THE AFRICAN QUEEN - 1951
RATED - NR but probably G
RATINGS - 35 Amazon (3.5/5), 56,170 Netflix (4.2/5), 25,786 IMDB (8.1/10).
STARRING - Humphrey Bogart, Katherine Hepburn, Bert Morley, directed by John Huston.
AWARDS - 1952 Academy Award for BEST ACTOR (Bogart) plus 3 nominations including BEST ACTRESS (Hepburn). AFI TOP 100 Movies & AFI TOP 100 Passions. 1952 BAFTA BEST FILM nominee & BEST ACTOR nominee.
STORY - The one word that best describes this film is CLASSIC. Put Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn on the same screen, add the directing of John Huston, and it's almost inevitably a classic. The film takes place in 1914 during WWI in German Central Africa. The prim and proper Rose (Hepburn) and her brother, the Rev. Samuel Sayer, are Methodist missionaries from England who have been there for 10 years. Charles (Bogart) is the hard drinking steamboat operator who delivers the mail up and down the river and keeps the natives supplied with cigars. The Germans attack and destroy the village where they live and Rose's brother is killed in the attack. Charles happen upon the village right after and helps Rose bury Samuel. Rose convinces Charles that they should retaliate against the Germans by sinking a German U-Boat Charles knows is patrolling the lake at the end of the river. To get there they must navigate a dangerous and treacherous river guarded by a German fort as well as many natural hazards. There couldn't be two more opposite personalities as they make their way toward the lake in the 30 year old flat-bottomed African Queen. A true classic. It's amazing that there still is not an American version of the DVD. You can buy import version thru Amazon. I watched that version and it shows fine although it's a little annoying that you can't turn the English subtitles off and there are mistakes in the translation. Lu G. for Lu's Reviews. 08/02/2008.
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