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.
Review of Captain Horatio Hornblower
