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 used to describe John Huston’s The African Queen (1951). However, while all these words undoubtedly fit, I’d choose slightly different ones for 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 whom 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 to direct and Bogart for the role of Charlie. Bogart then brought 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, bankrolled the movie despite significant risks, including Huston’s wish to film on location, partly because he preferred 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 made The African Queen one of the riskiest shoots of the late 40s and early 50s. But when you added Huston’s wish to film in Technicolour, many argued 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 where there is nowhere for its two leads to run, and its tight, 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.
EXTRAS
NEW Audio Commentary with Script Supervisor Angela Allen and Ian Christie
NEW Sir John Woolf on the Making of The African Queen
Audio commentary by cinematographer Jack Cardiff
Embracing Chaos: Making The African Queen, a comprehensive documentary about the making of the film (60 mins)
A video interview with co-screenwriter Peter Viertel, produced by Eureka Entertainment
Video interview with critic Kim Newman, produced by Eureka Entertainment
Video interview with historian Neil Sinyard, produced by Eureka Entertainment
2010 NFT Q&A with Anjelica Huston and script supervisor Angela Allen ©BFI
1981 NFT / Guardian interview with John Huston ©BFI
Lux Radio Theatre adaptation from 1952 with Humphrey Bogart and Greer Garson
Behind the Scenes Stills Gallery
Original theatrical trailer
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