Hornblower: The Frogs and the Lobsters (1999) (TV)

User Rating:

7.9/10   

Director:

Andrew Grieve

Writers:

C.S. Forester (novels)
Chris Ould (screenplay)

Release Date:

25 April 1999 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | War

Plot:

Lt. Hornblower and his mates are sent to accompany a doomed royalist invasion of revolutionary France.

Plot Keywords:

Invasion | Guillotine | Bridge | Schoolteacher | Navy

Awards:

Won Primetime Emmy. Another 1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Ioan Gruffudd	...	Horatio Hornblower
Robert Lindsay	...	Capt. Sir Edward Pellew
Antony Sher	...	Colonel Moncoutant
John Shrapnel	...	General Charette
Samuel West	...	Major Edrington
Peter Vaughan	...	Admiral Lord Hood
Jean Badin	...	Fauré
Jamie Bamber	...	Acting Lt. Archie Kennedy
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Paul Copley	...	Matthews
Jonathan Coy	...	Lt. Bracegirdle
Sean Gilder	...	Styles
Ian Lindsay	...	Collins
Colin MacLachlan	...	Master Bowles
Simon Sherlock	...	Oldroyd
Estelle Skornik	...	Mariette

Also Known As:

Horatio Hornblower: The Wrong War (USA)

Runtime:

Brazil:100 min

Country:

UK

Language:

French | English

Colour:

Colour

Certification:

Netherlands:12 | Singapore:PG | UK:PG

Filming Locations:

Peniche, Portugal

Company:

Meridian Broadcasting

Goofs:

Anachronisms: The story is based on the Quiberion Expedition of 1795, albeit loosely. Captain Sir Edward Pellew quotes "As idle as a painted ship/Upon a painted ocean" from S T Coleridge's Rime of the Ancient Mariner. This poem was not published until 1798 (in Lyrical Ballards).

Quotes:

Major Edrington: [Watching as Hornblower struggles to mount a horse] Now I see why you chose the Navy.

Movie Connections:

Followed by Hornblower: Mutiny (2001) (TV)

Soundtrack:

The British Grenadiers

I love this series!

I agree that the acting is phenomenal, I too wish to see Sam West and Robert Lindsay in other productions, but it seems that there is very little available by way of backtracking their other works. I am tickled every time Lord Edrington gives one of his dry little commentaries, he would make an awesome verbal adversary. I can't remember where I heard this quote but it pops into my head when I watch Sam West's portrayal of the redoubtable Lord Edrington, "It's difficult to fight a battle of the wits with the unarmed." Not that HH is 'unarmed', but Lord Edrington seems to leave the Naval folk deliciously speechless rather frequently.

^_^