| Horatio Hornblower |
Based on the novels by C. S. Forester. Transcribed in England for the BBC from 1952-1953; aired in U.S. on CBS, then again on ABC in 1954
and Mutual in 1957. Starring Michael Redgrave as Horatio Hornblower. The series was produced by Harry Towers and his Towers of London
syndicate and was not broadcast over BBC. The Hornblower series, like the other Tower Productions, The Black Museum, The Scarlet
Pimpernal, and The Third Man, was broadcastover Radio Luxenburg. The BBC was not interested in doing the Hornblower series. There was a
1968-1969 Series only 20 shows. The story of Haratio Hornblower. It starred Nigel Anthony as Haratio Hornblower. For Broadcast details go to
: http://web.ukonline.co.uk/suttonelms/trevor-hill.html
and Mutual in 1957. Starring Michael Redgrave as Horatio Hornblower. The series was produced by Harry Towers and his Towers of London
syndicate and was not broadcast over BBC. The Hornblower series, like the other Tower Productions, The Black Museum, The Scarlet
Pimpernal, and The Third Man, was broadcastover Radio Luxenburg. The BBC was not interested in doing the Hornblower series. There was a
1968-1969 Series only 20 shows. The story of Haratio Hornblower. It starred Nigel Anthony as Haratio Hornblower. For Broadcast details go to
: http://web.ukonline.co.uk/suttonelms/trevor-hill.html
| Nigel Anthony |
Michael Redgrave
Cecil Scott Forester is the pen name of Cecil Smith born August 27, 1899 and died April 2, 1966), an English novelist who rose to fame with
tales of adventure with military themes, notably the 11-book Horatio Hornblower series about naval warfare during the Napoleonic era, and The
African Queen (1935; filmed in 1951 by John Huston).
Born in Cairo, Forester had a complicated early life, including imaginary parents and a secret marriage. During World War II he moved to the
United States where he wrote propaganda to help get that country to enter the war on the Allied side, and eventually settled in Berkeley,
California. He married Kathleen Belcher, had two sons, and divorced in 1945. The eldest son, John Forester is a noted cycling activist and wrote
a biography of his father. He secretly married Dorothy Foster in 1947.
The popularity of the Hornblower series, built around a central character who was heroic but not too heroic, has continued to grow over time. It is
perhaps rivalled only by the much later Aubrey–Maturin series of seafaring novels by Patrick O'Brian. Interestingly, both Hornblower and
Aubrey are based in part on the historical figure, Admiral Lord Dundonald of Great Britain (known as Lord Cochrane during the period when the
novels are set).
The original conception of the popular American television series Star Trek was based in large measure on the Hornblower books, and was
pitched as such to NBC television by creator Gene Roddenberry.
Forester also had a life outside the Hornblower series, writing many other novels, among them The African Queen (1935) and The General
(1936); Peninsular War novels in Death to the French and The Gun; detective novels like Payment Deferred (1926) and Plain Murder (1930); and
seafaring stories that did not involve Hornblower, such as Brown on Resolution (1929), The Ship (1943) and Sink the Bismarck! (1959).
tales of adventure with military themes, notably the 11-book Horatio Hornblower series about naval warfare during the Napoleonic era, and The
African Queen (1935; filmed in 1951 by John Huston).
Born in Cairo, Forester had a complicated early life, including imaginary parents and a secret marriage. During World War II he moved to the
United States where he wrote propaganda to help get that country to enter the war on the Allied side, and eventually settled in Berkeley,
California. He married Kathleen Belcher, had two sons, and divorced in 1945. The eldest son, John Forester is a noted cycling activist and wrote
a biography of his father. He secretly married Dorothy Foster in 1947.
The popularity of the Hornblower series, built around a central character who was heroic but not too heroic, has continued to grow over time. It is
perhaps rivalled only by the much later Aubrey–Maturin series of seafaring novels by Patrick O'Brian. Interestingly, both Hornblower and
Aubrey are based in part on the historical figure, Admiral Lord Dundonald of Great Britain (known as Lord Cochrane during the period when the
novels are set).
The original conception of the popular American television series Star Trek was based in large measure on the Hornblower books, and was
pitched as such to NBC television by creator Gene Roddenberry.
Forester also had a life outside the Hornblower series, writing many other novels, among them The African Queen (1935) and The General
(1936); Peninsular War novels in Death to the French and The Gun; detective novels like Payment Deferred (1926) and Plain Murder (1930); and
seafaring stories that did not involve Hornblower, such as Brown on Resolution (1929), The Ship (1943) and Sink the Bismarck! (1959).
| Cecil Smith (Cecil Scott Forester) |
| The Hornblower Story |