The African Queen (1951)

The African Queen
Directed by John Huston
Written by James Agee and John Huston from the novel by C. S. Forester
1951/USA
Romulus Films/Horizon Pictures
Repeat viewing/Amazon Instant
#248 of 1001 Films You Must See Before You Die

[box] Rose Sayer: Nature, Mr. Allnut, is what we are put in this world to rise above.[/box]

This is a fun classic and I think Humphrey Bogart deserved his Oscar despite the competition from Brando.

Rose Sayer (Katharine Hepburn) has been assisting her brother Reverend Samuel Sayer (Robert Morely) as a missionary in German East Africa for the past ten years.  Charlie Allnut (Bogart) visits them regularly to deliver their mail.  One day, he advises that his visits may become less regular since war has broken out in Europe and Germans in the colony will be eager to requisition his boat, The African Queen.  As soon as Charlie departs, the mission is descended on by Germans.  The native people are impressed as soldiers and their huts burned.  Samuel dies soon after, apparently of grief and Rose is left alone.

Fortunately, Allnut returns to the mission on the same day and rescues Rose.  She comes up with the brainstorm of using the African Queen to blow up a German ship that is blocking the way of a British advance into the colony.  Despite all of Allnut’s warnings about the raging rapids on the river leading to the lake and the mechanical state of the boat, Rose cannot be moved.  She uses her considerable will to more or less bully Allnut into agreeing to her plan.

The rest of the film follows the pair’s adventures en route to the lake and their blossoming romance.

I have watched this film a number of times.  This time I found Hepburn’s character extremely irritating in the first half.  Fortunately, the romance came along to bring back all the good feelings of prior viewings.  This may not be Bogart’s best performance but it is an excellent  one and in a role outside his usual range.  This is just an exciting, humorous adventure story made by the best craftsmen in Hollywood.

Someday I really must read Hepburn’s book about the making of the film, The Making of the African Queen: How I Went to Africa with Bogart, Bacall, and Huston and Almost Lost My Mind.

Humphrey Bogart won the Academy Award for Best Actor.  The film was nominated in the categories of Best Actress, Best Director, and Best Writing, Screenplay.

Trailer