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The
African Queen
There
is a scene in John Huston's The African Queen that
displays near-perfect acting. Charlie Allnut (Humphrey
Bogart) and Rose Sayer (Katharine Hepburn) are stranded
on Allnut's boat, the river too low for navigation. In
desperation Charlie jumps overboard and begins actually
to tow the Queen, the rope held over his shoulder.
Exhausted, he comes back aboard, when Rose spots leeches
on his back; she screams and he rips off his shirt,
frantic and disgusted. Rose applies salt and helps remove
the creatures from his torso and legs. Here Bogart's
skill shines. Shivering in revulsion, Charlie says how he
hates leeches, and Hepburn's Rose shows her support and
sympathy. Then the scene hits an even higher plateau when
Charlie realizes he must resume towing; Rose looks on
wordlessly as Charlie once again subjects himself to the
terrible duty. The mute agony works as well as any
emotion in any scene in memory.
Of course the chemistry between these two actors is
famous. Theirs is the quintessential love-hate
relationship; other plot elements are secondary compared
to what goes on between Rose and Charlie. It's what makes
us care about the characters and what happens to them.
Certainly our distance would not be as close to the leads
if they both were not so well-acted and subtle in many
parts of their performances. Rose seems attracted to
Allnut from the start, when he arrives at the Methodist
mission with a mail delivery and has tea with Rose and
her preacher brother Samuel Sayer (Robert Morley).
Although Charlie's stomach is growling and Charlie
himself seems terribly out of place in this fine parlor,
Rose is attracted to his personality. Even after Samuel
dies after the Germans burn the village and displace his
native congregation, Rose is willing to accept Charlie's
kindnesses. He buries the reverend, coaxes Rose aboard
the Queen, and sets off down the river.
One fascinating aspect is the ripples of war that have
touched even the shores of Africa after the outbreak of
World War One. The central premise of the plot - at least
the part that will contain more action than character
interplay - involves traveling the river into its mouth,
a large African lake. Charlie has told Rose about a
German warship, the Louisa, which has been carried
overland in sections and assembled, and now with its big
gun controls the region. Quickly Rose questions "Mr.
Allnut" about the supplies aboard his own craft, and
arrives at a scheme in which they will do their part for
the crown, and sink the German gunboat! This serves as a
singular goal for the plot, and assists in highlighting
the development of the love story: after all, Charlie and
Rose are alone for most of the film, going through their
ups and downs. A reminder of the importance of the
romance is the motivation it supplies to Charlie. Would
he have straightened the shaft and rebuilt the propeller,
had it not been for his love of "Rosie"? Would
he have shot rapids and braved rifle fire?
Much has been written about the making of The African
Queen, the seeming high adventure and romance of Huston
and Bogart and Hepburn filming in Africa. The whole
shooting smacks of the hyped atmosphere of a Hemingway
safari. But judged purely by what we see on the film
that's been passed down to us, the story holds up well
and the acting holds up as almost flawless. Perhaps the
far ending is a bit abrupt, but the climax has been
reached, and the viewer has a good idea where the
characters are headed. After watching Bogart and Hepburn,
it is hard to disagree with the 1999 American Film
Institute poll that placed them as the number one male
and female actor in the first fifty years of film
history.
Related
'African Queen' Links:
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 The
greatest adventure a man ever lived...with a woman!
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