The African Queen in Uganda: Hollywood Legends and the Historic Masindi Hotel
In 1951, a Hollywood film crew traveled deep into East Africa to create what would become one of cinema’s most enduring adventure classics. The result was The African Queen—a production whose behind-the-scenes story remains as fascinating as the film itself, with Uganda and the historic Masindi Hotel playing pivotal roles.
Hollywood Comes to East Africa
Directed by John Huston and starring Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn, The African Queen tells the unlikely World War I-era romance between a rough riverboat captain and a reserved British missionary. The narrative unfolds along treacherous East African waterways as the pair attempt to sink a German gunboat—all while discovering an unexpected bond.
The film was a major critical and commercial success upon release. It earned Bogart his only Academy Award for Best Actor and has since become a cornerstone of 20th-century cinema. Yet, beyond the film itself lies a remarkable production story rooted in Uganda’s natural landscapes and colonial infrastructure.
Filming in Uganda and the Congo
Unlike most Technicolor films of the period, which relied heavily on studio sets, The African Queen was shot extensively on location. Approximately half the film was filmed in Africa, particularly in the Belgian Congo (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) and around the Murchison Falls region of Uganda. Huston believed that the authenticity of the African wilderness could not be replicated, and he fought to bring cast and equipment deep into Central and East Africa.
This decision transformed the production into a real adventure. The crew battled venomous snakes, scorpions, clouds of mosquitoes, punishing heat, tropical storms, and an array of illnesses. The most notorious was dysentery, contracted through contaminated water and affecting almost everyone on set.
Two exceptions stood out: Humphrey Bogart and John Huston famously avoided local water and drank imported Scotch whisky instead. Bogart later quipped, “All I ate was baked beans, and all I drank was Scotch. Whenever a fly bit Huston or me, it dropped dead.”
Katharine Hepburn, Humphrey Bogart, and the Uganda Experience
Katharine Hepburn, disciplined and curious by nature, embraced the terrain around her despite falling gravely ill. Cinematographer Jack Cardiff recalled that during one church scene, Hepburn required a bucket just off-camera due to severe dysentery. Her feverish appearance is visible in the final cut of the film. Off set, she became fascinated by the plants and wildlife of Uganda, often asking for their Latin names. She later documented the entire ordeal in her memoir The Making of The African Queen, now considered one of the most entertaining accounts of Hollywood filmmaking.
Humphrey Bogart, by contrast, despised the experience from the moment he arrived. He complained incessantly about insects, heat, and humidity, and spent his free time drinking or escape to more comfortable surroundings. His wife, Lauren Bacall, accompanied him and served informally as camp nurse during the worst outbreaks of illness. Despite the discomfort, Bogart delivered a performance that became iconic.
Director John Huston, meanwhile, treated the entire production as an exotic expedition. He was particularly fixated on hunting a bull elephant, an obsession that frequently delayed filming and irritated crew members. His safari pursuits contributed significantly to the mythology surrounding the production.
Masindi Hotel: A Colonial Refuge for Hollywood Icons
While much of the movie was filmed on rivers and in the bush, the cast and crew relied on the Masindi Hotel as a base of operations. Built in 1923 by the East African Railways and Harbours Company, the hotel served as a crucial transit stop in the colonial era and offered comforts that were otherwise scarce.
During filming, the hotel became a sanctuary—a place with solid beds, organized meals, and relative safety from insects and wildlife. Humphrey Bogart stayed in Room 5, while Katharine Hepburn occupied Room 3. These rooms today form part of what is now called the African Queen block, preserving the memory of these distinguished guests.
Masindi Hotel’s historical significance, however, extends beyond film history. It also hosted writer Ernest Hemingway after his two near-fatal plane crashes in Uganda in the 1950s, cementing its reputation as an unlikely refuge for legendary figures.
Legacy and Cultural Impact
The arrival of a major Hollywood production in the early 1950s brought unprecedented international attention to Uganda and particularly to the Murchison Falls region. For many Western audiences, The African Queen offered a first glimpse into the African landscape, fueling interest in safaris and river expeditions. It helped shape the romanticized imagination of East Africa that persisted for decades.
Today, the Masindi Hotel remains one of Uganda’s most important heritage properties. It continues to welcome travelers who wish to explore Murchison Falls National Park, learn about colonial railway history, or simply stand in the same rooms once occupied by two of Hollywood’s greatest legends. In doing so, it preserves a unique chapter of both cinematic and Ugandan history—one in which Hollywood glamour met the untamed African wilderness, and the old colonial railway infrastructure unexpectedly became part of film lore.