When we consider some of the major male movie stars today (George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, Denzel Washington), a bevy of talented pretty boys, it’s hard to imagine that Humphrey Bogart could have ever been deemed the most successful and sought after movie star of his time. Given his short stature, hardened face, and speech impediment, one could imagine that at best, he’d simply be categorized as a character actor, much like Peter Lorre of his day or Philip Seymour Hoffman of today. All scarily talented, but not the type to make the girls swoon.
But the reality is, Bogie was as big in life as any matinee idol, preceding the Paul Newmans, Marlon Brandos and Robert Redfords, and out-manning the Clark Gables, Montgomery Cliffs and Cary Grants of his day by sheer masculinity and raw power. Not to put down these other actors, they offered very specific styles and vision. But Bogie was an improbable star and a master of his craft, with the ability to show cold-blooded malice yet raw vulnerability at the same time.
I have many favorite Bogart movies, starting with Dead End and Angels With Dirty Faces, both of which he expertly displayed the gangster psyche so well, it not only pigeon-holed him into that role for years, but also turned those gangster roles into quintessential Bogie personas, such that other actors like James Cagney, Edward G. Robinson and especially George Raft would try to buck playing what they called “Humphrey Bogart-type criminals”.
Other favorite Bogie films of mine of course include Treasure of Sierra Madre, The Maltese Falcon, To Have and Have Not, and Casablanca, which even if you are not a film lover, odds are you can recite most of that script (“You played it for her, now play it for me…” is a line sampled in many hip hop tracks!).
But by far my most favorite Bogart film is The African Queen, in which he plays a lazy, crass boat captain who drinks too much, Charlie Allnut, opposite the ever upright, dignified and uptight missionary, Rose Sayer, played exquisitely by Katherine Hepburn. What is appealing about this movie is its unlikeliness – the star power of two aging actors, the setting in the Congo in the days were large Technicolor film productions were only just beginning to catch on, the dynamic of a film where the majority of the action happens in a boat with only two people to watch…
The film is about Charlie and Rosie who are thrown together after the Nazis burn down the missionary that Rosie and her brother Samuel have built in the village of Kunghdu in German East Africa. Samuel is beaten and eventually dies from fever, leaving Rosie to flee with Charlie down the river in Charlie’s small rickety steam boat, the African Queen. Charlie mentions to Rose that the Germans have a gunboat, the Louisa, which patrols a large lake downriver, blocking any British attacks. Rose comes up with a plan to convert the Queen into a torpedo boat, and sink the Louisa. Despite Charlie’s repeated attempts to sway Rosie, since navigating the river may be suicidal (hippos, alligators, swarms of mosquitos, as well as deadly rapids), Rose is insistent.
One can’t help but be drawn in by both Charlie and Rosie ole’ girl (as he affectionately calls her) from the initial hilariously awkward scene at the beginning of the film when Charlie delivers the mail to Rosie and Samuel, then sits uncomfortably during tea while his stomach loudly growls. “Ain’t a thing I can do about it!” he smiles while Rosie and her brother try to ignore it. The abrasive crassness of Charlie and Rosie’s embarrassed reactions creates funny banter, but also reveals two personalities that eventually fit like puzzle pieces.
It’s a bumpy ride to that realization though, including a fantastic scene where Charlie gets sloshed and insults Rosie, calling her an old maid – Bogie’s delivery of those drunken lines was the best drunken performance to date (far better than Gable or Grant who often clearly looked like they were acting drunk – perhaps the fact that Bogie was a huge drinker helped). Katherine’s pained expression at the insult was pitch perfect, with her chin trembling as she proudly fought back hurt tears. But the best part of the scene was when Charlie woke from his inebriated sleep to find Rosie pouring out every bottle of his whiskey. His head throbbing and he unable to get up and do anything about it leads to the classic line: “Oh Missus, have a heart.”
Through every brush with death, both characters find themselves drawn to each other and surprise themselves in such a sweet and honest way. But equally as intriguing was the filming process itself: John Huston who had already directed Bogie in Treasure of the Sierra Madre and The Maltese Falcon, were two peas in a pod – both very direct, hard drinking men’s men, they were the only two on the African set who did not become terribly ill. They credited that to only drinking whiskey the entire time they were in Africa. Poor Katherine and Lauren Bacall, Bogie’s young wife, and most of the crew all got sick as dogs throughout the entire shoot.
Although Huston and Bogie were great friends who worked very well together, they did clash over the infamous leech scene, where Charlie has to get out and drag the boat through the quagmire. Huston brought a leech breeder on the set, but Bogie was having none of it. He refused to have a single live leech on his body (who could blame him), and instead Huston had to put adhesive on Bogie and place rubber leeches on him. All the close ups of body shots were actually the leech breeder with real leeches sucking on him!
Although Bogie worked constantly and was extremely well respected by Hollywood, the Oscar remained elusive to him. With his portrayal of Charlie Allnut in The African Queen, he was rightly confident that he would finally get the recognition he was due. He had only been nominated once before and that was for his role in Casablanca 12 years earlier. The 1953 Oscars had some serious contenders: the biggest of them was A Streetcar Named Desire, which would take home the Best Actress award for Vivien Leigh, Best Supporting Actor for Karl Malden, Best Supporting Actress for Kim Hunter, Best Art Direction (Black & White). But when Bogie’s name was called, Lauren (who was pregnant with their daughter Leslie at the time) jumped up and screamed! Bogie was quite humbled, but a few weeks later in his typical keeping it real style, he was quoted, “The best way to survive an Oscar is to never try to win another one.”
Although Bogie tended to bristle at any comparisons between his acting style and newcomers like Brando and Newman who were flexing their Method-based approaches, honestly The African Queen showed how Bogie was evolving into a similar realism-based dynamic. You can see in scenes where Bogie and Katherine talk over each other in overlapping dialogue, giving the feel of a normal everyday conversation. It was clear that Bogie was keeping pace with more contemporary performance styles.
The African Queen is a treasure not to be missed. A particularly touching scene at the end of the film is when Charlie asks the Nazi captain of the Louisa who has captured both him and Rosie and is preparing to hang them to marry them before the hanging. Rosie’s response and the sensitivity on Charlie’s face is pure Hollywood gold and truly unforgettable. And when their plan to bomb the Louisa accidentally comes to fruition, we all celebrate as they swim off to safety in the Belgian Congo.
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