Here’s a classic Hollywood adventure film starring Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn and directed by John Huston. It’s notable in that they actually did film this at least partially in the Belgian Congo, which must have been quite a feat in the 1950s. It’s a fun enough adventure that is entertaining even today but there’s nothing especially noteworthy in it.

Rose and her brother are British missionaries who are in German controlled Africa to spread the word but struggle against the heat and the indifference of the locals. Their only connection to civilization is a small steam ship captained by Canadian Charlie Allnut who brings them mail and supplies. One day he tells them that war has broken out between Germany and Britain. Indeed German soldiers arrive to burn the houses of the locals and draft them for the war but leave the two of them alone. Soon Rose’s brother dies due to the shock and the difficult conditions. When Charlie returns, he tells her that his boat is fully supplied and even carries explosives from the mine where he works. He wants to take her and flee to neighboring Kenya and she insists on helping the war effort by destroying a large gunboat that allows the Germans to control a large lake downriver. But simply going there involves a perilous journey to say nothing about confronting the German armed forces on their own.

Part comedy and part adventure film, this film involves the two supposedly inexperienced and untrained characters pulling off some pretty unbelievable feats even by Hollywood standards. They navigate past rapids that are thought to be impassable, make field repairs that include forging a new blade for the broken propeller of their boat and jury-rig a torpedo out of basic materials, all the while making fools out of the German soldiers. The attempts at humor are rather dopey as well, involving Humphrey Bogart pretending to be the animals they sail past while Katherine Hepburn laughs in a far too exaggerated manner. Yet as implausible as all this is, the film is well made as John Huston is nothing if not a solid director. The fact that they actually went and shot this in Africa makes a huge difference. It’s rare to see Hollywood superstars of this caliber in such a grimy, disheveled state with dirty, ripped clothes, being so sweaty that it makes you feel hot just looking at them. These are very unappealing conditions for a romance but that also makes it feel more grounded.

In many other ways, this film has aged badly. I was pleasantly surprised at the beginning to see how it was willing to show plenty of black Africans as part of the congregation. Yet this turned out to be a fake out. After the Germans drive them off, we never see them again and Rose never expresses any concern about their fate. Huston just had them show their faces to establish the setting and after that his only interest is in using Africa for its admittedly spectacular scenery. Similarly the relationship between Rose and Charlie is too simple and predictable to have an entire film rest on it, especially when the film pretty much has no other characters.

Overall this might have been pretty impressive for its time and it may still be decently entertaining but it’s not really worth watching today.