The African Queen Restored

This year is the 60th anniversary of John Huston’s The African Queen, and the film, which has been seen in a pasty muddy-colored print for decades has finally been restored to its original brilliant luster. You can buy the restored version now on DVD and Blu-Ray, and if you’re in the New York area, it’s playing at the Film Forum for one week only: February 11 to February 17th.

Here is my review of the restored version of The African Queen, up now at Capital New York.

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24 Responses to The African Queen Restored

  1. Charles J. Sperling says:

    In a perfect world, it’d be a double-feature with Clint Eastwood’s “White Hunter, Black Heart.”

    (Though maybe it shouldn’t be: Eastwood was very good as John Wilson — the scene where Wilson humbles the bigoted Mrs. MacGregor without raising his voice is a tour de force — but I never had the feeling that he understood what made John Huston what he was. Malcolm Lowry said that there were dozens of writers who could draw characters for you until they were blue in the face for every one writer who could tell you something new about hellfire. Does a man who gets his pictures in on time and usually under budget really comprehend someone who wants to shoot an elephant while on location?)

    You have a knack for making the technical fascinating: when you go into how the magicians perform their feats, I don’t mind learning that it’s not really sorcery at all. In this case, it makes me think that I’d better reserve a ticket for the 12th. (Only fitting when you consider that it’ll be Abraham Lincoln’s birthday and before “The African Queen,” Huston directed “The Red Badge of Courage” with a cast including Audie Murphy and Bill Mauldin.)

    In the spirit of “The Graduate,” I have one word for Bogart’s performance as Charlie Allnut:

    Borborygmus.

    Which means “the rumbling sounds of movement made by the gases in the stomach and intestine.”

    *Life’s* coverage of the 1951 Academy Awards said that Bogart won for his performance as “a borborygmustic bum.” It also expressed surprise that “An American in Paris” won Best Picture.

    In the “Lux Radio Theatre” version, Bogart reprised Charlie, but Greer Garson played Rose.

  2. sheila says:

    // Malcolm Lowry said that there were dozens of writers who could draw characters for you until they were blue in the face for every one writer who could tell you something new about hellfire. Does a man who gets his pictures in on time and usually under budget really comprehend someone who wants to shoot an elephant while on location?//

    Two fascinating thoughts.

    John Huston’s recklessness and bigness was what made him hell (as a father, certainly) but also what made him a genius. I mean, starting out of the gate with Maltese Falcon? This was clearly a bold bold man.

    I saw it at the press screening at the Film Forum, and it really is something else to see the restored version (especially if you’re used to the original). It’s vibrant, bright, and dark where it needs to be dark. I have watched and loved this movie so many times – the performances shine through no matter what – I don’t care if it’s a scratched or shrunk negative – the performances LIVE. But it is so awesome to see it restored – and also to see it HUGE. I hope you get to go! I might go again, so I can see it in a packed house.

  3. Charles J. Sperling says:

    It’s probably just a coincidence that John Huston directed a movie version of Malcolm Lowry’s *Under the Volcano* three years before his death.

    Or is it?

    In 1972, Huston appeared in a magazine ad for Jim Beam with Dennis Hopper: the point of it was that both men’s first directorial effort marked them as someone not to be ignored. I don’t think Hopper lived up to that promise, but Huston certainly did, while having the candor to admit that, say, between 1967-76 he’d made only three movies of which he was proud: “Reflections in a Golden Eye,” “Fat City” and “The Man Who Would Be King.” (Christopher Plummer’s *In Spite of Myself* has some good stories about the last one.)

    “As an actor, he stinks,” James Agee has Bogart saying of Huston, which I always find funny in light of Huston’s chilling performance as Noah Cross in “Chinatown,” if nothing else.

    I’ll be there, for boating in the African Queen is always exhilarating.

  4. Rude1 says:

    Well, I’m no film critic and rarely if ever get all the nuances people talk about, but this is one of my all time favorite movies. In celebration of the 60th, I think I’ll get the ole DVD out and watch it again.

    Thanks for the reminder of such a great film Sheila!!

  5. sheila says:

    Charles – that Agee comment is so funny. Maybe that was the only kind of part he could play – the Chinatown part. Man, he was frightening in that.

    How about the stories of Agee’s screenplay, which was basically all description of the jungle? No dialogue? ha. I love Agee, but I can certainly see him getting sidetracked by Africa itself, and forgetting that the movie needs dialogue/character/plot. A sort of Let Us Now Praise Famous Men for the Belgian Congo.

    Interesting, Huston’s assessment of what work he was proudest of.

  6. sheila says:

    Rude – What “nuance” don’t you understand?

    If you’re a fan of the movie, it might be worth your while to buy the restored version – You’re not gonna believe how those colors pop!

  7. sheila says:

    Charles – I’ve been dying to read that Christopher Plummer book. Just watched New World this past weekend with 2 friends, and am reminded (yet again) how much I love him.

  8. Rude1 says:

    Oh Shelia, you know; I’m just a country boy who likes a good story on film (or in a book). I just don’t usually “get” the reason the lighting was this way, or they used this sort of lens to create a certain something, or by shooting a scene one way, the director was sending a certain message.

    Heck, I don’t know how to explain it other than like any other art form; I don’t know much about it, but I know what I like. (or don’t like) ;-)

    Sort of like in “The Fighter” when they went to the movie, and wound up seeing a foreign film. I felt like “Micky” as they were walking in and the person behind them was talking about how the cinematography was supposed to be fantastic.

    I hope this makes some sort of sense…

  9. sheila says:

    Well, thanks for explaining. Hopefully you’re interested in learning about it, otherwise why would you visit my site? As long as you’re not hostile towards those who talk about it in detail, or take a “well aren’t you hi-falutin'” attitude like the other morons who used to visit me, or the morons I see everywhere in our cultural landscape right now, we should be good.

  10. sheila says:

    Also, it’s INTERESTING why the lighting is the way it is. At least that’s the way I see it. It’s fine if you don’t find it so, but to me, it’s all fascinating. It’s a process, a collaboration.

    It helps that the story (in African Queen) is so ridiculously entertaining. You can have all the beautiful lighting in the world, but if the story you’re trying to tell is a dead duck, no one will care.

  11. Rude1 says:

    Actually, I’m not really interested in learning about all of it, I just don’t worry about the rest of it. I read the stuff that interests me, and the rest I skip over. I’m sure you’re much the same, if something doesn’t interest you, why worry about it?

    I know there’s tons of folks who could care less about equine care or ranch life, but my friends and I can talk or write about it in detail.

    Don’t worry, I’ll never be one of the morons you talk about, I promise!

    The reason I stop by now and then is simply how you write. I enjoy your style and admire the passion you portray; like I’ve always said, I’m a reader not a writer and enjoy reading good writing.

  12. sheila says:

    Rude – you’ve always been nice and sweet every time you comment here. I remember when you tried to show me a diagram of what slalom skiing is all about – member that? And it didn’t come out in the comments section – the formatting got messed up – but it just made me laugh. We had all been saying to one another: “Now … WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON WITH THE SLALOM?” and you swooped in saying, “Okay. Let me break it down for you.”

  13. sheila says:

    Oh my God, I found that slalom post – it was so long ago I thought it might have gotten lost in the upgrade – but here it is!

  14. Rude1 says:

    LOL! Of course I remember that! What fun!

  15. Rude1 says:

    “Rude – you’ve always been nice and sweet every time you comment here.”
    Crap, now I’ll have to change my name…

  16. sheila says:

    hahahahaha

    Rude has always been sweet.

    Huh?

    If you have any questions about skiing or those Warren Miller (or is it Zevon) movies, Rude is your go-to guy.

  17. Rude1 says:

    HAHA! Warren MILLER! Although I do do a mean Werewolves of London!

  18. sheila says:

    hahahaha Warren Zevon, renowned filmmaker of skiing documentaries. Hysterical. I still remember seeing those movies – although I can’t remember where. Some ratty little art-house theatre in providence, RI, I think – the projection was terrible, the quality awful – but my GOD that footage!!!

  19. Rude1 says:

    yeah, those folks are MANIACS!

  20. sheila says:

    Truly insane. Laird-Hamilton insane.

  21. Charles J. Sperling says:

    Sheila:

    I bought *In Spite of Myself* at Film Forum’s “Evening with Christopher Plummer, “and after the event, I had him autograph it. We spoke briefly:

    Me: “So the book’s called *In Spite of Myself.* What do you think you would have done if you’d applied yourself?”

    Plummer: “Don’t ask!”

    We had a good laugh over that and I made sure not to miss him as Leo Tolstoy in “The Last Station” and to see “My Dog Tulip” a second time.

    Agee quotes Bogart on Huston’s acting in the essay, and then notes that Huston gave Claire Trevor some pointers on what sort of dame Gaye Dawn was in “Key Largo” — which won Trevor an Oscar. (As with Leo McCarey winning for “The Awful Truth” rather than for “Make Way for Tomorrow,” I wonder if it was really for “Raw Deal” — I like her better in that.)

    When Huston’s autobiography came out, the *New York Times Book Review* critic credited him with three classics in “The Maltese Falcon,” “The Treasure of the Sierra Madre” and “The Asphalt Jungle” and gave an almost-but-not-quite to “The African Queen.” As Huston shares a birth year with Billy Wilder, who regretted not being able to direct again after 1981, it’s nice to realize that Huston was active until the end, and finished on a high note with “Prizzi’s Honor” and “The Dead.”

    (He was great with us at the time, eh, Gretta?)

    I didn’t know the Agee stories about “The African Queen,” though I had heard some about “Night of the Hunter.” Perhaps he was just a better critic than he was a scenarist, and perhaps he was speaking of himself in *A Death in the Family* when he wrote “Talking to that fool is like trying to put socks on an octopus.”

  22. sheila says:

    Charles – I played Aunt Hannah in an award-winning production of Death in the Family in Chicago and it is one of my favorite experiences as an actress. The moment in the book when she realizes, horrified, that she doesn’t believe in God – !!!!

    I wrote a little bit about it here.

    What a wonderful writer.

  23. D. C. says:

    This is awesome news. It’s funny, because last week I had a sudden urge to start watching Bogie again. I began with Casablanca and ended with The Big Sleep. I definitely have to add this one to the collection. Great review!

  24. sheila says:

    DC – Nice!! I love The Big Sleep!

    May I ask if you’ve seen In a Lonely Place? Not as well-known but it’s my favorite Bogie performance. Check it out!

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