Captain Horatio Hornblower Three Volume Hardcover Set: Beat to Quarters; Ship of the Line; Flying Colours [Colors]

Three hardcover volumes in slipcase: Beat to Quarters; Ship of the Line; Flying Colours. Frontispiece of each volume by N.C. Wyeth. "Captain Horatio Hornblower R.N. (released in the U.S. without the "R.N.") is a 1951 naval adventure film. It was directed by Raoul Walsh and stars Gregory Peck, Virginia Mayo, and Robert Beatty. It was based upon three of the Horatio Hornblower novels of C. S. Forester, The Happy Return (Beat to Quarters in the United States), A Ship of the Line, and Flying Colours. Forester shared writing credits; the film was faithful to his novels and features an occasionally introspective tone unusual for an old-fashioned swashbuckler. Warner Bros. acquired the films rights to the first three Hornblower novels -- Beat to Quarters (1937), A Ship of the Line (1938), and Flying Colours (1938) -- as a star vehicle for Errol Flynn when they were initially published. However, after the financial failure of the 1948 adventure romance film Adventures of Don Juan, as well as growing difficulties with the actor, Flynn was not cast. Warners was already building up Burt Lancaster as their new swashbuckling screen star, but the role of a British sea captain seemed to be outside of his range, so Peck was ultimately cast on a loan-out from David O. Selznick who received screen credit in the opening titles. The film cost $3,000,000 to make, and was filmed in studios inside the United Kingdom, at HMS Victory, and on locations in France. To save costs, the Hispaniola set from the 1950 Disney film adaptation of Treasure Island was reused as the frigate HMS Lydia. However, the ship was rocked instead of moving the horizon background, which caused many problems because of the combined weight of ship crew and equipment. The Italian brigantine Marcel B. Surdo represented the The Witch of Endor for all at-sea exterior footage. The Marcel B. Surdo would also appear in such seafaring films as The Crimson Pirate, The Master of Ballantrae, and John Paul Jones. The film made its world-wide premiere in New York City on September 13, 1951." -- Wikipedia