Horatio Hornblower: The Duchess and the Devil (1999)

Lt. Hornblower and his crew are captured by the enemy while escorting a Duchess who has secrets of her own.

Director:

Andrew Grieve

Writers:

C.S. Forester (story "Hornblower, the Duchess and the Devil"), Patrick Harbinson (screenplay)

Stars:

Ioan Gruffudd, Robert Lindsay, Cherie Lunghi

Won 1 Primetime Emmy. Another 1 win & 8 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Ioan Gruffudd	...	Acting Lieutenant Horatio Hornblower
Robert Lindsay	...	Captain Sir Edward Pellew
Cherie Lunghi	...	Duchess of Wharfedale
Christopher Fulford	...	M'Man Hunter
Ronald Pickup	...	Don Massaredo
Jamie Bamber	...	Kennedy
Jonathan Coy	...	Lieutenant Bracegirdle
John Woodvine	...	Sir Hew Dalrymple
Paul Copley	...	Matthews
Sean Gilder	...	Styles
Simon Sherlock	...	Oldroyd
Jean-Yves Berteloot	...	Etienne de Vergasse
Vincent S. Boluda	...	Spanish Lieutenant
Jolyon Baker	...	Captain Joubert
Colin MacLachlan	...	Master Bowles

Storyline

Hornblower captures the French vessel, Le Reve, and is asked by Pellew to sail her back to England so that she can be outfitted for the English navy, and also, as a favor, to convey the unusual Duchess of Wharfedale back home. Unfortunately, Le Reve, Hornblower, the duchess and the crew are captured by the Spanish and imprisoned. There, Horatio finds Kennedy, wasted and hopeless from months in solitary. Against the odds, Horatio must find a way to escape with Kennedy, against Hunter's protests, and with the growing suspicion that the duchess may not be who she appears.

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Plot Keywords:

deception | duchess | french | fog | navy | 

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | War

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Details

Official Sites:

A&E's Behind the Scenes

Country:

UK

Language:

English Spanish French

Release Date:

18 April 1999 (USA)

Also Known As:

Horatio Hornblower: The Duchess and the Devil

Filming Locations:

Peniche, Portugal

Company Credits

Production Co:

A&E Television Networks,Meridian Broadcasting,United Film and Television Productions

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

As Hornblower's ruse is in play and its crew is wondering the intentions of the Spanish, one line of dialogue makes clear the ruse did not work, as one of the officer of the Spanish ships says, translated: "Signal the admiral. Say we are about to open fire on English pirates".

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Goofs

In the opening shot, when a rowing boat comes close to the shore, a helicopter can be heard.

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Quotes

Don Massaredo: So long as you do not try to murder me in my bed, sir, I wish you every luck in your attempt.

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Connections

Follows Horatio Hornblower: The Duel (1998)

User Reviews

Shi# A'hoy

I loved the first Hornblower, liked the second then arrived at this one... Beats me why it has such a high rating as it lacked so much, the acting at times questionable and the story flawed on so many levels. Large parts of this drama seem to hang with not a lot happening, I don't know, maybe that's the direction at fault, it just does not flow right. I actually laughed out loud at some of the acting mostly due to the bad accents, I mean an aristocratic Duchess with a northern accent. I know there's a twist to her character but no need to make her a Northern lass. The Hornblower character at times is wooden and at other times he's an arrogant control freak, I just can't warm to him anymore. This could have been so much more with the right attention to detail. There are good points but these are mostly at sea on board ship. It just gets wrecked when they reach land. Not awful but not great either.