Horatio Hornblower: The Fire Ship (1998) (TV) Hornblower: The Examination for Lieutenant (original title)

Director:

Andrew Grieve

Writers:

Mike Cullen (screenplay)
C.S. Forester (novels)

Release Date:

11 April 1999 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | War

Plot:

While Lt. Hornblower studies for his promotion exam, he is distracted by the serious supply problems that face his crew.

Plot Keywords:

Plague | Horatio Hornblower | Heroism | Quarantine | Bubonic Plague

Awards:

Won Primetime Emmy. Another 1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Ioan Gruffudd	...	Acting Lt. Horatio Hornblower
Robert Lindsay	...	Capt. Sir Edward Pellew
Denis Lawson	...	Capt. 'Dreadnought' Foster
Ian McNeice	...	Tapling
Andrew Tiernan	...	Bunting
Jonathan Coy	...	Lt. Bracegirdle
Ian McElhinney	...	Capt. Hammond
Paul Copley	...	Matthews
Chris Barnes	...	Finch
Sean Gilder	...	Styles
Simon Sherlock	...	Oldroyd
Colin MacLachlan	...	Master Bowles
Rupert Holliday-Evans	...	Steward
Frank Boyce	...	Midshipman Cleveland
Peter Corey	...	HM Consul Duras
Simon Slater	...	Cmdr. Morris
Frank Rozelaar-Green	...	Spanish captain
Jonathan Aris	...	Clerkly officer

Directed by
Andrew Grieve

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Mike Cullen		screenplay
C.S. Forester		novels

Produced by
Andrew Benson	....	producer
Pavel Douvidzon	....	associate producer: Russia
Delia Fine	....	executive producer
Vernon Lawrence	....	executive producer
Stepan Pojenian	....	associate producer: Russia
Peter Richardson	....	line producer

Cinematography by
Neve Cunningham		(uncredited)

Film Editing by
Keith Palmer

Production Design by
Andrew Mollo

Art Direction by
Mike Joyce

Set Decoration by
Christian Huband

Costume Design by
John Mollo

Production Management
Lorraine Goodman	....	production supervisor
Philip Leach	....	executive in charge of production
Andrew Wood	....	production manager
Tatyana Shakhgeldyan	....	production manager: Russia (uncredited)
Sasha Stratievsky	....	assistant production manager (uncredited)
Viktor Taranov	....	production manager: Russia (uncredited)
Sasha Voronin	....	unit manager (uncredited)
Yulia Zhuravleva	....	assistant production manager: Russia (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Valentina Plugaru	....	assistant director

Art Department
Gerry Graham	....	painter
Dean Hawley	....	painter
Brian Henry	....	property master
Mickey Spence	....	plasterer
Alan Sprawson	....	stand-by carpenter
Ilia Iovu	....	assistant art director (uncredited)
Ian Murray	....	supervising rigger (uncredited)

Sound Department
Michael Crouch	....	dubbing editor
Colin Martin	....	dubbing mixer
Julie Ankerson	....	foley artist (uncredited)
Dave Sloss	....	foley recordist (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Graham Aikman	....	special effects assistant: pyro supervisor
Jeremy Lovett	....	special effects senior technician: model unit
Mark Roberts	....	special effects technician: model unit (uncredited)
Dima Stesenko	....	special effects supervisor: russian crew (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Roy Field	....	director of photography: model unit
Martin Gutteridge	....	model unit director
Mark Thomas-Stubbs	....	digital effects

Stunts
Oleg Botin	....	stunts
Aleksandr Baranov	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Keith Mead	....	grip

Editorial Department
Matthew Tucker	....	assistant film editor
Marc Eskenazi	....	on-line editor (uncredited)

Transportation Department
Oleg Gres	....	unit transportation coordinator (uncredited)
Vladimir Skakun	....	unit transportation coordinator: Russia (uncredited)

Other crew
Anna Callaghan	....	production assistant
Dani Gordon	....	assistant to producer
Pauline Granby	....	production accountant
Amanda Lean	....	script supervisor
Gerry Savage	....	unit nurse
Adele Steward	....	production coordinator
Chris Tarry	....	assistant accountant
Zinaida Kravchenko	....	production accountant (uncredited)
Teodor Matveev	....	army supervisor: Russia (uncredited)
Lina Merculova	....	production coordinator: Russia (uncredited)
Yulia Zhuravleva	....	production assistant: Russia (uncredited)

Production Companies

• A&E Television Networks (in association with)
• Ecou Films (participation)
• Meridian Broadcasting
• United Film and Television Productions

Distributors

• A&E Home Video (1999) (USA) (VHS)
• A&E Home Video (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• A&E Television Networks (1999) (USA) (TV)
• Cinema Club (2002) (UK) (VHS)
• Cinema Club (2003) (UK) (DVD)
• ITV DVD (2006) (UK) (DVD)
• Independent Television (ITV) (1998) (UK) (TV)
• NHK-BS2 (2002) (Japan) (TV)

Other Companies

• Celtic/Picture Palace  series developed by
• East-West Creative Association  filming undertaken with the assistance of
• Turk Phoenix Ltd.  boats provided by

Also Known As:

"Hornblower: The Examination for Lieutenant" - UK (original title)

Runtime:

USA:93 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English | French

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Singapore:PG | UK:PG

Filming Locations:

Yalta, Crimea, Ukraine

Company:

A&E Television Networks

Goofs:

Factual errors: The real HMS Indefatigable was a 38 gun heavy frigate armed with 24 pounders plus six 42 pounder carronades for a total of 44 guns, razéed from a 64 gun Ardent class ship of the line, whereas it is represented here as a 20 gun post ship.

Quotes:

[the aristocratic Mr. Tapling is assigned Cook's Mate on the quarantine voyage, and is helping the Steward to butcher a bullock]
Tapling:This is without question the most revolting experience of my entire life.
Steward:It has its advantages, sir.
Tapling:None that I can see.
Steward:The man with the hatchet gets to pick the choicest cuts.
Tapling:Indeed... show me.

Movie Connections:

Followed by Hornblower: Mutiny (2001) (TV)

Soundtrack:

The British Man-of-War

Another success

I do not agree with Altea. The plot of the second episode of "Hornblower" is just as good as that of the first, and is quite far from being flat. Perhaps there is a little too much emphasis on the courage, luck, cleverness etc. of young Hornblower, turning him into a "mr. perfect", but that is understandable, and I think that he is still a very human character, certainly more human than the annoying never-do-wrongs from Hollywood movies. I still think this is one of the best shows I've seen, and I can't wait to see the next episode (hoping that my parents won't forget to tape it for me).