In 1951, John Huston directed THE AFRICAN QUEEN, now regarded as one of the great romantic movies of all time, and the movie which earned Humphrey Bogart (who co-starred with Katharine Hepburn) his only Oscar. But according to Peter Viertel, who did uncredited work on the screenplay after original writer James Agee suffered a heart attack, Huston seemed more interested in shooting an elephant than the movie. Then again, Huston was always one of Hollywood's mavericks, so maybe that shouldn't have been surprising. Viertel wrote about the experience in a novel called WHITE HUNTER, BLACK HEART, and now, Clint Eastwood both directs and stars as Huston, here called John Wilson. Jeff Fahey (THE LAWNMOWER MAN) steps in as Viertel, here called Pete Verrill. But while in the novel, Verrill was an interesting character in his own right, Fahey seems unsure and ill at ease, as if he himself were too awestruck.
Fortunately, that's not a problem, for Eastwood delivers on both counts, as actor and director. Eastwood may not seem the obvious choice to play Huston, and it may take awhile for you to get used to Eastwood acting with Huston's known mannerisms. But Eastwood delivers them with such gusto that you soon find youself in the swing of things, and you could almost hear him saying things like, "You see, Mr. Gittes..." But, of course, there's more to Wilson/Huston than just the mannerisms. He was an enormously talented and complex man who could be liked and despised at the same time, oftentimes by the same people. He drives his producer Paul (George Dzundza), his actors, crew, other hunters, even Pete, crazy. He'll be brave (fighting a waiter for racist behavior towards the Africans), yet he also wants to do what he himself admits is quite a sin - shoot an elephant. Eastwood doesn't shy away from any of those complexities, and the result, I think, is one of his best performances ever.
