THE AFRICAN QUEEN (1951)

Country: U.S.A.

Genre(s): Adventure / Romance

Director: John Huston

Cast: Humphrey Bogart / Katherine Hepburn / Robert Morley

Plot

When the Germans invade British-occupied Africa at the start of World War I, a prim and proper British missionary and a grungy riverboat captain attempt to escape down a dangerous river and destroy a German battleship.

What I Liked

So much about this film seems twenty years ahead of its time.  The fact is evident from the very start, as the opening credits role over the sights and sounds of the African jungle.  So many of the scenes were clearly shot on location, something that would have been very rare for a foreign adventure in the early 1950s.  Not to mention the use of real local Africans depicting their real daily life instead of hired actors portraying a Hollywood-perpetuated stereotype.  The sights and sounds of the true Africa bring an authenticity to this adventure unlike maybe any of its time.

Setting asside, the filmmakers and actors do a terrific job of making the conflicts of the film palpable.  Though the character's mission is to destroy an enemy ship, the real struggle is an emotional one as both characters struggle to maintain their resolve as nature makes their journey ever more difficult.  Both characters are pushed to the brink emotionally, the source of the true drama and suspense for this movie.

The relationship between Humphrey Bogart's Charlie Allnut and Katherie Hepburn's Rose Sayer is predictable but brought to life by two of the most skilled actors of any generation.  Bogart has long been my favorite actor of the golden Hollywood era, thanks to that expressive face and his underrated range.  Hepburn, with her ability to play tough and passionate simultaneously, was perfectly cast as the resolute and religious Rose.

What I Didn't Like

The score is the worst part about this movie.  It has that melodramatic orchestral soundtrack so common to movies prior to the 1970s.  The music takes away some of the authentic feel from the rest of the film as it does not feel like part of the scenery or location at all.  It takes a film that should be ahead of its time and places it firmly and obviously in old Hollywood.

Also somewhat lazy is the development of the relationship between Charlie and Rose.  The old tale of two people from opposite sides of the track being forced together and hating each other but slowly becoming more attracted to each other is older than the movies and about as predictable as it gets.  It's a good thing there were two excellent actors to pull it off.

Most Memorable Scene

There are plenty of dazzling and suspenseful scenes in this movie, all of them plenty memorable.  However, the one that sticks out to me the most is toward the end of the couple’s journey, as they become mired in the narrow straits of mud and weeds and gradually lose hope.  They are exhausted at every level and collapse together at the floor of the boat.  It seems the most horrific end for these two heroes as they are not to succeed, nor die as martyrs, but as starving and lost souls overcome by the wilderness.  The claustrophobia and despair are not hard to imagine thanks to the setting, the filmmaking, and the actors.

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5