Adventures of Horatio Hornblower
1953-06-12 0047 Adventures of Horatio Hornblower the Planning Mutiny on the Renoun
Dienstag, 24. Dezember 2019 · 23 min
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The car is beautiful. Where did you end up going for it?
This exclusive place that Dad has connections with.
They have more cars for more dealerships than like anywhere else. You have to put me in touch. What's it called?
It's Dunaidial.
Where?
Dunaidial. There's an accent on the E.
Do you mean... Yes, I got it on Dundale Cars.
Lift? Please.
Are you going past Kimmage?
Oh, Kimmage.
No.
Dundale Cars.
You couldn't possibly go anywhere else.
Call all hands. Beat the quarters.
Now, open the guns. Stand by the starboard battery.
One broadside into it, if you please, Captain Bush.
Pointers on target.
Blintz tops ready.
Eye eyes all ready.
Fire!
Fire!
Presenting Michael Redgrave as C.S.
Forrester's indomitable man of the sea, Horatio Hornblower.
They say that as a man gets older, he grows complacent. There may be some truth in that, but... when I look back on the days when I was young, I... I recognized myself as an impetuous and carefree young fellow.
Often impetuous, not always carefree.
Especially when I found that Captain Sawyer, master of the ship on which I served.
was no less than a madman.
Mr.
Hornblower, sir.
Mr.
Hornblower, what am I to do?
Do?
About what, well, I.
I keep getting punished, Mr.
Hornblower.
I've been beaten three times already.
There's no need to whisper.
Sir, aboard this ship, everybody whispers.
Well, there's no need to now. We're on the leeward rail.
The wind carries every word out.
Over the water.
Yes.
The water.
What do you mean?
I keep looking at it, sir. The water looks so peaceful, so quiet. And it would feel so good, sir. My skin burns from the marks of the cane and.
I keep thinking, if I was in the water... How cool and good it would feel and.
Well, I... What possesses you, man, to talk like this?
I'm sorry, sir. Well, ever since last Sunday, I keep dreaming.
Dreaming?
About death, sir. I dream about the captain reading the articles of war.
Well, I.
Every time he comes to the word death, I see myself dead. Sir, I will soon be dead. If only there was something that could be done.
Well, perhaps there is.
Listen, a group of us are going to talk to Mr.
Clive. The surgeon?
Don't breathe a word about this.
But if he will certify the captain insane, we can remove him from his command.
He won't dare certify him. We shall see. But the doctor and anybody else, they won't dare. Meantime, I dream... Sir, I don't care.
Why?
The captain's just come on deck.
Oh, so he has. Yes, Mr. Wellard, see that that tackle's seen to at once.
Tackle?
Oh, yes, sir.
Get off to the ship's carpenter, and if the lines jam again next time we have a heavy blow, we may lose a good deal of canvas.
Aye, sir. Ah, Mr.
Hornblower. Good morning, sir. Good morning, sir. You needn't try to dissemble before me, Mr. Hornblur. I have eyes. I know what I'm being conspired against. Well, answer me. I.
I know of no conspiracy, sir.
Where's my acting gunner?
Mr.
Hobbs!
Mr.
Hobbs!
Aye, sir.
Yes, Captain Toyer, sir. Now, that's good and prompt, Mr. Hobbs. One hail and you're at hand.
I'm glad to see that there are at least a few upon whose loyalty I can count.
Mr.
Hobbs, you have your rattan cane.
My cane? Right here it is, sir.
Right. Well, hold it out so Mr. Hornblower can see it. Do you see it, Mr.
Hornblower?
Hobbs, make it whistle.
Aye, sir. I see it, sir.
Yes, and I warn you, you may feel it. Just as Mr.
Wellard has, you may feel it. I'll have loyalty aboard this ship, you understand? Loyalty, if nothing less.
So the days dragged on. The captain ever more suspicious and dangerous... The crew, sullen and slack, because at every opportunity Captain Sawyer would play them against his officers.
And as for the officers themselves... Dr.
Clive, it's been difficult enough, all of us, contriving to talk to you this way.
You're the only one who can lend a hand.
Now, now, Lieutenant Bush, it's true enough I'm the surgeon, but still.
He's unfit to command, Mr. Clive. Unfit.
I can't really say, Mr.
Buckland. You know he is.
You're first lieutenant aboard the Renown, Mr. Buckland.
Next in command to Captain Sawyer. If I certify him unfit to command, it'll put you in charge.
I know that.
Are you willing for me to take that responsibility?
Well, I.
I'll... I'd have to make out a report in writing, wouldn't I?
Yes, you would. Well, of course you would, Clive. So would you and all the rest of us.
Now, Hornblower.
Now, Bush, now, why not talk about it frankly? We all face the same problems. All of us would have to face a court of inquiry as soon as ever we made port.
That's the devil of it, Hornblower.
Gentlemen, may I suggest we discontinue this discussion at once? Aboard this ship, there's no telling who may be spying on us.
The wake boiled behind us, and the wind stayed fair for the West Indies... We held no more discussions. In a way, it seemed that each one of us was so afraid for himself that he couldn't risk being seen with someone else who might be suspect. And then came one particular afternoon.
Answer me about the ammunition locker.
Sir?
Its lock was broken. You did it some damage, didn't you?
And going off watch, you stopped to make certain it had not yet been noticed.
I did not stop. You lie. You were seen.
But, sir.
You were seen by Mr.
Hobbs.
This good, loyal man, Hobbs.
He says I.
But. Ah, you cannot speak, eh?
Sir, I swear to you, I did no damage to any lock, and I swear I went directly below.
I never went near the powder supplier.
So, expect me to believe you over.
Sir, may I say one word?
You, Mr.
Hornblower?
Mr. Wellard never went down to the gun deck, sir.
Be very careful, Mr.
Hornblower.
It's true, sir.
He went down this way, by way of the Starm Companionway. Lieutenant Bush and I were coming up for our watch, weren't we, Bush?
Lieutenant Holdblow is right, sir. So, you two defy me as well, eh?
Tis no defiance, sir.
Silence, Mr.
Bush!
Wellard claims innocence, and straightway you support him. Be careful. Be very careful.
Sir, there are two of us as witnesses, and Hobbs must have been mistaken.
Mistaken?
Oh.
Were you mistaken, Hobbs?
Sir.
Why should I lie? Ah, exactly. You've no reason at all. You're loyal. It's these others. Willard and... Silence, Mr.
Willard!
You and these officers.
Officers.
Always whispering, always talking. Lieutenant Bush confessed it.
You, Lieutenant Hornblower, you did not see Wellard, did you?
You cover up for him. Confess it. Sir, I did see it.
And I also saw it.
Silence!
All tarred with the same brush. I'm not a fool. Mr.
Hornblower is already on watch and watch. But both of you shall now report to Mr.
Buckland at two bells, four bells, and six bells. Yes, you too, Mr. Bush. Two bells, four bells, and six bells. That means every hour, every hour, day and night.
Now, as for you, young Mr. Wellard, perhaps a few more strokes of the cane will teach you manhood. You shall kiss the gunner's daughter, Mr. Willard, and I shall watch it.
To kiss the gunner's daughter is to be tied face downward over the muzzle of a gun.
And to be whipped. Well, I had made no sound.
But to the rest of us in the wardroom, the whistle of the whip.
Came cold and clear. Lieutenant Buckton, we've got to do something.
And be punished by the captain?
Awakened every hour to stand watch on watch?
Oh, Wellard would be better off dead.
Awakened every hour on the clock? We'll die ourselves. He's a madman, Lieutenant Buckland. We've got to do something.
Clive's got to declare him unfit.
Clive won't. He won't. Then something, something.
A meeting, Mr.
Buckland, in the middle of the night. A man can die of exhaustion before we make landfall. Or of the whip like that poor.
Well, Mr.
Wellard?
Enough? Mr. Wellard?
What time?
Please, what time?
Well, he's alive at any rate. Well, Lieutenant?
Yes.
Perhaps we'd best hold on.
I am meeting a secret meeting.
And the Lord protect us all.
Often now, in my later years, grown old and gray-haired, and granted many honors for my time of service for His Majesty, often I think how my career came within a hair's breadth of being cut off while I was but a lieutenant aboard the Runan. Waking up at night in the dark, I often think of myself as I was then in the middle of the night, in pitch darkness, at a secret meeting far below deck.
Lieutenant Buck, then.
Who's that speaking?
Pawnblower, sir. Ah, yes. Well? So, whatever we do, we'll have to do it quickly and sharp. You mean put him in irons?
Whatever we did, he'd call on the hands and they might follow him. They'd follow him, right enough. Hasn't he been toadying up to them? Double rum every chance he got. Rope yarn Sundays. I tell you, in irons, all right, we'll have our hands full turning them into a disciplined crew again.
Now, that's enough.
We'll get nowhere talking about what's gone by. What's to come.
Is our problem. Sir, I say put him in irons quick.
Quiet, now, quiet. In irons and what then?
What's that?
It's not rats.
Mr.
Buck, Mr.
Hornblower.
Wellard, where did you come from? The captain, sir.
The captain's awake. He's on his way down here.
Wellard, which way?
Which way, Mr.
Hornblower?
The captain.
Which way is he coming? I think by the steerage hatchway.
You came down ahead of him?
Yes, sir. What's to be done, Hornblower, for the love of heaven? There's another way out of here. For it in the cockpit up through the cable tier.
Get for it, all of you. Hornblower's right.
For it, the cable tier. Bush, you stay here.
What is it, Hornblower? Do you have something in mind?
I don't know, but someone should keep an eye on the captain. If you and I and Wellard move quietly enough, we can go up the steerage hatchway before the captain reaches it.
Yes.
And then we can stick to the shadows. Let him make his way down here, and once he's down here, we're safe enough. We'll be in a good position to help the others.
If necessary, we can create some diversion.
Yes, yes, good.
We'd best move quickly, though.
Wellard, we... Wellard?
Bushwell is Wellard.
Wellard was gone. He'd slipped away in the darkness. There was no sign of him.
And suddenly I remembered Wellard's white face after he'd been whipped.
I remembered his face and how he spoke about the captain.
Bush, hurry.
At least there's a bit of light. Must be coming through the hatchway.
What's that?
Came from directly ahead of us, below the hatchway.
It's a body.
Captain Sawyer.
The next several hours were busy ones.
Dr.
Clive was called and he pronounced Captain Sawyer dead. The body was brought up and prepared for burial in the morning. Lieutenant Buckland, a senior officer commanding, became acting captain. And on the quarterdeck, by the light of the southern moon, I took part in a small disciplinary action. It involved Wellard and the captain's toady, Hobbs.
It's not my place to remind you, sir, but didn't the captain give you orders?
Orders?
Aye.
To arouse Mr.
Buckland every watch. At two bells, at four bells, at six bells.
Hobbs, you're insolent. Aye, sir.
The captain is dead. His orders have been countermanded by Lieutenant Buckland. And in particular that order. Now get forward, Hobbs.
No more nonsense from you.
I will, sir.
I was only stopping to ask Mr. Wellard a question. Oh, what question? About how the captain died, sir. What do you mean?
Well, sir, you see, it was me, Rouse.
Captain Sawyer, in the first place.
I'd heard something down in the hold.
Well, go on.
Well, I told him so. He got dressed and gave me orders to call out the Marines. Only I never got the chance.
Go on.
That's all, sir.
Only I was wondering. It's most curious the captain should trip and fall to his death now, ain't it? Just trip all by himself and For? What I was about to ask Mr. Wellard was where he might have been when it happened.
I was.
Wellard, there's no need to answer that. Isn't there?
No, Hobbs.
Statements will be taken in the morning, not now. Go for it, Hobbs. That's an order.
Aye, aye, sir.
Hobbs! Oh, come on. Give me that answer again, and this time properly. Aye, aye, sir. Now you may get for it.
Mr.
Hornblower, I.
I.
Yes, what is it, Wellard?
My watch will be over in an hour. Sir, may I come down and speak with you a minute? Very important, sir.
Wellard, you.
you look tired to death. Why don't you get some sleep, eh?
Mr. Hornblower, I... I killed the captain.
Now, Wellard.
I did. I. I was at the Sturridge Hatchway. I got there ahead of you and the others... I climbed the ladder. I was on the deck above in the shadows.
But it was dark.
And then I saw the captain. He came right past me and leaned over, looking down, sort of. I.
Well, now listen.
I came up behind him, sir. He was there. I was right behind him.
Right behind him.
Listen, well, you better not tell me. Pull yourself together. Get your hammock, Wellard.
Wellard, get your hammock.
You're tired, you know. You need some sleep.
We'll talk about it in the morning. Tired, yes. Quite tired.
But, Mr.
Holmdahl, I don't think I shall ever sleep again.
I slept soundly, and in the morning I came on deck almost refreshed. The sea was sparkling blue and green, and a fair breeze filled the sails. I joined Lieutenant Bush at the weather rail with a greeting that came near to sounding cheerful.
Good morning, Mr.
Bush.
Morning, old blower.
The air smells fresh, eh?
Ah, that it does.
Fresh and free.
Bush, I... I can't help feeling sorry for Captain Sawyer. Sorry? Well, yes, I suppose so.
Yes, at the funeral service at Six Bells, I suppose I shall pray as hard.
For his soul as any man.
So shall I.
Mr. Bush. Faulkner.
Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Lieutenant Buckland, I mean Captain.
What is it, sir?
Gentlemen, we have lost young Wellard.
The master at arms reported to be at eight bells. There's been no sign of young Wellard. His quarters went stepped in last night. According to the lookout during the dog watch, he recalls a certain heavy splash during his turn aloft.
He thought it was a porpoise. You mean it was Wellard? It must have been.
The sea was running heavy.
He must have been at the rail and lost his footing.
I shall report that he fell overboard.
What is it, Hornblower?
You're about to speak.
No, sir.
May heaven rest his soul. Amen to that.
Funeral service for Captain Sawyer at Six Bells, gentlemen.
We shall say a prayer also for young Mr.
Wellard.
And in my heart I repeated over and over a prayer that Wellard... had found.
Not only peace and quiet, but also mercy.
Horatio Hornblower, starring Michael Redgrave, is based on the novels by C.S.
Forrester.
Music composed and conducted by Sidney Torch. Produced by Harry Allen Towers.
Oh, my God.
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Hello, Jedward speaking, sorry.
Edward speaking.
Hey bro, I'm glad you picked up.
Who is this?
It's me, John.
I'm literally outside on the landing.
I don't know any Sean.
Lose my number.
Hello?
Edward, don't hang up.
I'm sorry for saying a handyman could fix the gas boiler.
Please forgive... Always.
Use a registered gas installer or you could risk everything.
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