The African Queen

Tags

1950's, Adventure, Humphrey Bogart, John Huston, Katharine Hepburn, Robert Morley

The sensational Crystal is hosting a blogathon dedicated to the talents of icons Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn. I was more than happy to join in and celebrate the fineness of these two stars. For my celebration of Miss Hepburn, I decided to review the excellent adventure that is The African Queen. The next review for Spencer Tracy will be of Broken Lance.

Film Title

The African Queen

Director

John Huston

Starring

• Humphrey Bogart as Charlie Allnut
• Katharine Hepburn as Rose Sayer
• Robert Morley as Reverend Samuel Sayer

Filmed largely on location in well documented circumstances and benefiting from the direction John Huston and pairing of Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn, The African Queen is high adventure that remains evergreen and always exciting.

It is 1914 in German East Africa and prim spinster Rose Sayer is along with her Reverend brother Samuel working as missionaries with a local village. With the First World War occurring at this point, uncertainty rises and escalates when the Germans set upon the village and burn it down. An injured Samuel submits to fever and quickly dies, leaving Rose devastated. Hope comes in the unlikely form of gin-swigging and uncouth tramp steamer owner Charlie Allnut; who delivers supplies to many villages and has met Rose before. Taking pity on her, he takes her aboard his steamer, known as The African Queen. Immediately, the two clash over a difference of opinion and anything they can. Rose is a well-bred, respectable lady who doesn’t take kindly to Charlie’s man about the world behaviour, while Charlie finds his lay about lifestyle challenged by a woman he considers prissy and obstinate. As they continue down the river, their bickering temporarily stops as Rose unusually suggests helping the War effort. Knowing that a German patrol ship blocks any path or form of attack later down the river, Rose suggests fashioning some of Charlie’s supplies into an array of combatants in order to sink the ship. Charlie thinks the idea is ridiculous at first, but getting to know Rose, agrees to her terms. Thus resumes the sniping and arguments as their journey to adventure is fraught with hot weather, dangerous tides and animals. Over this time of surviving the river, Charlie and Rose begin to fall in love, after much reluctance to acknowledge such feelings.

John Huston is the captain of this movie and his maverick spirit is never far from view. Choosing to shoot largely on location in Africa posed difficulties, but his sense of fun and blend of adventure, romance and humour is ideally pitched and depicted to such a loving degree. The initial set up is well done, but The African Queen truly gets going once both Rose and Charlie are on the eponymous boat and the oil-water dynamic sets in. Observing them clash due to different upbringings and divides is what gives The African Queen its playful spirit that no amount of time can diminish. Their impulsive plan to thwart the Germans is daring and the stuff of a Boy’s Own Adventure; ranking it for me as definite must see movie for anyone who hasn’t yet had the pleasure of viewing this classic. We have so many memorable moments to entertain here including riding through the rapids, Rose applying a multitude of salt to Charlie’s leech infested body and the overall journey down the river are just some of the highlights from this gloriously engaging adventure. There’s nary a dull moment as the script and energy keep things bubbling at a nice, exciting temperature. The African Queen is practically a roller coaster on water, with every turn bringing with it gorgeous views, multiple dangers and romance for our two principal characters. The location shooting, which has been extremely well documented for its tribulations, that ultimately added with the flavour of the film, make it adventure and fun of the highest denomination. A grand but always puckish score is the great accompaniment for Rose and Charlie down the river.

Humphrey Bogart collected an Oscar for his winning portrayal of a rough and ready but dissolutely charming captain. With his cheeky grin and gruffness being offset by the fact that he’s really a decent guy underneath it all, Bogart makes the role his own. Katharine Hepburn is equally as excellent with a blend of uptight primness and burgeoning spiritedness that is most accomplished. Hepburn is sharp, strong yet vulnerable and full of life, a mix that she inhabits with vigor. Watching as Rose emerges from her refined nature to becoming a lively heroine of resilience is a great thing and completely down to the greatness of Katharine Hepburn and her talent. And watching the chemistry between the two as they bristle and bicker, before coming to love the other is just another string in the movie’s impressive bow. It’s a shame these two stars didn’t make any other movies together as their chalk and cheese personalities would have been well served if given the chance. Robert Morley appears briefly as Rose’s brother, whose death fills her with a desire to help the War effort in her own way.

The African Queen is fine movie making and a deserved classic that has lost none of its original charm or fun factor. If you haven’t seen it, I implore you to do so for its adventure and pairing of Bogart and Hepburn.

Topkapi

Tags

1960's, Caper, Comedy, Crime, Gilles Ségal, Jules Dassin, Maximilian Schell, Melina Mercouri, Peter Ustinov, Robert Morley, Topkapi

Film Title

Topkapi

Director

Jules Dassin

Starring

• Melina Mercouri as Elizabeth Lipp
• Peter Ustinov as Arthur Simon Simpson
• Maximilian Schell as Walter Harper
• Robert Morley as Cedric Page
• Gilles Ségal as Giulio

Jules Dassin excellently sends up his previous heist movie Rififi with the comedy caper Topkapi. Boasting eccentric characters, an ingenious plan to steal a heavily guarded object from an exotic location and some genuinely nail-biting suspense, it is not a film to be missed for fans of comedic capers and suspense alike.

Elizabeth Lipp is an accomplished and seductive thief who has her eye set on obtaining the emerald encrusted dagger owned by a former sultan in the Topkapi Palace, Istanbul. In order to carry out this daring theft of extreme danger and precision, she enlists the help of intelligent and suave Walter Harper, also an expert in the thief business. He decides to form a crew of amateurs, so it will be harder for the police to track if something goes wrong. He enlists the help of Cedric Page, a British expert in all things mechanical and Giulio, a mute acrobat known as “The Human Fly”. Travelling to another destination, they employ the unwitting Arthur Simon Simpson, a bumbling con artist to drive a car through Turkish customs, which unbeknownst to him is filled with explosives and weapons for the master plan. All seems to be going well until Simpson is stopped at customs and the weapons are discovered. Rather than charging him, the police recruit him to spy on Elizabeth and Walter as they mistakenly believe they are planning an attack on National Security. What ensures is a nail-biting, tongue in cheek movie that keeps you laughing but leaves you on the very edge of your seat.

The direction of Jules Dassin should be praised for raising what could have been a run of the mill heist mill and adding his own, satiric and tension-laden spin on it. The luxurious and eye-catching sets are stunningly mounted, especially the treasury that contains the desired dagger. Only sometimes, such as the blinding opening does the colourful atmosphere distract from the plot, but for the most part the visual style is controlled admirably. The costume design, particularly for Mercouri’s character is outstanding, capturing her enthusiasm for extravagance.

The success of Topkapi is benefited by a cracking script that gives the actors interesting and eclectic characters to play. As the female lead, Melina Mercouri is the seductive Elizabeth, who utilises her sexy appearance and husky voice to great effect when manipulating the men into taking part in the scheme. Peter Ustinov deservedly won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his performance of the hapless Simpson, his many mishaps and inept ventures both funny and endearing to the audience. Maximilian Schell is the smooth-talking brains of the operation who knows the danger yet is excited by the prospect of it. As the other member of the heist, Robert Morely adds humour as the electric expert Cedric and Gilles Ségal adds athleticism and daring quality to his acrobatic character. As mentioned prior, Dassin creates some excellently suspenseful scenes, especially in the almost wordless attempt to retrieve the dagger. Making great use of silence, close-ups and the athletic Giulio hanging by a rope harness whilst trying to evade the censor filled floor, he creates a masterful heist sequence that leaves you panicking as to whether it will all eventually work.

If it’s an old-school crime caper with eccentric characters, stunning locations and a humorous script to boot that you want to watch, I don’t think you can go wrong wit Topkapi.