The African Queen (1951)

Date Seen: 6/3/17

Score: 5/5

DIRECTOR: John Huston

PRODUCER: Sam Spiegel & John Woolf

STUDIO: Horizon Pictures (United Artists)

SCREENPLAY: John Huston, James Agee, Peter Viertel & John Collier

CINEMATOGRAPHY: Jack Cardiff

Katharine Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart

The film's minimalist opening title sequence

Humphrey Bogart

Humphrey Bogart and his rumbling stomach, sandwiched in between Robert Morley and Katharine Hepburn

Kath and Bogey set out on their adventure through the German Congo

"I kinda like kicking it!"

Hepburn's Rose decides to take Bogey's drinking into her own hands

Hepburn's Rose gets her first taste of "physical stimulation" going down the white rapids, just one of the film's many sexual double entendres

One of the film's many endearing moments of tenderness

...followed later by one of the film's most devastating moments of defeat

Bogey mocks a hippo

Katharine Hepburn demonstrates her character's endurance, both as a dedicated lover and worker

Hepburn's Rose- dirty, exhausted, and happy

Let me start by saying that I did not expect to love this movie at all. I rented it a few months ago before leaving for a long bus trip, along with a few others, and it was the only movie I didn't end up watching. Yet, for some reason, I was inspired to watch it last night, and I am so happy that I did, because it truly is a wonderful film full of gorgeous cinematography (which I cannot do justice with the stills and gifs I have available), heartwarming human connection, entertaining dialogue, and genuinely effective action sequences. And, to my great surprise, it is not nearly as racist as I expected a movie called The African Queen starring two white people made in 1951 and taking place in 1914 to be. This is probably because it's a movie with basically two characters, both white, who are battling against something much larger than race relations in the grand scheme of things. The African Queen is a film about two people and their quest to survive the harsh land that they have both given their lives to already. It's unconcerned with specific human issues, yet manages to show how two people reconcile their inhibitions, fears, and emotional barriers while attempting to survive the elements. It's a perfect adventure film, and more than that, it's a truly sincere and heartwarming story of human connection and teamwork.

As far as I know, this is the first John Huston film I've seen, and I immediately fell in love with his directorial style. Knowing quite a bit about the infamous production of The African Queen, during which just about everyone except for Huston and Bogart came down with dysentery from drinking the water, I am well aware that Huston was not only very dedicated to both his craft and his life as an outdoorsman and adventurer, but also pretty batshit. Yet his willingness to make his actors and crew miserable, sick, and subject to the harsh elements depicted in the film definitely paid off. Not only are Bogart and Hepburn believable in the mere conditions of their characters- dirty, cold, hungry, tired, both self-sacrificing and desperate to survive, sincerely trying to complete a mission and keep a good attitude- but they are downright heroic, not only as characters, but as actors. Very rarely have I found myself rooting for an onscreen duo as much as I did for Hepburn's Rose and Bogart's Charlie. 

This is not to say that there were things specifically about Hepburn and Bogart's performances that I did not care for. I know it's not his fault, but Humphrey Bogart's teeth drove me crazy through the entire movie. While I really do love him as an actor and as a badass real-life liberal celebrity who took absolutely none of Hollywood's crazy bullshit, and while I have had at least one dream where we had to save the world from ruin together, I do not think he was a looker. Neither was Hepburn, who looked exactly as sickly, old, and sexually inflexible as her character demanded. But their appearances were genuine and lent a sort of ugly truth to the film that other survival films (*cough, cough* Lifeboat) do not take into account. And really, the ugliness of the characters- more than anything, the ruggedness of them- is what makes you admire their hard work so much. When you see their beauty shine through at certain moments of the film, you do not think, "I am looking at a movie star"; you think, "I am looking at a human being."

While I did not care for Hepburn's performance in The Philadelphia Story, I really did like her in The African Queen. Mostly because I liked the entire film so much that nothing diminished my admiration for it, not even Hepburn's annoying voice, which always sort of bothers me. Watching Rose and Charlie survive the shit they do in this movie makes me feel bad for complaining about practically any first-world problem I might encounter. Watching two patriotic people nearly sacrifice themselves to make- like, literally craft by hand- a torpedo in an attempt to bomb the Germans, and then to cross and uncrossable river in a shitty boat the size of a sedan really makes you rethink your own relationship problems. I want to see Rose and Charlie have their own HGTV home makeover show. If they can weld pipes using iron hammers and man-made fires in the middle of the jungle and repair propellers underwater I'd love to see what they can do to a run-down Bungalow.

My favorite parts of The African Queen were the cinematography, which is stunning in a way that could never have been created solely on a studio set in 1951, and the honest and loving depiction of human connection. It never borders on cheesy. The relationship that Charlie and Rose foster through hardship is never cliché. It does not begin with them hating each other (although there are some philosophical differences), and never are the characters so uncivil toward each other that it causes palpable tension in the film. The relationship between Rose and Charlie is unique for a film couple because it's mutually respectful, surprisingly feminist, and overall loving and trusting. It was the shots of wildlife and nature that took my breath away and made me really think about the film's timelessness- but it was the bond between the two main characters that made me think about what it means to sacrifice yourself for another person, simply because you love them.

Sources:

"The African Queen" from Wikipedia

"The African Queen" from IMDb

All photos sourced from Google Images and Pinterest

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