O.K. So I gave it a whirl. I started out by noting that only a 1/2 cup of water a day for what appeared to be a number of months would have killed off the crew of the Lydia before ever encountering the enemy. Then in many ways the movie seemed like a comic book. But even before that observation, I didn’t know what to make of Peck’s performance. He seemed very flat. As the movie progressed he seemed to get more animated. Maybe this new animation was due to the stepped up action in the film but maybe it was uneven direction.
Anyway I began to see why this film is a favorite of Ira Riklis. The sea battles were like no others I have seen in this type of movie. I have always been a fan of World War II naval battle movies. My particular favorite is “In Harm’s Way”, but when watching”Captain Horatio Hornblower” I tried to draw some similarities from a historical perspective. Despite the differences in ships’ power the conduct of the battles seemed alike.
I recently watched “The Mask of Zorro” with all its almost unbelievable outcomes and “Captain Horatio Hornblower” contains the same elements. But then that’s Hollywood. By the way, whatever became of Virginia Mayo? Ira Riklis probably didn’t see her in all those B movies as I did when I was a preteen.