rating:
(out of
4 stars)United States, United Kingdom; 1951
Directed by John Huston; produced by Sam Spiegel; screen adaptation by James Agee, John Huston
Starring Humphrey Bogart, Katharine Hepburn, Robert Morley, Peter Bull, Theodore Bikel
Below you will find a temporary review for this film. The real (better, more complete) review will be online very soon.
'The African Queen' is one of those classics that could have been made
today, although the visuals would probably look over the top. That would
spoil the film which is more about its characters than visual effects, even
though they are pretty impressive.
The African Queen itself is the boat with Mr. Allnut (Humphrey Bogart) as
its only crew member. He travels through some parts of Africa to deliver
mail to the English missionaries. Then WW-I starts and the Germans destroy
the village of Reverent Samuel Sayer and his sister Rose. The man dies and
Mr. Allnut takes Rose away on his African Queen otherwise the Germans will
take her. Rose wants to blow up a German warship named the Louisa and is
pretty serious about it. To get to that ship they have to go down the river.
Adventure and romance is what we expect and it is exactly what we get.
'The African Queen' is one of my favorite classics. Not because it is as
good as let's say 'Casablanca' or 'Citizen Kane' but because it is simply
fun. There is patriotism in the film as probably the most serious subject,
but even that serves the relationship between Bogart and Hepburn. The
relationship starts not very well. He is unwashed, drinks a lot, makes jokes
about anything and speaks like a common man. She is a proper lady, alway
looking perfectly neat, despises his drinking and speaks like royalty. You
can understand the fun that can bring when these two people are put together
on a boat, and that boat on a river that has some pretty heavy parts on the
way.
The inevitable romance has its moments as well. The first question Rose asks
Mr. Allnut is as logical as it is funny and once the Louisa has a main part
in the story it is one laugh after another. Director John Huston has made
quite some impressive films over the year. 'The African Queen' belongs to
his best (together with other Bogart films 'The Maltese Falcon' and 'The
Treasure of the Sierra Madre') and together with 'The Man Who Would Be King'
it is the most fun.