The African Queen

Produced by Romulus Films Ltd., released 1951 by United Artists, color 35mm negative, 1.33:1 screen ratio, mono sound, 105 mins., Laserdisc released 1993.

Rose's map

1909 map

Production:

• Directed by John Huston
• Screenplay by John Huston and James Agee and Peter Viertel, from the 1935 novel by C.S. Forester
• Produced by Sam Spiegel
• Cinematography by Jack Cardiff
• Film Editing by Ralph Kemplen
• Sound Editing by Eric Wood

Cast:

• Humphrey Bogart as Charlie Allnut
• Katharine Hepburn as Rose Sayer
• Robert Morley as Rev. Samuel Sayer
• Peter Bull as Captain of Louisa
• Theodore Bikel as First Officer
• Walter Gotell as Second Officer
• Peter Swanwick as First Officer of Shona
• Richard Marner as Second Officer of Shona

Notes:

Although based on a novel, and filmed in Uganda, this adventure narrative was about German East Africa in World War I. The names of places and characters were fictitious in the film, but the British did mount a heroic campaign to defeat the German gunboats on Lake Tanganyka.

Sources:

• Credits from the IMDB for the title:  The African Queen
• Review by Tim Dirks
• WWI in Africa
• Farwell, Byron. The Great War in Africa, 1914-1918. New York : Norton, 1986.
• Foden, Giles. Mimi and Toutou Go Forth: the Bizarre Battle of Lake Tanganyika. London : Michael Joseph, 2004.
• Hodges, Geoffrey. The Carrier Corps: Military Labor in the East African Campaign, 1914-1918. New York : Greenwood Press, 1986.

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