Captain Horatio Hornblower (a.k.a. Captain Horatio Hornblower R.N. in the UK, "R.N." standing for "Royal Navy") is a 1951 British naval swashbuckling war film in Technicolor from Warner Bros., produced by Gerry Mitchell, directed by Raoul Walsh, that stars Gregory Peck, Virginia Mayo, Robert Beatty and Terence Morgan. The film is based on three of C. S. Forester's Horatio Hornblower novels: The Happy Return (1937), A Ship of the Line (1938), and Flying Colours (1938). Forester is credited with the screen adaptation. Plot In 1807, during the Napoleonic Wars, Royal Navy Captain Horatio Hornblower commands the 38-gun frigate HMS Lydia on a secret mission to Central America. He is to provide arms and support to a megalomaniac named Don Julian Alvarado, who calls himself "El Supremo" ("The Almighty"), in his rebellion against Spain, an ally of Britain's enemy France. Upon arrival, Hornblower is told that a larger, much more powerful Spanish warship, the 60-gun Natividad, has been sighted. When it anchors nearby, Hornblower and his crew board and capture it in a surprise night attack. He then reluctantly hands the ship over to Alvarado to appease the madman, and they go their separate ways. Later, he encounters a Spanish lugger and learns that Spain has switched sides, so the Lydia will have to attack the Natividad again. Two passengers transfer to the Lydia (over Hornblower's strenuous objections): Lady Barbara Wellesley and her maid, fleeing a yellow fever epidemic. As Lady Barbara is the (fictitious) sister of the Duke of Wellington (Historically, Wellesley, in 1807, was not yet the 1st Duke of Wellington as this title was only bestowed to him in 1814.), Hornblower cannot refuse her request for passage to England. Using superior seamanship and masterful tactics, Hornblower sinks the more powerful Natividad. When the Lydia's surgeon is killed during the battle, Lady Barbara insists on tending the wounded. When she later falls gravely ill, Hornblower nurses her back to health. On the voyage back to England, they fall in love. However, when she speaks of her feelings (although she is engaged), Hornblower gently tells her he is married. Later they meet in a passageway and embrace passionately. She promises her maid's discretion, but he says that they are not free. After arriving home, Hornblower learns that his wife has died in childbirth, leaving him an infant son. Later, he is given command of the Sutherland, a 74-gun ship of