The African Queen

(Movie Review)

Another classic movie that I really should have seen a long time ago, but am just getting around to now. I’m not sure why I waited so long to rent this movie, especially since Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn are two of my favorite actors. (But here I am saying that as if it was something that makes me special. Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn are two of everyone’s favorite actors!)

Katherine Hepburn is an English missionary in Africa at the beginning of World War I. As the Germans take over the village and force the natives into service, she and Humphrey Bogart, a working class Canadian steamboat pilot, must try and escape down the river and get out of German occupied Africa.

This is half an odd-couple unlikely romance story, half an African adventure story. As such it doesn’t really do a good job of either. Hepburn and Bogart must deal with rapids, waterfalls, leeches, biting bugs, and German forts, but it really pales by the standards of today’s action films. In fact even by the standards of the time there isn’t near as much jungle adventure as there is in say a Tarzan movie. (In this day and age of CGI sets and backgrounds, however, it is nice to see a film from back in the days when they actually used real scenery. A lot of the African jungle shown in this film is stunningly beautiful).

The real attraction of this movie is just seeing Hepburn and Bogart paired up together, and they do a great job. Particularly Bogart, who is playing against type as a bumbling steamboat pilot. A big contrast to the smooth talking roles he plays in “Casablanca” or “The Maltese Falcon”.

Link of the Day
Sitting In On Senator Kohl and the War-A Conversation With Antiwar Students

The African Queen: Movie Review (Scripted)