Rating: 
Summary: A classic worth seeing in spite some limitations
Review: Directed by John Huston from C.S. Forester's novel and adapted to the screen by James Agee, this 1951 film stars Katherine Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart. It is set 1914 in an unnamed country in East Africa. Hepburn is an English spinster missionary whose brother dies as the result of a German raid. Bogart is a hard drinking Canadian riverboat captain who helps her get away on his 30-foot boat called "The African Queen". Hepburn is all spunk and spitfire and convinces Bogart attack the German ship. But before they do that that they have to travel the river and forced to overcome a variety of natural dangers. Hepburn faces these dangers as an equal partner to Bogart and not as some retiring and timid female. She steers the boat, dives underwater to make repairs, chops down tangled foliage with a machete and inspires Bogart with her courage. Naturally, they fall in love.Now, fifty years later, I look at this film with fresh perspective, especially since I had never seen it before. Bogart was 52 years old when it was made and was probably at the beginning of his illness. He just didn't seem to have the physical strength that the role called for or the good looks that made him so popular in his day. Perhaps it was the script, but some of his lines seemed awkward, and it surprised me that he won an academy award as Best Actor that year. Hepburn, who was 45 at the time, fared better. Her striking features, unique voice and personality added depth to her role. Both characters had to go through changes during the course of the film and, as it was a two-character movie, there was no break in their constant on-screen performances. Doing the special effects for this film had to be challenging. Often, they didn't work for me. Perhaps this was because so much of the film depended on showing Bogart and Hepburn grappling with the natural forces around them. I guess the director did his best with the techniques available at the time, but I must say I was distracted from the performances because much of the setting just didn't seem real. I'm trying my best not to judge these special effects by contemporary standards, but I can't help it if I live in the year 2001. Even within its limitations though , I definitely recommend this film. It is a classic worth seeing and a part of film history.
Rating: 
Summary: Simply fantastic!
Review: I really, really loved this movie! It is a great adventure story, with a wonderful plot and great dialogue between the two stars thrown in as a bonus. Also, it features great perfomances from the silver screen's most legendary stars, Katherine Hepburn and Humphery Bogart (both ranked #1 in all-time female and male legends, respectively). Essentially, The African Queen is about an uptight missionary's wife living in Africa named Rosie (Katherine Hepburn). When Rosie's brother dies, she is forced to flee the area on board The African Queen, a small boat run by the gruff, hard-drinking Mr. Alnutt (Humphery Bogart, in a Oscar winning performance). They have many adventures together, and, pretty predictably, get to know each other much better after initially hating each other. My summary really doesn't do justice to this movie, but be sure that The African Queen is incredibly entertaining! Additionally, because this movie was actually shot in Africa, the scenery is breathtaking. All in all - practically a perfect film. Exciting adventure, romance, great dialogue, quirky characters, and Kate and Bogie! What more could you ask for in a movie?
Rating:
Summary: One of the most unique classics in Hollywood history
Review: Familiarity can sometimes numb us to how very odd a movie is, and that is certainly the case with THE AFRICAN QUEEN. Most polls that have been done in recent years typically denote Humphrey Bogart as the greatest movie star of all time, and frequently Katherine Hepburn gets the number two slot (and always gets the number one slot for women). Yet, these roles are almost antithetical to everything else they ever did. Bogart, the great man of action of CASABLANCA and THE MALTESE FALCON and THE BIG SLEEP, is reduced to a dirty, disheveled, lewd, drunken captain of a remarkably inconsequential boat with the profoundly self-mocking name of "The African Queen." Hepburn, who has made her career playing unbridled, liberated, and self-assertive modern women, here is a prudish (though only for a while), repressed, tightly wound spinster. But despite this highly unusual pairing, the film was one of the finest that either was ever in, netting Bogart his only Oscar (and unbelievably, only one of three nominations) and Hepburn what was something like her 200th Oscar nomination. It seems perverse that the only other two nominations were for Best Director (Huston) and screenplay (the great James Agee and Huston). I'm not sure how a film can get nominations for four of the top five awards and not get nominated for Best Picture, but it did (the five films nominated that year were the deserving AN AMERICAN IN PARIS [the winner], the somewhat censored A STREET CAR NAMED DESIRE, A PLACE IN THE SUN [which has not aged well], and the considerably less deserving QUO VADIS and DECISION BEFORE DAWN). Today we take filming on location for granted, but in the 1940s and 1950s, few producers and directors opted for filming on the spot upon which the film was supposed to take place. Films might go to a famous locale and shoot a couple of scenes for realistic flavoring, as with a couple of scenes in ON THE TOWN or AN AMERICAN IN PARIS. Many Westerns had been shot on location, but that was no great challenge given the close proximity of Hollywood to Western locales. John Huston had previously filmed THE TREASURE OF SIERRA MADRE in Mexico, but going to the Congo and Uganda for extensive filming had rarely been attempted (sorry, all those Tarzan movies were filmed in California). It was a spectacular undertaking (which Katherine Hepburn recorded in a book she wrote about making THE AFRICAN QUEEN). There is a war plot that provides the setting for the film, but to be honest it really isn't very important. What is crucial is the remarkable dynamics between Bogart and Hepburn, as they go from loathing one another, to liking, and then to loving. It has to be the most unlikely love story in the history of film, and yet somehow these two great actors not only manage to sell it, but make it quietly majestic. There is not much in the way of cast to speak of, apart from the two leads. Robert Morley manages a small but memorable part near the beginning of the film, but Bogart and Hepburn utterly dominate the film's onscreen time. Luckily, they have no trouble pulling it off. As odd as this film was, there had been attempts to make it into a film for quite some time. If one is familiar with Bette Davis's career, there had been a couple of attempts to film it with her in the lead with various leading men (including James Mason). But surely Katherine Hepburn is the perfect Rose Sayer. Like in THE PHILADELPHIA STORY, she can communicate self-righteousness better than anyone. Davis would only have managed egotistical haughtiness. But I'm sure everyone would agree that the casting ended up being for the best.
Rating:
Summary: Up the creek without a paddle
Review: The African Queen 1952
Starring Humphrey Bogart as Charlie Allnut and Katharine Hepburn as Rose Sayer. Directed by John Huston.
The one thing I remembered most about The African Queen was the mosquitoes and leeches, used very effectively to intensify the struggles of Charlie (Bogart) and Rose (Hepburn) as they set out on an impossible mission. Charlie is the mailman, traveling by use of an old steamboat tub called The African Queen. He happens to be on hand when Rose loses her bother when he dies after their African missionary is burnt down by the Germans, at the beginning of World War I. Rose decides that they need to sink the German gunboat patrolling the waters, using a crude bomb mounted on the African Queen to ram the gunship. The rest of the action and plot develope around their relationship and struggle to sink the gunboat. Charlie likes his gin and Rose, being a missionary, doesn't tolerate Charlie's lack of social skills.
I believe that the character development, with both Charlie and Rose ending up not exactly fitting into the stereotypes they start out with, is an important part of the movie. The movie had realism, although some scenes could have been produced better.
Humphrey Bogart won his only Oscar for this film, although I believe he had better roles and did better work. Katharine Hepburn does a great job as the "crazy, psalm-singing, skinny old maid!" I enjoyed this classic and recommend it highly.
Rating:
Summary: Cool movie
Review: I watched the African Queen in social studies in 7th grade. It was Ok. I liked the whole idea. I know this will sound stupid but i didnt like the way that Rosie woman smiled.
But in general, the movie was OK.
Rating:
Summary: A Classic for good reasons
Review: Actually 4 1/2 stars.
Starts off slow, but don't stop there. This is one of the best romances I've ever seen, but it's not just a chick flick either. Pretty good action/adventure movie for it's time.
The story is set in the early 1900s in German controlled colony in Africa. Hepburn's character is a Methodist missionary there with her brother from Britian when WWI starts. Bogart's character is a river-trader who hops from village to village delivering goods. After German troops burn Hepburn's village and her brother dies, Bogart comes to hide her away from the Germans. Hepburn gets some patriotic zeal and some unrealistic ideas and cons Bogart into following her schemes by praying on his good heart.
The majority of the movie takes place on a pathetic little steamboat called The African Queen as they head down a wild African river only rafted once before. There is white water and of course romance.
Rating:
Summary: An Ageless Classic
Review: The African Queen has something for everybody. It is a war, romance, comedy, action/adventure, travel log movie of the highest caliber. Katherine Hepburn shines as the stalwart, English, spinster, Rose Sayer, who finds herself alone in Africa when her missionary brother dies as a result of an attack on their village by the Germans in 1914. Humphrey Bogart raises the bar with his performance as the drunkard, Canadian riverboat captain, Charles Alnaugh, who rescues her. Rose formulates a plan to aid the war effort and their rescue that has the two of them braving their way down river through rapids, past a German fort, to a lake where they will destroy the huge German ship that stands between them and their countrymen. Mr. Alnaugh humors her at first feigning support for her plan. When he can take no more, confrontation ensues. Her resolve far surpasses his better judgment and he takes them on a trip that he knows will surely end both of their lives. The story is a testament of what two extremes can endure when they meet in the middle and is a tale that will endure forever.
Rating:
Summary: A great and classic film
Review: I find it incredibly irritating that this has not been released on DVD in the USA. It's available overseas in PAL format.
It's a great film, has some wonderful moments in it. The bigger story is the ability to stand strong through all things and that's precisely what Hepburn brings to the film.
(to the studio) Please release this film on DVD. It's one of two remaining VHS tapes I have left from my original collection of more than 1000 VHS tapes.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Film; All Star Classic
Review: This is a great film, Humphrey Bogart and the wonderful Katherine Hepburn in Africa directed by John Huston. Enjoy this wonderful classic! Go Hollywood!
Rating: 
Summary: 2.5 Stars for this Overrated Film
Review: This film is an accepted classic, and my little review will not change that. However, if you have an ear listen quickly to why I don't feel that it is a great film. For one, the storyline is thin, unoriginal, and uninspiring. Secondly, the early use of color without production innovations shows thru much clearer and looks much worse than it did in B&W films. For instance, the obviously fake backgrounds when they were going down the rapids looked extremely hokey, as did the obviously inserted wildlife footage. On a related theme, the color presentation really accentuated Heartburn's wrinkles and Bogies awful teeth; I mean really, if those were dentures they should have been replaced, and if they were teeth they should have been pulled. Finally, director John Huston was an early pioneer of the dumbed-down, geared-up directorial devolution that would later spawn the likes of Spielberg, Ridley Scott, and Ron Howard. This film certainly was responsible for inspiring the horrific Harrison Ford vehicle, Six Days Seven Nights. I must also say that I think Katie Hepburn worship is caused by insufficient exposure to international cinema. On a more positive note, I enjoyed the scenes where Kathy & Bogie were stuck in the overgrown river (reminds of hiking experiences I've had), and I also managed to learn quite a bit about boats from the many repair scenes...
|
