Customer Reviews

The Making of the African Queen: Or How I Went to Africa With Bogart, Bacall and Huston and Almost Lost My Mind

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The title leaves no question as to what this book is about. "The Making of the African Queen: Or How I Went to Africa With Bogart, Bacall and Huston and Almost Lost My Mind"--that really sets the tone of this book, wherein Hepburn gives an account of the making of a Hollywood movie, and tells of her experience in Africa (where most of the movie was filmed). This, her first book, is a very relaxed, informal affair, more like a friendly conversation really, as if you had met Hepburn and told her you were interested in Africa, and she started, "Oh I was in Africa once..." It's Hollywood in Africa, 1951. Some of what she writes is now a kind of history: where else might you learn that airplanes once had sleeping-berths like Pullman railway cars. Of course, mostly there is movie-making: working with director John Huston, and co-stars Humphrey Bogart and Robert Morley; how the cast and crew managed their equipment and wardrobes on location; the boat itself and the Ruiki river; living conditions in the temporary camp (including some very practical advice concerning improvised toilet facilities), colonial-era hotels and travel, and so on. The hardcover edition is illustrated with dozens of photographs. An interesting and charming book for anyone with an interest in Africa, classic Hollywood movies, or Hepburn, Huston, or Bogart.

Peter Viertel, who worked with Huston on "The African Queen" also wrote a book about the experience titled "White Hunter, Black Heart" which Clint Eastwood made into a movie.

This is one those books that is really autobiographic - it seems no one has altered or interfered with anything. If you have seen many movies with Katharine Hepburn, you can actually hear her tell the tale of how she survived the African jungle and actually loved it.

She is the first one to say that she is a bit of a pain in the neck, bossy and interfering. And always worried about the details. And she freely admits that when there is no bathroom, she's gotta go.

She lively discribes how the cities look, how it feels to be in the jungle. Explaining that taking a shower there is like angels touching your body. And that there is nothing worse than having to go to the bathroom (in somewhat of a rush...) and finding a black mamba snake there. She was so shocked she had to throw up. And the throwing up keeps up until after they come back in England.

What struck me as most odd was that she doesn't hold back. She told off Huston often, refused to help Lauren Bacall with the food, carried the mirror around and often thought what the hell she was doing there. But it was fascinating. Reading about it is fascinating, you want to go there yourself and look what it is like in real-life (instead I watched The African Queen for the 164th time).

The photographs in the book are really worth looking at - they give you a feeling of actually being there. Seeing Kate washing her hair with her 'house-boy' standing by, the costumes close-up, the little comments next to the pictures, one of 'Bogie Allnut' - Bogie laughing out loud wearing his costume and of 'Rosie Hepburn' - Kate sitting on the railing, wearing slacks, holding Rosie's English umbrella...

It really shows that Katharine Hepburn had many talents - she is certainly able to write an extraordinary tale of adventure, making movies, making fast friends, overcoming problems (the sinking of The African Queen, giant antz, losing twenty pounds by drinking water, almost being killed by a wild boar) and loving it all.

Katherine Hepburn's lively account of her experiences on location in Africa is very short, but packed with amusing and exciting incidents. Her style of writing is very distinctive, short abrupt sentences which vividly describe the inconveniences, discomforts and sometimes dangers of life in the jungle. There are some alarming encounters with wildlife, whether it's being attacked by hornets, finding a snake in the bathroom, or watching a herd of elephants stampede by a mere twenty-five feet away. The eccentricites and charms of her human companions are clearly and amusingly described as well, as are all the difficulties encountered in the making of this wonderful film.

The book is illustrated with lots of fascinating photographs takne on location, including some beautiful ones of Miss Hepburn (I particularly like the ones of her 'luxurious jungle dressing room'), and should delight any fan of The African Queen or of Katherine Hepburn.

I have always rather liked Katharine Hepburn, and this movie. This is a rather nice "making-of" book. It is mildly humourous, good-natured, and nicely illustrated. While I wouldn't go out of my way to buy it or keep, I did really enjoy flicking through it.

This is really Hepburn's diary/account of the making of the African Queen and all the attendent problems of filming a movie in an equatorial country, and specifically in this case, in the continent of Africa. The rain, the mud, the mosquitos, the director, the other actors.

Hepburn does come across as being slightly removed from it all, she has a slightly distant and almost superior tone to her writing - for instance she is always up first in the morning and likes eating alone, and then from her hut she watches everyone else going about their morning. It is like she is Jane Goodall analysing Chimpanzees at times.

However she does lavish praise where praise is due, and she is not above laughing at herself at times either and so I felt fine about forgiving her the occassional remoteness.

This was fun to flick through.

Hepburn didn't set out to win any literary prizes with this book. The Making of the African Queen is an informal work, without any tight structure or organization; at times it can get pretty thin. She meanders along from one reminiscence to another and dwells on whatever memories catch her fancy or amuse her. It's as if she were sitting opposite you talking, rambling along with little smiles and devilish laughs.

She jumps along from topic to topic chronologically, starting from the offer she received for the part of Rose and ending with her recollection of Bogart's Oscar win. Some of the content she touches on is expected - observations of Bogart and Bacall, the mercurial Huston, and the rigors of filming in Africa. But then there are other anecdotes you don't expect, such as her bathroom-related anxieties (she was a urologist's daughter), her musings on different kinds of water (I loved those descriptions and that she would notice things like that), and her various peculiarities of taste, like her delight in finding out that her cabin would overlook all the others in the base camp in Africa.

What I liked best about the book is that I got a sense of Hepburn from how she wrote and what she chose to write about. She likes to take on a dry, amused tone; she does not spread gossip about her colleagues or supply salacious details, though she does make general observations of their characters. At one point, she writes a wickedly clever description of Bogie and Bacall having a spat, something along the lines of "two cats locked deliciously in the same cage". She is largely generous in her praise of the people she worked with, and is fond of them all, though she doesn't conceal those moments when she felt exasperated with them (Huston gets up her nose more than a few times). There are times when she's aloof and remote, preferring solitude, and overall she gives the impression of someone who won't suffer company merely for the sake of having company, but likes to go out on her own exploring or simply thinking; at other times, however, she enjoys lengthy conversations, particularly with Huston. She's aware of her foibles and laughs at them; they don't seem to trouble her all that much.

Fans of Hepburn, Bogart, Bacall, and/or Huston would perhaps enjoy this little book; so might people who liked The African Queen or are interested generally in classic movies and stars. The book sports lovely photos of the cast, director, and shooting locales, and Hepburn is our link with that older era of movie-making and its wonderful characters.

Hepburn takes to pen, and she's as witty, and quick, and honest as she must have been in life. Her style is very conversational, light, and informative. She has an eye for detail...and is able to make a leap into the world of men...especially her talented director John Huston. Her sense of adventure, humor, fun, and high spirits comes through after all these years.

This is a classic film. One of her best, and one of Huston's and Bogart's best. In the end, and as always, it's the humanity of the players, that comes through...and it's simply fascinating seeing just how all the creative components, necessary to make a classic film, DO, in real time, come together. And how some of its success is planned, and guided by insightful and creative men and women...and how some of it is pure serendipity. She was right to make the effort to give us this vital perspective.

It's a short read, but quite informative and high spirited. Her narrative is also nicely augmented by goo photos, some of them her own. Save this read, for a few enjoyable hours of taking pure pleasure in a project well done.

The book came in excellent condition, especially for an older, used book and I've greatly enjoyed reading and browsing through the many wonderful pictures. It is a fascinating glimpse into the lives of several of the world's greater actors from the telling point of one of the greatest, Katharine Hepburn. For anyone interested in a fun story and Hollywood history, I would recommend this book highly.

A stream-of-conciousness romp through an adventure in Africa. Great insights into the lives of stars in an exotic setting putting up with conditions that modern stars don't have to.

What a lady.

The book is just plain fun and very Katie Hepburn. Lots of insight into the making of the Africian Queen. Excellent purchase!

After reading this book I really like Lauren Bacall. The author, Ms. Hepburn, while setting out to write about movie making, reveals an insight into herself. Her primary interests are Creative Control, and Creature Comfort. Ms. Bacall, who probably didn't even get a line in the rolling credits in the movie, chipped in whenever a team player was needed - something Ms Hepburn was not.
If you are a fan of the movie, this is a must read. There are pieces of fascinating detail, but so much of the ebb and flow of the story missing that you are left wanting more. I never read any hint of anyone, especially the author, in danger of loosing their minds. Descriptions of the locality, weather and working conditions are exquisite.