Editorial Product Review:Amazon.com essential video:The 1951 John Huston classic, set in Africa during World War I, garnered Humphrey Bogart an Oscar for his role as a hard-drinking riverboat captain in Africa, who provides passage for a Christian missionary spinster (Katharine Hepburn). Taking an instant, mutual dislike to one another, the two endure rough waters, the presence of German soldiers, and their own bickering to finally fall into one another's arms. This is classic Huston material--part adventure, part quest--but this time with a pair of characters who'd all but given up on happiness. Bogart (a longtime collaborator with Huston on such classics as
The Maltese Falcon and
Key Largo) and Hepburn have never been better, and support from frequent Huston crony Robert Morley (
Beat the Devil, also featuring Bogart) adds some extra dimension and color.
--Tom Keogh
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Buyer Reviews
Average Buyer Rating:
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"Prop's Busted. . ."
What a work of art! This is one of the best movies of all time. When the spinster missionary woman (Hepburn) must TOLERATE Mr. Arnaut (Bogart)
in their life-threatening trip down the river in a beat-up old boat, The African Queen, the fun begins. She can drum up no respect for this man--until she realizes that he is an intelligent person who may be able to save their lives by his cool wit. He good naturedly sloughs off her constant criticism, while she endures his slovenly ways and colorful language. At some point they start developing a strong like for each other. When Bogie finally shaves, well you know romantic sparks are about to fly. Movies or stories do not come any better than this.
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Unusual for Kathryn Hepburn
Ms Hepburn is not the proto-feminist here which makes a change. The film actually presents a surprisingly good story. There's a man and a woman working together without any obvious female chauvinism attempting to emasculate the man or put him in the shade.
However the original book presented the romance between the returning missionary and the habitual drunk, it's an innocent love story in the movie. The booze is disposed of in the "first reel", and the two combine their talents in a more or less egalitarian symbiosis. There's quite a bit of excitement, too, as the unlikely pair shoot the rapids and fight Germans and insects.
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Classic
Wife's favorite movie and brilliant in all aspects. Thoroughly enjoyable and now a part of our choice library!
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HEROISM VS. TERRORISM
When his village is pillaged shortly after WW 1 outbreak, the Reverend (Morley)dies of shock, leaving only his sister (Hepburn) to fend for herself. Enter Mr. Charlie Allnut (Bogart, winning his only Oscar) the uncouth, hard drinking skipper of the "African Queen", a boat of 1890 vintage, unsafe in a swimming pool. In quick succession, Bogart saves Hepburn, motors perilously down the Congo River, evades the Germans, is saved by one storm, sunken by another, and is captured by a German warship. All the while, he and Hepburn have developed a romance, culminated by marriage just before they're about to be hanged as British spies. Miraculously, the warship strikes underwater torpedos of Bogart's sunken boat, is sunk herself, as the newlyweds swim to safety. This cursory review is intended to appeal to those under 50, as I"m afraid a modern audience would find little appeal in this production,once a real classic for most.