Watch Captain Horatio Hornblower Online
Vendredi, juillet 23rd, 2010 |
Watch Captain Horatio Hornblower Online.
Movie Title: Captain Horatio Hornblower Captain Horatio Hornblower is available for streaming or downloading. |
C. S. Forester certainly began the saga of his Napoleonic-Era naval hero Horatio Hornblower “in media res.” Here is Hornblower as a dashing captain, with the stories of his younger days and later glories both yet to be penned. “Captain Horatio Hornblower” actually covers the key events in Forester’s first trio of Hornblower adventures, “Beat to Quarters,” “Ship of the Line” and Flying Colours.” Hornblower (American Gregory Peck playing the quintessential English hero) is sent on a secret mission to the far side of South America where he has to acquire a Spanish frigate not once but twice, all because of the problematic delay in having modern orders secure up with him in the time of wooden sailing ships. Chance throws Hornblower together with Lady Barbara Wellesley (Virginia Mayo), the sister of the Duke of Wellington. She is engaged to some admiral and he is already married, but there is no doubt that they are meant for each other. Besides, even Fate has to assume a backseat to Hornblower’s sense of duty. Even when he is captured by the French it is but another opportunity for stout adventure. Like many fans I came to the Hornblower novels and this rousing 1951 film directed by Raoul Walsh. The tickled ending falls into situation a bit too neatly, but that is what happened in the modern novels and not simply a Hollywood decision. The sea battles with the fully rigged ships are as blooming as you can score from the righteous venerable days of movie-making, but my current scene is the touching one when the Captain and Lady Barbara deal with the final moment’s of the youngest member of the ship’s company. “Captain Horatio Hornblower,” like the novels, achieves that feeling that we are truly in the middle of an yarn memoir, with well-established characters who we readily absorb have already had long and sparkling histories. I contemplate Lt. Bush (Robert Beatty) gets a lot of the credit for that as the unofficial “narrator” of the yarn. So, if you have loved the imported A&E adventures of the young Horatio Hornblower, you certainly need to salvage around to watching the unusual film version and reading Forester’s novels. If not, you will honest be a scurvy dog, matie.
After starting on Patrick O’Brian, I have also discovered Horatio Hornblower first with the first A&E episode “The Duel” (Ion Gruffyd, Robert Lindsay), and now with the 1951 movie “Captain Hornblower” starring Gregory Peck. I have *not* read the Hornblower books yet, so my review is from the perspective of someone current to naval fiction and naval movies.
Gregory Peck is one of my celebrated actors, which makes this film an easy choice to scrutinize (for me, at least) . However, the character of Hornblower (with his trademark Hmm..mmm) and the events covered by the movie are probably closer to the fresh series than the original A&E series. [At least, judging from Parkinson’s biography covering the same ground as the novels, this would appear to be the case]. If you are a Hornblower purist, you will probably remove the Gregory Peck movie version for this reason, even though the battle scenes are more sustained and far more appealing in the A&E versions (judging from The Duel) .
Captain Hornblower condenses two (or is it three? ) books into one - the book in which he is posted on snort orders from the Admiralty, and must round Cape Horn to advance a Spanish rebel, Don Julian Alvorado on the other side of Nicaragua. This feat of seamanship is well-portrayed, with the movie starting at the point where the ship has been at sea for months and has been becalmed. Hornblower takes a wild gamble in assuring the crew and his officers that the wind will purchase up that night and that they will view land within the next day. Amazingly, he pulls this off. In private, his journals contemplate his fears and uncertainty, thus allowing us a peruse at the private Hornblower.
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The first fraction of the movie focuses on Hornblower’s difficult decisions during this secret mission (when he cannot confide in any of his officers, including his second-in-command Lt Bush) . He must choose whether to trust Don Julian Alvorado (who is clearly a madman), whether to attack a considerable larger Spanish frigate with twice the gunpower, and what to do when political events overtake this dinky expedition.
What is not made definite (at least when I watched the film for the first time) is that Hornblower had really no choice but to go along with Alvorado (or El Supremo) as he likes to call himself. Spain is allied with Napoleonic France, and Hornblower must re-provision his ship. The nearest British port of call is St Helena - on the other side of South America. Hornblower was not simply following Admiralty orders, he was also taking a risk to withhold his crew alive.
There are several battles, including one major battle when Hornblower’s ship loses one of its mast and is nearly wrecked. Fortunately, intellectual seamanship on his fragment allows him the upper hand.
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During this first fraction, Hornblower also develops a savor interest in Lady Barbara Wellesley (a fictional character, although she is supposedly the sister of the future Duke of Wellington) . She is engaged to an admiral Sir Rodney Leighton, but she prefers Hornblower. He was reluctant to have her aboard at first, but had no choice (she was fleeing yellow fever, it would have been professional suicide to leave her late, with her connections) . Unfortunately for Hornblower, he must philosophize the truth after Lady Barbara declares her treasure for him. He is married. The rest of the voyage is strained, with both anxious to return to Britain as soon as possible.
The second share of the movie begins with Hornblower’s return to the British Isles, only to learn that he is a widower and has an infant son. From there, he is placed under the roar of Leighton (now Lady Barbara’s husband) . Admiral Leighton disapproves of Hornblower’s independence, but our hero’s snappily thinking and independent ways pay off in a crucial action against some French ships that have escaped the blockade.
In the third section of the movie, Hornblower is taken prisoner along with his lieutenant, and is to be sent to Paris to be tried and executed for piracy (sailing under French colors) . Of course, he escapes eventually and returns home to gawk that Lady Barbara has been widowed.
This is a hasty summary of the movie, which hardly does justice to many of its finer points. There are some deviations from the book (the legend was adapted, by the contrivance, by Forester himself) . For example, Sir Percy Leighton becomes Sir Rodney Leighton. [He is of a different social background in the books than in the movie]. Lady Barbara is not engaged to be married at the beginning of the voyage, and she appears proud and haughty to Hornblower. And of course, the collapsing of the three books into one movie means that sure details must be omitted (thus Lt Bush recovers remarkably lickety-split, or so it would seem) . The slip of the adaptation is however unbiased correct - the legend continues to keep the viewer’s interest.
The sea battles are well-depicted, and the narrative was filmed in staunch ships (of the period, I deem) and mostly at sea. However, the battles are less bloody than in the A&E version (perhaps a nod to 1950s sensibilities), and the ships are certainly cleaner than expected. I belief that the ships would be closer together when they engaged in battle.
Despite these minor caveats, this film was luscious to sight. I would recommend this movie strongly to anyone alive to in this period (the Napoleonic wars), or anyone keen in nautical fiction. The A&E series covers the very early career of the very young Hornblower, when he is mild a midshipman and then makes lieutenant. (At the rate the producers are going, it will occupy a while before they approach the same events covered by this movie) . Even if they do screen this period, recognize this movie, if only for Gregory Peck’s portrayal of Hornblower as as as Forester’s absorb adaptation of his novels for the camouflage.
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