John Huston’s 1951 film, The African Queen, stands as a beautifully shot blend of unlikely romance and adventure. It was filmed on location in the Ugandan-Congo borderlands, long before such realism became the norm. The film is adapted from C.S. Forester's 1935 novel of the same name.
Movie poster of The African Queen
Synopsis
At the start of the First World War, in the middle of Africa’s nowhere, a gin soaked riverboat captain is persuaded by a strong-willed missionary to go down river and face-off a German warship. The film masterfully blends action and humor, with more sentimental moments.
The Making of a Classic
While few things distinguish a big screen adventure like shooting on location, that wasn’t always the case. The films of classic Hollywood were shot in Hollywood, on sound stages and backlots, with fleeting images of the outside world captured by remote units in wide shots using body doubles, if they were captured at all. That changed with films like The African Queen, driven by John Houston’s determination to shoot key scenes and sequences in Africa.
The cast and crew assembled in Africa in December 1950 and much of the film was shot in Lake Albert, Uganda, and in the Belgian Congo in Africa. The cast and crew endured sickness and spartan living conditions during their time on location. About half of the film was shot in the UK. The scenes in which Bogart and Hepburn are seen in the water were all shot in studio tanks at Worton Hall Studios in Isleworth, near London.
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It wasn’t until stars Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn were in the bush for several weeks without having shot any footage that Houston’s true intent was revealed.
The Cast and Their Performances
A film carried by the great chemistry between Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn. Hepburn is really good but the best thing in this is Bogart without question. He's got so much charisma, charm, personality, and really good chemistry with Hepburn.
In East Africa, at the beginning of the First World War, a rude and drunkard boat captain attempts to cross german enemy lines on a dangerous journey along the river in the company of a sour and bigoted spinster. The African Queen is one of John Huston's greatest successes, capable of representing effectively and with a tragicomic touch the complex relationship between the two protagonists, outlining with great sensitivity and tender participation the feeling of love that little by little blossoms between them.
Lauren Bacall Talks About Being on the Set of The African Queen, - Sept. 1987
Story and Themes
September 1914, news reaches the colony in German East Africa that war has broken out across Europe making British Reverend Samuel Sayer a hostile foreigner. German imperial troops burn down his mission; he is beaten and dies of fever. His well-educated, snobbish sister Rose Sayer buries him and leaves by the only available transport, the dilapidated river steamboat 'African Queen' of grumpy Charlie Allnut.
As if a long difficult journey without any comfort weren't bad enough for such odd companions, she is determined to find a way to do their part for the British war effort while avenging her brother and aims high, as God is obviously on their side: construct their own torpedo and use the converted steamboat to take out a huge German warship, the Louisa, which is hard to find or reach on the giant lake. She presses till Charlie accepts to steam up the Ulanga, brave a German fort, raging rapids, bloodthirsty parasites, and the endlessly branching river which seems to go nowhere but impenetrable swamps.
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Charlie mentions to Rose that the British are unable to attack the Germans because of the presence of a large gunboat, the Königin Luise, patrolling a large lake downriver. Rose comes up with a plan to convert the African Queen into a torpedo boat and sink the Königin Luise.
The Königin Luise returns and Charlie and Rose steam the African Queen out onto the lake in darkness, intending to set her on a collision course. A strong storm strikes, causing water to pour into the African Queen through the torpedo holes. Eventually the boat capsizes, throwing Charlie and Rose into the water. Believing that Rose has drowned, he makes no attempt to defend himself against accusations of spying and the German captain sentences him to death by hanging.
Charlie asks the German captain to marry them before they are executed. The captain agrees, and after conducting the briefest of marriage ceremonies, is about to carry out the execution when the Königin Luise is rocked by a series of explosions, quickly capsizing. The ship has struck the overturned submerged hull of the African Queen and detonated the torpedoes.
Reception and Legacy
The African Queen opened on December 26, 1951, at the Fox Wilshire Theatre in Beverly Hills in time to qualify for the 24th Academy Awards. Contemporary critical reviews were mostly positive. Variety called The African Queen "an engrossing motion picture ... Performance-wise, Bogart has never been seen to better advantage. Nor has he ever had a more knowing, talented film partner than Miss Hepburn."
On review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes the film has a 96% rating based on 47 reviews, with an average rating of 8.8/10. The African Queen was adapted as a one-hour Lux Radio Theater play on December 15, 1952. The African Queen partially inspired the Jungle Cruise attraction at Disneyland.
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The film presented the efforts of Charlie and Rose in a more favorable light as their struggle to bring The African Queen to the lake causes the sinking of the Königin Luise, and the Royal Navy gunboat does not appear in the film.
Behind the Scenes
The small steamboat used to depict the African Queen was built in 1912 in Britain for service in Africa. Because of the dangers involved with shooting the rapids scenes, a small-scale model was used in the studio tank in London. The vessel used to portray the German gunboat Königin Luise was the steam tug Buganda, owned and operated on Lake Victoria by the East African Railways and Harbours Corporation.
One of the two boats used as the African Queen is actually the 35-foot (10 m) L.S. Livingston, which had been a working diesel boat for 40 years; the steam engine was a prop and the real diesel engine was hidden under stacked crates of gin and other cargo.
