The African Queen (1951)

Written by John Huston, James Agee, Peter Viertel, & John Collier

Directed by John Huston

1998 List Ranking: 17

2007 List Ranking: 65

Yours truly on the dock of Disneyland’s Jungle Cruise

For over seven years, I worked as a Skipper at the original World Famous Jungle Cruise at the Disneyland Resort here in Orange County. Throughout my time there, I always heard about how the attraction was inspired by the film The African Queen. I was intrigued as to how, but I just never got around to watching it. So, there was definitely a sense of nostalgia as I watched this film, as I would notice little details that had made their way from the film to the attraction. The film isn’t that great, but I can understand its inclusion on this list.

If you had told me that The African Queen was basically about using the titular boat as a bomb against a German gunboat during World War I, I would have laughed in your face. However, that IS the plot: Katherine Hepburn commands Humphrey Bogart to pilot them down a dangerous river in a barely-holding-it-together boat with the intent to convert it and its supplies into a torpedo against a German gunboat. Exactly why Hepburn is so hell-bent on this mission is never made explicitly clear: there’s some dialogue about the gunship preventing the British from attacking, but why it falls on Hepburn and Bogart isn’t explained (I’ll admit that it’s probably just one of those “just go with it so that there’s a movie” things, which is generally fine).

Katherine Hepburn

After the last few films featuring Hepburn on this list, it’s nice to see a more subdued version of her here (I think I’m STILL exhausted from her performance in Bringing Up Baby). Here, she still plays a headstrong woman who won’t let anything (or anyone) stop her from achieving her aims, but she does so with a touch of classic British restraint, so it’s a nice counterpoint to what I’ve seen from her before.

Humphrey Bogart

Bogart, on the other hand continues his pendulum swing of quality. After enjoying his work in Casablanca and being underwhelmed in The Maltese Falcon and The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, he improves here in a role that lets him express some range. I didn’t really buy the romantic connection the two characters had (indeed, I wouldn’t be surprised if, once back in civilization, the two quickly drift apart), but both actors give it their all to sell it and do admittedly have a better connection than in other films we’ve seen here.

Long shot of the boat in the rapids

This is a very action-packed movie with continual rises and falls in tension throughout. What is interesting, however, is how that action is portrayed. For example, in both sequences involving the boat traversing some rapids (yes, it happens twice; it’s as if the writer said “And then what?” and the director said “I don’t know…THROW SOME MORE RAPIDS AT THEM!”), the framing cuts between close-ups of the actors and extreme wide shots with obvious miniatures. Now, I get it: it’s the early 1950’s, there’s no computers, so certain shots just can’t be achieved yet. But, I do have to imagine that there could have been SOME way to achieve some medium shots that show the dangers and feature the actors. The reliance on close-ups and wide shots only actually took me out of the drama of the scene.

Look at this dumb effect

There are also some effects that, even for 1950, are a little laughable. The biggest of these is the Attack of the Mosquitos sequence, when Hepburn and Bogart are besieged by more mosquitos than I think there are on the planet. The sequence is fine, except the effect of the mosquitos is achieved by using a filter (honestly, it looks like a bad Snapchat filter) with just grey-ish marks, which look nothing like mosquitos. It was hilarious for all the wrong reasons, and I don’t know why that sequence is even included in the film if it could only be achieved so poorly.

The African Queen was better than I expected, but I do admit that nostalgia plays a big role in that. Jungle Cruise holds a special place in my heart, even if there are things that are a bit ridiculous about it. Seeing the film that helped inspire a place that taught me a lot about myself was always going to be a special moment, but I do think the film, as bonkers as the plot is, is a fun ride.

FINAL GRADE: B