The Frogs And The Lobsters
Encyclopedia
The Frogs and the Lobsters (a.k.a. The Wrong War) is an episode of the television program Hornblower
. It is set during the French revolutionary wars
and very loosely based on the chapter of the same name in C.S. Forester's novel, Mr. Midshipman Hornblower
and on the actual ill-fated Quiberon expedition
of 1795. The main title is based on the often derogatory description of the French by the British (as well as other English speakers) and on the red coats of the British soldiers. The secondary title deals with Horatio's own duty to the Crown and the alliance with the French and his struggle with his own sympathy towards the French revolutionaries.
(John Shrapnel
), a royalist general in exile, decides to rally the surviving royalists and raise an army in France to restore the king
to power. He calls upon the British Navy to ferry him across the English Channel
with French troops (the frogs) and a company of British redcoats
(the lobsters) to Quiberon
, but one important thing has gone wrong. A lieutenant carrying a copy of the orders has been murdered and the orders stolen. Captain Pellew, who is in charge of the transports, believes this the work of French spies and begs his superiors to call off the invasion, but they ignore him and the army sets off for disaster. Horatio Hornblower
, the central character, is assigned to a division of the invading army that is to hold the bridge at Muzillac, but the royalist officer in charge is a butchering madman whose obsession with revenge does nothing to help the doomed invasion.
The main departure from the original story is the introduction of French peasant girl Mariette (Estelle Skornik
), now a schoolteacher with fluent English. She and Hornblower fall in love, but she is killed by French revolutionary troops en route back to his ship as she tries to escape with him.
Hornblower (TV series)
Hornblower is the umbrella title of a series of television drama programmes based on C. S. Forester's novels about the fictional character Horatio Hornblower, a Royal Naval officer during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars....
. It is set during the French revolutionary wars
French Revolutionary Wars: Campaigns of 1795
The French Revolutionary Wars continued from 1794 between Revolutionary France and the First coalition.The year opened with French forces in the process of attacking the Dutch Republic in the middle of winter. The Dutch people rallied to the French call and started the Batavian revolution. City...
and very loosely based on the chapter of the same name in C.S. Forester's novel, Mr. Midshipman Hornblower
Mr. Midshipman Hornblower
Mr. Midshipman Hornblower is a Horatio Hornblower novel written by C. S. Forester. Although it may be considered as the first episode in the Hornblower saga, it was written as a prequel; the first Hornblower novel, The Happy Return, was published in 1937.-Plot introduction:Horatio Hornblower...
and on the actual ill-fated Quiberon expedition
Invasion of France (1795)
The invasion of France in 1795 or the Battle of Quiberon was a major landing on the Quiberon peninsula by émigré, counter-revolutionary troops in support of the Chouannerie and Vendée Revolt, beginning on 23 June and finally definitively repulsed on 21 July...
of 1795. The main title is based on the often derogatory description of the French by the British (as well as other English speakers) and on the red coats of the British soldiers. The secondary title deals with Horatio's own duty to the Crown and the alliance with the French and his struggle with his own sympathy towards the French revolutionaries.
Plot summary
François de CharetteFrançois de Charette
François Athanase de Charette de la Contrie was a French soldier and politician, one of the leaders of the bloody events termed the "Revolt in the Vendée"...
(John Shrapnel
John Shrapnel
John Shrapnel is an English actor.Shrapnel was born in Birmingham, Warwickshire, the son of Mary Lillian Myfanwy and journalist/author Norman Shrapnel....
), a royalist general in exile, decides to rally the surviving royalists and raise an army in France to restore the king
Louis XVIII of France
Louis XVIII , known as "the Unavoidable", was King of France and of Navarre from 1814 to 1824, omitting the Hundred Days in 1815...
to power. He calls upon the British Navy to ferry him across the English Channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
with French troops (the frogs) and a company of British redcoats
Red coat (British army)
Red coat or Redcoat is a historical term used to refer to soldiers of the British Army because of the red uniforms formerly worn by the majority of regiments. From the late 17th century to the early 20th century, the uniform of most British soldiers, , included a madder red coat or coatee...
(the lobsters) to Quiberon
Quiberon
Quiberon is a commune in the Morbihan department in Brittany in north-western France.It is situated on the southern part of the Quiberon peninsula, the northern part being the commune of Saint-Pierre-Quiberon...
, but one important thing has gone wrong. A lieutenant carrying a copy of the orders has been murdered and the orders stolen. Captain Pellew, who is in charge of the transports, believes this the work of French spies and begs his superiors to call off the invasion, but they ignore him and the army sets off for disaster. Horatio Hornblower
Horatio Hornblower
Horatio Hornblower is a fictional Royal Navy officer who is the protagonist of a series of novels by C. S. Forester. He was later the subject of films and television programs.The original Hornblower tales began with the 1937 novel The Happy Return Horatio Hornblower is a fictional Royal Navy...
, the central character, is assigned to a division of the invading army that is to hold the bridge at Muzillac, but the royalist officer in charge is a butchering madman whose obsession with revenge does nothing to help the doomed invasion.
The main departure from the original story is the introduction of French peasant girl Mariette (Estelle Skornik
Estelle Skornik
Estelle Skornik is a French actress.In the United Kingdom she is best remembered for playing "Nicole" alongside Max Douchin in a range of Renault Clio advertisements that at one point also featured the comedians Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer.She also starred as "Ada" in the film version of From...
), now a schoolteacher with fluent English. She and Hornblower fall in love, but she is killed by French revolutionary troops en route back to his ship as she tries to escape with him.
External links
- Hornblower: The Frogs and the Lobsters at the Internet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...