The African Queen

Saw this at the BFI in London recently and it looks superb on a big screen. Essentially a two-hander with screen legends Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn who have to escape the approaching WWI German East African forces by sailing down a river on a boat held together by chewing gum and a lot of good luck! Robert Morley has a small role at the start, and plays it to a "T" - setting us up for a cracking adventure yarn that ends up being the most unlikely romance you will ever see. John Huston has done a brilliant job with CS Forrester's characters - they are engaging, the trip is enthralling and the ending, though a tad predictable, brings a smile to your face. Originally slated for David Niven and Bette Davis, but hard to imagine they would have been near half so good!

**A film too American in an Africa still dominated by Europeans.** The film is set in colonial Africa during the First World War, near the Lake Tanganyika area, where the borders of the colonies of Rhodesia (British), Belgian Congo and Tanganyika (German) were formed. It all begins with the German attack on a native Rhodesian village where Protestant missionaries were based. After the attacks, the place is visited by a British boatman, owner of a steam barge called “African Queen” and which is apparently dedicated to carrying out river transport. He collects the deceased missionary's sister, and together they decide to go to the lake and attack a German military ship that is blocking the passage of British ships. Currently forgotten, it is one of those cheap adventure films that puts unlikely people doing unnecessary acts of heroism and that anyone in their right mind would refrain from doing if they could. This is the main problem with the script, and the only thing the film really gets wrong: there is no logical reason that leads them to act and attack the Germans, other than idiotic jingoism. Furthermore, it is a film full of good adventures and moments of humor and danger that will certainly entertain the public. The film features two enormous actors in a smaller and less significant effort for their respective careers: Humphrey Bogart is excellent and sufficiently credible, except for the fact that he is obviously North American and is in the middle of Africa, which was completely controlled by the Europeans. A British actor and a British character would have been more convincing. Katherine Hepburn, in turn, gives us work of great strength and personality. I also felt that she might not be the best choice for the character, since there is no place for Americans in this film. The actress, however, puts in a lot of effort and does a very good job. Technically, the film has many merits: filmed in Africa, the technical team went through enormous difficulties of all kinds to get the production to a successful conclusion, and this includes a series of tropical diseases and logistical difficulties that we can hardly imagine. The cinematography is extraordinary, and the film is visually beautiful. The sets and costumes are convincing, and the soundtrack works well.