C. S. Forester's Film: The African Queen

1997 Words4 Pages

The African Queen is one of those films that requires very little background knowledge for the average viewer to fully enjoy it. With that said, if one is to appreciate the film to its fullest capacity, they should take the time to learn about the effort, dedication, and sweat that was poured into this film to make it what it is today. The African Queen movie was an adaptation of C.S. Forester’s Novel inspired by an event from 1915 where two motors were taken from London to the deep jungles of Africa to help deal with German Vessels (Meyers). The rights of the film were first owned by Columbia and Warner Brothers who planned to make it a blockbuster hit. Before Katharine Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart were cast as the iconic duo, the studios considered …show more content…

His choice to film far away from home was based on the idea that the actors would give a much better performance if the hardships they faced were real, and they sure were. Much of the cast and crew did not anticipate the dangers and illnesses that awaited them in the Belgian Congo to the extent they had faced. Throughout their 7-week trip, most of the cast became sick from contaminated water and Malaria. Hepburn, who ended up suffering from dysentery, got one of the worst cases during the trip and was constantly vomiting between takes (Cosgrove). A few cast members were sent back to England because of how severe their illnesses were. Oddly enough, the only two to not become sick were Huston and Bogart, who spent most of the day drinking whiskey (“The African Queen - Bogart, Hepburn”). The first day of shooting was the most hectic for the group according to Hepburn. Hepburn described the first day as, “Five cars and trucks were needed to take the cast, crew and equipment 3.5 miles from Biondo to the Ruiki River. There, they loaded everything onto boats and sailed another 2.5 miles to the shooting location,” (“History of a Classic”). The filming process took much longer than anticipated because tempers were constantly flaring, the heavy amounts of rain would push filming days back, and the boat itself was frequently breaking down while filming. Though, once they settled on location, everyone began to settle in and enjoy their time soon enough. Of course the only one to truly not enjoy the trip was Bogart who dreaded the below average food, rainy weather, and the jungle insects that constantly pestered him. He usually spent his time in the tent drinking, reading, or sleeping while Hepburn joined Huston on his dangerous hunting Safari’s (????). Bacall was offered to join the two on

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