The African Queen (1951)

Every minute of The African Queen is a masterclass in performance and direction. Studiocanal will release John Huston’s classic The African Queen (1951) on 4K UHD for the very first time on October 21.

Charming, endearing and beautiful are just a few of the words that have been used to describe John Huston’s The African Queen (1951). However, while all these words undoubtedly fit, my choice of words would be slightly different when thinking about Huston’s humorous adventure epic: bonkers, adventurous, and undoable, yet triumphant. The African Queen was a movie that shouldn’t have worked, from nightmare on-location filming in Africa to the transportation of cumbersome Technicolour cameras, a limited independent budget, and two stars who a McCarthy-obsessed America had labelled as potential communists. But against all the odds, Huston’s film, starring the legendary Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn, became one of the most loved and admired films ever made.

A movie adaptation of C.S. Forester’s novel had been on the cards for several years in Hollywood, with Warner Bros initially showing some interest. But producer Sam Spiegel picked up the rights, despite warnings of “Don’t make it!” and “You’ll go bankrupt!” Spiegel already had Huston on board the ramshackle boat to direct and Bogart for the role of Charlie. And it was Bogart who would then bring Hepburn on board, whom he had always wanted to work alongside. However, despite a cast and director, Spiegel didn’t have a budget or a working screenplay until James Agee (Night of the Hunter) came aboard.

With Hepburn and Bogart facing accusations of communism in the United States, England would become the production home of The African Queen under the newly formed Romulus Films, run by John and Joshua Woolf. Their money plus loans would bankroll the movie despite significant risks, including Huston’s wish to film on location, partly due to his love of shooting wildlife rather than filming it.

Filming in the Congo and Uganda, the hazards of a small boat, rapid rivers, crocodiles, dysentery, heat and unpredictable wildlife ensured The African Queen became one of the riskiest shoots of the late 40s and early 50s. But when you added to that Huston’s wish to film in Technicolour, many argued that the film was all but impossible. Yet, The African Queen was triumphant, earning multiple Oscar nominations, with Humphry Bogart winning Best Actor over Marlon Brando’s tour de force performance in A Streetcar Named Desire.

The plot is relatively simple: a gin-swilling miner, Charlie Allnut (Bogart) and his ramshackle boat, the African Queen, become a taxi for a missionary, Rose Sayer (Hepburn), in German East Africa in 1914, as war breaks out across Europe. Thrown together, this unlikely pair decides their only course of action is to take The African Queen down uncharted rivers to a large Central African lake, where they will use homemade torpedoes to sink a German gunboat. It’s a story about two people from different worlds finding each other and love along a treacherous river as they attempt to make a dent in the German army, who have stolen their lives, burnt villages and destroyed any belief in hope.

The African Queen is, in essence, a two-person play set against the backdrop of Africa’s wild waterways and diverse wildlife. It’s a film with nowhere to run for its two leads, and its tight and beautifully crafted screenplay by the late James Agee is a work of art only Bogart and Hepburn could pull off. Every minute of The African Queen is a masterclass in performance and direction.

The African Queen is one of the most treasured films in cinema history, and now, Studiocanal’s exquisite 4K UHD highlights the sheer power of Huston’s film and its radiant Technicolour beauty like never before. Studiocanal’s stunning 4K version comes with a host of brand-new extras, including a detailed ‘making-of’ documentary that is absolutely fascinating. This Studiocanal Vintage Classics treat is a ‘must-own’ slice of film history.