Movie Review – The African Queen (1951)

When it comes to adventure with dangers and peril around every corner, one of the best films is 1951′s The African Queen.

The African Queen is set in German East Africa in August / September of 1914, the start of World War One.  Back in those days, much of Africa was still a wild area filled with hundreds of different tribes, some of them fighting one another, the colonial countries of Europe, and of course, the natural elements themselves from dangerous animals to treacherous geography.  For those people who wanted to fulfill their quest for adventure, that itch for exploration, or that desire to conquer the biggest of beasts on a hunt, Africa was the place to be in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Some of those elements are brought to life in 1951′s The African Queen.

Directed by John Huston, The African Queen stars Humphrey Bogart as Charlie Allnut, a Canadian who pilots a small steamboat along the central waterways.  Katharine Hepburn also stars as Rose Sayer, a British Methodist missionary trying to help the residents in the village of Kungdu in German East Africa.  Supporting them is Robert Morley in the role of Reverend Samuel Sayer, Rose’s brother.

The African Queen (1951) – (c) United Artists

The African Queen begins around August of 1914 in German East Africa.  Reverend Samuel Sayer (Robert Morley) and his sister, Rose (Katharine Hepburn), are Methodist missionaries from England.  They’re established a small church in the rural village of Kungdu, but as we see, it’s a bit of a challenge for them to work with the local natives.

There’s a bit of a ruckus as Charlie Allnut (Humphrey Bogart) arrives in his small steamboat, the African Queen.  Charlie is friends with the villagers and they welcome his arrival.  Charlie causes a bit of chaos though when he tosses aside his used cigar, something that the simple-minded villagers crave greatly.  This disrupts the Sayers’ church service and ends the service for the day.

Charlie’s main purpose in the village is to deliver mail and small supplies to the Sayers.  Despite his somewhat rude mannerisms, the Sayers welcome Charlie’s arrival and even invite him to stay for a meal.  Charlie warns Rev. Samuel and Rose that Germany and Britain are now at war with each other, and it’s likely that some of the fighting could spill into Africa.  The Sayers accept this news but choose to remain in their village and continue their jobs as missionaries.

The African Queen (1951) – (c) United Artists

Charlie Allnut leaves and sails down the river.  Later that day some German troops arrive and begin evicting the villagers out of their homes.  As those straw homes are being burned, Rev. Samuel tries to question the German commander.  He’s aggressive towards the commander, and one of the German soldiers hits and knocks Rev. Samuel to the ground.  He and Rose are helpless and can only watch as the villagers are evicted and their village of Kungdu is burned to the ground.

After the soldiers and villagers leave, Rev. Samuel and Rose are devastated with the overall loss.  This devastation changes into determination for the reverend, and he begins working outside and trying to replant the gardens.  Unfortunately, while he’s working outside in the brutal heat and humidity, mosquitoes bite him and Rev. Samuel is stricken with a deadly fever.  He becomes delirious and later dies.

The African Queen (1951) – (c) United Artists

Charlie returns to what remains of the village later that day and finds Rose Sayer by herself.  She explains what happened to the village along with the death of her brother.  Charlie offers to bury Rev. Samuel, and once they say their good byes to him, Rose and Charlie depart on the African Queen.

The African Queen (1951) – (c) United Artists

They board the steamboat and begin sailing down the river.  Charlie teaches Rose how to steer the ship so he can tend to the boiler and other tasks involving the boat.  The stop the ship downstream and discuss their situation.  Charlie offers to find a quiet spot on the river and basically wait out the war, but Rose clearly doesn’t have that sort of idea on her mind.  Right now she wants revenge against the German army after what they did to her village and the aftereffect it had on her brother.

Rose reasons that the British army is going to launch an attack against the Germans there in Africa.  Charlie tells her that the British army cannot come out of the Congo area because the Germans are in control of a large lake.  The Queen Louisa is a massive German gunboat that patrols the river.  The ship is so large that sections of it were carried across land and then assembled at the lake.

Learning about the German gunboat gives Rose an idea.  She wants to convert the African Queen into a kamikaze-type of weapon.  She wants Charlie to use his mechanical skills to build makeshift torpedoes, attach them to the front of the African Queen, and then set a collision course with the Queen Louisa.  They can sink the Louisa and clear a path for the British army to take control of the lake and fight the Germans out of Africa.  Rose is set on her plan despite Charlie warning her of the dangers waiting ahead of them downstream.

With only a couple hours of daylight remaining, Charlie and Rose cruise downstream towards their ultimate target.  Along the way Charlie teaches Rose how to “read” the river and know which areas are safer for their boat.  He claims that the African Queen draws a shallow draft, so they can float through shallow areas.  The main concerns are protecting the propeller from rocks and submerged objects.

The African Queen (1951) – (c) United Artists

They anchor the boat along a riverbank for the night.  We see more of Charlie and Rose’s clash of ideals and personalities as Charlie drinks his gin.  When they bathe in the river, they need to stay on opposite sides of the boat so they’ll each have a little bit of privacy.

The African Queen (1951) – (c) United Artists

We see more of their personality clash that first night on the boat.  Rose is sleeping under the stern canopy while Charlie is out on the open deck.  This wouldn’t have been much of a problem except for the pouring down rain.  Charlie tried to seek shelter under the canopy, but Rose is horrified with him doing so and seeing her in her sleeping outfit.  She kicks him out and back into the rain.  Charlie does so reluctantly.  Rose has a change of heart and allows him back underneath the canopy and they both stay sheltered from the rain.

The African Queen (1951) – (c) United Artists

The next day the African Queen hits the first set of rapids.  The ship survives the turbulent water without any problems.  Charlie expects the rapids to have jarred Rose and convinced her not to continue downstream, but the rapids had an opposite effect on the woman.  She’s thrilled by the experience.  Rose can’t wait to keep steaming downstream and encounter more thrills.

The African Queen (1951) – (c) United Artists

After the rapids they stop again for a break, and again Charlie begins to drink his gin.  He becomes an obnoxious drunk and eventually passes out.  When Charlie wakes he’s horrified to see Rose pouring out his bottles of gin one by one.  He tries to stop the woman but a bad hangover prevents him from doing so.  Charlie can only sit and watch as his precious alcohol is dumped into the river.

Charlie sobers himself and has a change of heart.  He shaves his face, cleans himself, and also cleans the ship’s boiler.  He’s a new man.  Charlie and Rose make up their differences, and he agrees to keep sailing them down river.

The African Queen (1951) – (c) United Artists

The next obstacle is a German fort guarding a bend in the river.  Charlie warns her about proceeding, but Rose doesn’t seem too concerned about the Germans.  They duck down in the boat as they travel around the bend and the soldiers begin firing at them with rifles.  The African Queen suffers some minor damage from the gunfire.  Charlie has to expose himself to fix the problem, and just as a soldier is about to snipe him, bright sunshine temporarily blinds the soldier.  Charlie repairs the damage to the boiler and the African Queen escapes downriver from the Germans.

But the danger’s not finished yet.

The African Queen (1951) – (c) United Artists

Just beyond the German fortress lies the second set of rapids.  This is a bigger section of turbulent water and there’s concern about the ship’s boiler continuing to work and provide power.  They don’t have much choice and steer into the rapids.  The ship survives though the rear canopy is destroyed and the ship itself takes on a lot of water.  Charlie and Rose are thrilled with surviving the rapids, and they find that the dangerous experience is drawing them closer to each other.

The African Queen (1951) – (c) United Artists

They anchor the African Queen on a riverbank and begin repairing the ship.  As Rose pumps out the water and Charlie works on the boiler, we see them forming not only a strong bond but a relationship as well.  This continues as they sit back and take a break, admiring the local scenery as well as one another’s company.

The African Queen (1951) – (c) United Artists

Shortly later their voyage continues.  After spending some time making fun of the local animals, the third, and biggest, set of rapids quickly arrives.  It’s a hair-rising trip over a short waterfall, but Charlie and Rose survive the rapids.  Unfortunately, the African Queen is nearly swamped from the water and the ship’s propeller is damaged.  They limp the ship to shore so they can analyze the damage and try to make repairs.

The African Queen (1951) – (c) United Artists

Charlie examines the ship and notices that the drift shaft is bent.  He dives underwater and also discovers that one of the propeller blades is broken.  Rose helps him pull the parts from the ship and build a hot fire on land.  Charlie uses his skills to fix both the drive shaft and the propeller, and they’re both reattached to the African Queen.  The ship is repaired and they continue on their journey downstream.

The African Queen (1951) – (c) United Artists

The journey of the African Queen hits a stalemate when Charlie becomes lost amongst the long grass.  The river itself slows and they enter an uncharted area of shallow, slow moving water and thick coverage of long grass.  Charlie and Rose try to push the boat by using oars and poles, but they only push themselves deeper into the muck.  Charlie has to walk along the shallow river’s bed and pull the African Queen behind him, hoping to find a way out of the mess.

But their situation only gets worse.

Charlie is exhausted and now becoming delirious from a fever.  He’s already been attacked and covered in leeches, a creature that he greatly fears.  Now their boat is stuck in the mud.  As Charlie grows weaker, their situation is all but hopeless.  Rose senses this and prays for God to be merciful and allow them access into heaven.

The African Queen (1951) – (c) United Artists

That night there’s a tremendous storm and the entire river area is flooded.  The African Queen floats in the river and begins drifting downstream.  When Charlie and Rose wake in the morning, they’re both overjoyed at not only the boat floating in the river but that the lake itself is so close.  Their adventure is nearly finished.

Upon entering the lake, Charlie and Rose almost immediately spot the Queen Louisa out on patrol.  Charlie hides the African Queen behind a small island and they escape being discovered.  He analyzes the Queen Louisa and determines that she’ll be back again on patrol the next day.

The African Queen (1951) – (c) United Artists

While hiding behind the island, Charlie and Rose construct the makeshift torpedoes.  Charlie constructs a detonating device that should work once the Queen Louisa rams into it.  It’s just a matter of making sure they can ram the front of the African Queen into the Queen Louisa without it being detected.  That means attacking at night.

The African Queen (1951) – (c) United Artists

The torpedoes are mounted to the front of the African Queen, and they sail into the lake that night in search of the Queen Louisa.  Another storm develops and soon large waves begin striking the bow of the African Queen.  The holes for the torpedoes were not sealed, and water quickly flows into the ship, making her bow heavy.  They continue steering towards the Queen Louisa, but the African Queen has simply taken on too much water.  Charlie and Rose both jump ship in opposite directions as the African Queen rolls in the swells and capsizes.

The African Queen (1951) – (c) United Artists

Charlie is captured by the German sailors and taken prisoner onboard the Queen Louisa.  He stands trial in front of the German captain, but Charlie refuses to defend himself for his reason of being in the lake.  He thinks that Rose is dead and just doesn’t care.  His attitude changes when other sailors bring Rose to the captain.  Rose is also convinced that their fate is death at the hands at the Germans, so she proudly tells the captain their plan of attacking his ship.  The captain is in disbelief about Charlie and Rose’s bold plan of attack, but he still names them as spies and sentences them to death by hanging.

As the matters are transferred out to the open deck on the Queen Louisa, we see that the African Queen isn’t sunk.  She’s capsized but still floating at the top of the lake.

The African Queen (1951) – (c) United Artists

Charlie and Rose are about to be hanged by the German soldiers.  Before the execution, Charlie asks the captain to grant him a last request.  He asks the captain to perform a marriage ceremony so that he can marry Rose before being killed.  The captain complies and Charlie and Rose are married while nooses hang around their necks.

The captain orders the men to execute the “spies” as the Queen Louisa hits the partially submerged African Queen.  Charlie’s improvised explosives at the tips of the torpedoes works and the explosives detonate.  The Queen Louisa is crippled.  The ship is on fire and taking on too much water.  As the crew abandons ship and the ship begins to roll, Charlie and Rose escape from the Germans and jump into the water.

The African Queen (1951) – (c) United Artists

Charlie and Rose are thrilled to both be alive and free of the Germans.  Charlie is even more elated when he sees a piece of wreckage and realizes that it was the African Queen, his beloved ship, that caused the explosion that ultimately destroyed the Queen Louisa.

The African Queen ends with Charlie and Rose Allnut swimming towards the eastern shore and Kenya.

FINAL THOUGHTS

So is The African Queen any good?

Considering when it was made, The African Queen is a fantastic adventure story that takes place in the adventurous heart of Africa during the opening stages of one of the most brutal wars in the history of mankind.  True, we really don’t see much World War One action in this film, but the war itself is a driving factor for the events in this story.

One of the better things about The African Queen is its simplicity.  This is a story driven by a woman’s revenge against the death of her brother.  The small steamboat is her vessel and weapon, and it’s a matter of surviving the voyage to the target.  Throw in some rapids, a German fortress guarding a section of the river, and a few other small elements in there as well, and there you go.

By today’s standards some of the special effects are corny.  You can clearly tell when they use a small model boat when filming some of the rapids scenes (and again near the end when they’re in the long grass and stuck in the mud).  It’s also clear that many of the scenes on the boat were filmed with rear projection special effects.

Is that necessarily bad?  No.  It just shows the film’s age and reminds us that we’re watching a film from quite some time ago (over sixty years in this case).  For me, that’s just part of The African Queen‘s charm.

The legacy of The African Queen continues to the Disney theme parks.  While the film is not associated with Disney, the Imagineers looked to this film heavily when designing the popular Jungle Cruise boat ride in Adventureland in the Magic Kingdom.  Park guests board rustic boats and sail along some of the most exotic rivers in the world, including the Nile River and Congo River in Africa.

I’m torn whether or not I’d like to see a remake of this movie.  While it would be great to see this same story with more adventure, more danger, and more of the exoticness of Africa, I’m afraid of what today’s Hollywood would do to the story as a whole.

The African Queen (1951) – movie trailer

When you look beyond the special effects you have a solid story driven by two terrific actors, some of Hollywood’s best.  If you wish to enjoy a quality film with plenty of adventure thrown in there, you can’t go wrong with 1951′s The African Queen.

Charlie – “We can’t do that!”
Rose – “How do you know? You never tried it.”
Charlie – “Well, yeah, but I never tried shooting myself in the head neither.”

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Charlie Allnut – “Never say die. That’s my motto.”