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.

Highly watchable and entertaining old fashioned actioner directed by one of the best action directors of them all, Raoul Walsh. So don't expect much characterisation or romance, rather you'll get plenty of excitement, camaraderie, duty and danger.There is a touch of romance to be sure, in the person of the lovely Virginia Mayo, an admiral's intended bride, who coincidentally ends up on Hornblower's boat and soon enough in his arms, but even here, you sense Walsh is just paying lip-service to the plot device devoting about ten minutes screen time to it and then abruptly providing a rushed and contrived but completely expected finish between the two of them.Better then to consider the remainder, a largely rip-roaring tale of the heroic but humble Hornblower's exploits in the Napoleonic Wars as he dispenses with firstly the Spanish and then the French in quick succession, against all the odds naturally.Walsh demonstrates his age-old flair for battle sequences and crowd scenes, the only let-down being some of the model-work of the ships which occasionally comes across as unconvincing. The acting is fine, Peck excellent as the title character although hardly the most physical of leads, with good support from a largely British crew,Stanley Baker and James Robertson Justice prominent amongst them. The navy terminology spoken at length throughout adds credibility and the sets and cinematography add colour add atmosphere to the whole.Some of the narrative turns are predictable and even clichéd and you never truly believe it's true to life but it's great fun and as easy on the eye as it is light on the brain, not quite a swashbuckler but more than just another navy lark.

Captain Horatio Hornblower RN is a 1951 tale of, well, the exploits of an impossibly perfect captain and his ship during the Napoleonic War era of big sail and cannons.By the standards of 1951, it was an exciting, technologically advanced, swashbuckler. Today, we as audiences are more mature and more demanding, and as such significant portions of the movie have aged very, very badly. Nevertheless, it remains a decent picture - far better than many of its era and is worth seeing by those such as myself who enjoy high seas adventure. However, modern films such as Master and Commander and the updated Hornblower mini-series are infinitely better. Here are some random observations: - the accents are laughably bad. The Duke of Wellington's daughter in the move has a pure American accent - and that's probably the best accent of them all since this meant that the actress didn't even try to fake a British accent - something many other roles in the film did--and did very very very badly. Perhaps the worst accents I have ever heard on film. I'm amazed - I'm guessing this was a Hollywood picture. Were there no Mexicans around somewhere nearby to at least show them a Spanish (or Mexican, which for the purposes of this movie would have been infinitely better) accent. Were we really so backwards of a people in 1951 that our actors simply felt that they could affect whatever accent they wanted by rolling their Rs in some random way?Related to the above, there is a lot of ridiculous ethnic stereotyping and several characters that don't act as real humans do. This movie pretends to be serious, but, it was from 1951. The British are human and basically everybody else is a cartoon. This seems inappropriate, even for 1951. I can excuse the blackface as a technical necessity (of sorts), but the actual characterizations were insulting to anybody with half a brain.The basic plot is sound, and could be updated. However, if this movie were done today, the character of Hornblower would need to be completely revamped. He's unrealistically flawless in this movie, and the characters spend a heck of a lot of time standing around saying things like "Hornblower is flawless!". High comedy.Special effects are good.This movie today is a solid 5/10. Anybody who gives it more than that is adding extra stars out of nostalgia.

C S Forester was my favourite author growing up (I have now switched to Patrick O'Brien) and "A Ship of the Line" (the middle part of the film) remains my favourite book. Films of favourite books seldom fare well but even without that issue this film is seriously flawed at its conclusion. In the book Hornblower places his ship between four enemy ships and their port at his Admiral's orders. Before surrendering (with half his crew dead or wounded and not a mast left standing) he damages the enemy seriously enough that they remain confined to port where three of the vessels are subsequently destroyed by fire ships. He lost his ship but cost the French much more. After escaping back to England he is court martialled for surrendering (a standard procedure) but honourably acquitted (as he should be). In the film he is ordered NOT to attack a port containing some French ships but does so anyway and loses his ship. He escapes and is told before his court martial that he will be acquitted and knighted. RUBBISH. He disobeyed a direct order. As a result his ship was lost and his crew captured. Hang the idiot. He has no right to live. It is ridiculous to have any other verdict. Even if he hadn't lost his ship he should still have been court martialled and, at best, dismissed from the service. Add to this arrant piece of nonsense the Americanisation of the terminology (the Royal Navy had midshipmen not ensigns) and the tinkering with all the characters and you have a film that severely disappoints a fan of the books. In comparison "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World" is even further removed from the plot and characters of the various books from which it borrows but it is possible to watch and enjoy. Not so with Hornblower, I fear.