Review of African Queen, The (reissue)

Introduction

This is another of those films that seem to pop up everywhere. Out of newspapers, in the high street sales racks and in the bargain zones of just about every on-line retailer you`d care to name. But, until now, I`d managed to avoid it.

As this arrived as a new-release DVD (curiously enough on a DVD-R) I assumed that this would be a re-mastering, perhaps with a host of extras to differentiate it from the current crop. It isn`t.

However - if, like me, you haven`t seen this `classic` movie then maybe this will be your chance. It`s certainly a different sort of film than I had imagined it would be, and actually all the better for that.

This is one of those curious hybrids, an action romance,
Where two couples (preferably polar opposites in every conceivable way) are thrown together to journey against adversity. The ideal situation for an unlikely love to blossom. In truth, this film, dating back to 1951, probably helped set the template.

Humphrey Bogart won an Oscar for his role as Charlie Allnut, a soft-hearted, hard-drinking captain of an old steamer (`The African Queen` of the title) who is a solitary figure, delivering mail and essentials to various African missionaries and outposts along the bank of Ulonga-Bora.

Based on a C.S. Forester novel, this was probably the ideal escapist anti-dote to the difficult post-war years in the US and Europe, and although it was set in WW1 it still did the job just fine. (Well, they were still Germans weren`t they?).

The movie is dominated by the oddest of odd couples - Bogart and Hepburn, who plays an uptight Christian Missionary spinster, Rose Sayer. It opens with trouble a` brewing with Robert Morley playing Hepburn`s older preacher brother who, having answered the divine calling, administers a church and community in the back-waters of primitive Africa.

Charlie arrives and, having brought with him some parcels and provisions for the preacher and his austere sister, sits down to tea with them. This accentuates his uncouth table manners and with his rumbling stomach and quickness to eat, soon gets disapproving glances from both Rose and her brother.

Despite the remoteness of their location, Charlie has news of a war (WW1) that has spread across Europe and is threatening to spill over into Africa. Leaving the Minister and his sister to pray for England`s victory, Charlie bids them farewell.

Soon after, a ruthless German troops burn the village to the ground. Traumatised by the event, Rose`s brother passes away leaving his sister to fend for herself in a now deserted and burned down village.

Just when there seems to be no hope, we hear the welcome whistle of the `African Queen`. Charlie has returned.

With no other course of action available, the two set off on a treacherous journey together, not just to escape from the troops - but to eventually drive a torpedo into an enormous German ship, blocking passage into this part of Africa.

Of course, there are plenty of quarrels, plenty of action (the most traumatic being Charlie`s attack by leeches), and (who would have guessed it) romance as the two discover un-guessed qualities in the other. Charlie may be a rough diamond, but proves himself to be a real gentleman, courageous and caring. Rose on the other hand proves to be made of sterner stuff than Charlie imagined, full of pluck and courage.

Directed by John Huston, this was his first colour film - as it was for both Bogie and Hepburn. (Bogie and Huston went back a way with movies like `The Maltese Falcon` and `Key Largo`).
The performances are strong and it`s almost unbelievable that this was the only on-screen pairing of the couple as the romance is absolutely electrifying, even after all these years.

Neither Bogart nor Hepburn was in their first flush of youth (Hepburn being 44 at the time of filming), ideal for the roles played here.

For the film anoraks, it might be worth mentioning that Hepburn wrote an account of her time making the movie called `The Making of the African Queen or How I went to Africa with Bogart, Bacall and Huston and Almost Lost my Mind`. It`s remarkable that the movie was filmed on location in the main (in Uganda and the Belgian Congo) and by all accounts filming was no picnic!

Clint Eastwood chronicled the making of the movie in his film `White Hunter, Black Heart` (1990) based on Peter Viertel`s 1953 account of working on the movie with Huston.

Video

Unremarkable 4:3 transfer with occasional signs of wear.

Audio

Just original mono - but perfectly adequate.

Features

None whatsoever.

Conclusion

When a film gains a reputation as a `classic` it`s usually with good reason. `The African Queen` has been a mainstay of rainy Sunday afternoon broadcasting for years, and also makes occasional appearances in DVD form as a newspaper freebie, or as a regular feature of the HMV sale (usually at £2.99).

So when this review disc arrived I assumed it was a re-release with some new or special features. It isn`t.

But having said that, this first viewing of a movie that I really ought to have seen before now was actually a great and unexpected pleasure.

This is one of those rare movies where the all the pieces work. The film relies entirely on the chemistry of the two leads (it`s almost exclusively their film), and Bogart and Hepburn are dynamite together.

So if, like me, you`ve managed to avoid this movie up till now, you should really use this as an opportunity to make amends. Buy this and put it on the pending pile for the next rainy Sunday afternoon, and I suspect there`ll be no shortage of those in the coming months.