A British missionary in German East Africa, Rose Sayer finds her safety in jeopardy as World War I breaks out. Hoping to evade the increasingly hostile colonial Germans, she accepts an invitation aboard the African Queen, a small steamboat captained by grumbly and rough Canadian Charlie Allnut. Allnut calculates that they’re well provisioned to hide along the river and wait out the war, but Rose isn’t interested in idling. Upon hearing that the path downriver is blocked by the German gunboat the Königin Luise, Rose proposes that the African Queen be converted into a torpedo to help Jolly Old England in her fight. Allnut isn’t inclined to risk his neck (and his dear boat) for the persnickety Rose. But the two weather their share of river dangers (from rapids, to animals, mosquitos, mucky reeds, mechanical failure, German snipers, Victorian social mores, and Allnut’s special brand of alcoholism) and eventually grow beyond tolerance to find understanding and love in the most hopeless of circumstances.
As far as 71 year old adventure romance films go, I really loved this flick. I got to be honest, I went into it with some trepidation, fearing the film would be really problematic. And while there’s all sorts of things that didn’t age the best, most of them just happen to be the special effects. And yet, they were never bad enough to fully pull me out of the character story. Charlie and Rose are the perfect archetypes for strong-willed, opposites-attracting characters. They’re very clearly Han and Leia, 25 years before Han and Leia. The setting was rich and authentic, and clearly worth every stomachache and dollar of this challenging, on-location, technicolor shoot. There were some pacing issues (we spent too much time in the reeds) and some eyebrow raising deus ex machina. But in general, it was funny, heartwarming, adventurous escapism—really my favorite type of movie.
Oh yes, and this is the original Jungle Cruise movie.