Peerage after the Battle of Talavera in 1809 and to a Dukedom in 1814 after the Army invaded France. In 1807, he was still Sir Arthur. The title of Duke of Wellington did not exist.

Quotes
Capt. Horatio Hornblower, R.N: You know why I'm having Hummill flogged, Mr. Gerard?
2nd Lt. Gerard: I reported him for fighting, sir.
Capt. Horatio Hornblower, R.N: I am not having him flogged for fighting, Mr. Gerard. I'm having him flogged because you said in front of the men that you'd flog him. This is a ship of war - as it's captain, I must uphold my lieutenants' authority.
2nd Lt. Gerard: I understand, sir.
Capt. Horatio Hornblower, R.N: Flogging only makes a bad man worse, Mr. Gerard... but it can break a good man's spirit. Is Hummill a bad man?
2nd Lt. Gerard: Aside from his temper, sir, he's a good sailor.
Capt. Horatio Hornblower, R.N: A good sailor, ill-fed and thirsty. Watch the cat as it cuts his back to pieces, Mr. Gerard... and in the future, perhaps you'll think twice before you threaten anyone with a flogging.

Connections
Edited into Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd (1952)

It's unfair that Raoul Walsh's name is labeled by the books as a second-level filmmaker in relation with, say, a Ford or a Hawks. He was an extraordinary crafted and prolific director, capable of incorporating standard studio material into his own personal worldview. `Captain Horatio Hornblower' is full of little moments that exceed any genre limitation. These `sparkles of Truth' may be the tracking shot along the empty room while Peck reads the letter of his deceased wife, or when Virginia Mayo kisses the youngster the way his mother used to did. So the adventure film becomes something bigger than life, just as `White Heat' used of the conventions of the gangster film to turn into metaphysics, or `Colorado Territory' departed the western into the depths of existentialism. This film is enjoyable from beginning to end, and it's a clear predecessor of Peter Weir's `Master and Commander', with which it shares a few tone, character and plot elements.