Loyalty (film)

Loyalty is the seventh film of the British TV film series Hornblower, based on the books by C.S. Forester, particularly Hornblower and the Hotspur. It was released on January 5, 2003, nearly four years after the first four films and 9 months after the next two films.

Cast

Plot

The film starts out in 1803 in Cape Clear, Ireland, where the HMS Retribution, commanded by Commander Hornblower, has retaken the HMS Hotspur from the French. Amongst the French is a rebellious Irishman, who served onboard the HMS Victory. Near the end of the fighting, Matthews and Styles spot a cutter sailing towards the HMS Hotspur, with news that the war with France is over. The peace lasts a year and the sailors and officers of the Royal Navy languish on half pay, unaware the French leader Napoleon is making plans across the channel.

In 1803 Portsmouth, Horatio has been demoted to lieutenant and without a ship during the peace. He reunites with Lieutenant Bush, also without a ship, and takes him to the inn he's staying in, only to rudely greeted by Mrs. Mason, the Lady of the House, who reveals Horatio owes 15 shillings in unpaid rent. It is also shown the innkeeper's daughter, Maria, has a relationship with Horatio. Later that night, Horatio and Bush meet at the pub with Admiral Pellew and pay a game of cards with Captain Hammond and his nephew Jack Hammond. Horatio's winning from the game are enough to pay back his debt to the Masons and a week's notice as well.

Horatio is then called to Admiral Pellew's ship the next day, where he informs Horatio that his promotion to commander has been confirmed and he has been given command of the HMS Hotspur. He also tells Horatio the HMS Hotspur must be ready to sail in two days, as he's been given a mission to Brest, France to spy on Napoleon and the French, as well as escort a Major Côtard to France, as he must speak with an old friend , the Duke of Montroc, urgently and with getting unwanted attention from the French, akin them believe the British have violated the peace treaty.

Back on land, Horatio makes Bush his 1st Lieutenant, who hires a crew. including Matthews and Styles. Styles is given the job as Horatio's steward as he said he worked 3 months in a kitchen, but didn't mention it was a prison kitchen and for free, much to Lieutenant Bush's disappointment. Jack Hammond is assigned to the HMS Hotspur as a Midshipman, along with Charles Orrock. Before leaving, Maria comes to the docks to see Horatio off. She gives him a pair of hand-made gloves to remember her by. After an incident in which someone left the stove doors wide open and hot coals lit the kitchen on fire, Styles is flogged and imprisoned.

Offshore in Brest, France, the HMS Hotspur spots a new semaphore reporting their presence and a French frigate, which solutes the Hotspur, but no sign of the Major's contact. Wondering what Napoleon is doing on the coast, Horatio and Major Côtard investigate, disguised as fishermen, and discovers a French invasion force encamped off the coast. They are then spotted by French soldiers and are forced to flee. The French frigate returns and this time to fight, but the HMS Hotspur out smarts it and takes out the main mast before returning to England to warn Admiral Pellew of the French invasion force.

Back in Portsmouth, Admiral Pellew is angry at Horatio for engaging the French frigate, but agrees he made the right choice. Horatio then tells the Admiral he believes the French may have agents within the British ranks, as the British do in France. Horatio is then given permission from Admiral Pellew to visit Maria, but when he arrives at their inn, he discovers the Masons are bankrupt and in jail. As Maria was a friend when Horatio need one, Horatio gives the Masons money and learns Mr. Mason was killed in the British Army and as such, Mrs. Mason doesn't want her daughter to suffer as she has.

Back across the channel in Brest, France, the British Fleet arrives and Admiral Pellew, Captain Hammond, and Commander Hornblower make plans to attack the French fort, based on Horatio's report. He states the French fleet is anchored in the outer harbor and the entrance in protected by a French battery. All their movements are immediately reported by the semaphore and Napoleon has 50,000 troops ready to depart at a moments notice and depending on the weather, the French can cross the channel in two days. Admiral Pellew plans to launch a preemptive strike on the French fleet, as without the fleet there can't be an invasion. Horatio tells the Admiral they'll need to do something about the semaphore and the battery before they launch any attack on the fleet and volunteers the HMS Hotspur for the job, much to Captain Hammond's dislike. Admiral Pellew decides Horatio will attack the semaphore and signal his success with a blue rocket while Captain Hammond leads a party of marines to take the battery and signal his success with two red rockets.

As Horatio takes the semaphore, he learns Wolfe, one of his crew, is missing and French troops are on their way, so he uses his rocket to blow up the semaphore and tries to get to the beach, but is captured by the French. Wolfe is revealed to be the commander of the French forces and a traitor, doing it all for to free Ireland from worse tyrants than Bonaparte. However, Wolfe reveals that his mission was only to delay the HMS Hotspur, revealing he left the stove doors open that got Styles flogged, so it would encounter the French frigate and that he has a high ranked officer placed in the fleet, who is also a traitor, doing it for Ireland, with a bigger role to play.

Hammond's party lands, only to be greeted by Wolfe and his French troops and Hammond is forced to surrender. Meanwhile, Matthews suggests to Acting Captain Bush they should go get Horatio, despite orders by Admiral Pellew and confronts Midshipman Hammond for being a coward and letting down Horatio. Horatio and the men captured with him breakout and find a way out, but are too late to stop Wolfe from firing Hammond's signal, telling the fleet the battery has been taken and is clear to attack the French fleet. As Admiral Pellew and the British fleet are shot at by the battery, Horatio decides to help by attacking the battery himself. He is able to disarm the cannons, but by then, Admiral Pellew orders the fleet to withdraw from the battery. Wolfe realizes what has happened and orders his men back to the battery, but by then, Horatio blows up the battery and Admiral Pellew take back his previous order and attacks.

Horatio and his men escape the battery before it blows and reencounter Wolfe and Captain Hammond, who is revealed to be the other Irish traitor. Hammond tells Wolfe to kill Horatio and his men, despite the fact Styles and Midshipman Orrock are both Irish. Before the French fire on Horatio and his men, Bush arrives with reinforcements. A battle occurs and amongst the dead is Midshipman Jack Hammond, but Wolfe gets away. Captain Hammond is so full of grief and guilty he commits suicide after. Back with the fleet, Horatio choose to say in his report Captain Hammond died heroically and honorably for England, instead that he was an Irish traitor as more an a quarter of the Royal Navy are Irish and he doesn't want any further Irish traitors for Napoleon to use against England. While Admiral Pellew states this gives England the right to demand Irish loyalty, Horatio states that it is better to earn loyalty than demand it, in which Admiral Pellew quotes 1 Corinthians 13:11, which Horatio doesn't understand yet.

Back in Portsmouth, Horatio visits the Masons, who have reclaimed their inn and Maria about to become a governess. Horatio has an argument with Maria and as Horatio is about to leave, Mrs. Mason tells him Maria wept for Horatio while he was gone. Horatio then goes back to Maria and asks her to marry him. Maria says yes.

External links

• Hornblower 3: Loyalty at the Internet Movie Database