Review of The African Queen (1952) by Vincent D — 28 Sep 2013

N this movie Katherine Hepburn plays Rosey, a mission girl in Africa in 1914, during a war over the land between Germany and Britain. Humphrey Bogart plays Charlie, a rustic deliveryman who transports supplies on his boat "The African Queen.

" Together the two set off to escape the battleground traveling along the Ulanga River, devising a plan to overcome the Germans. On their journey thye battle the elements including mosquitos, leeches, rapids and marshy waters.

As often is the case in the movies, proximity sparks romance. The plot is rather simplistic and is more about watching this couple survive on an African river. There are no interesting twists in the plot like Anaconda (1997), where the characters go crazy or start turning on each other or anything like that.

The movie does have some nice nature photography for the parts filmed on location in Africa, which was probably innovative when the movie came out. This isn't my favorite Bogart role, as I prefer seeing him in more dapper roles, for lack of a better word, like in "The Maltese Falcon" (1941) or "Casablanca" (1942).

But this movie does show his ability to play diverse roles, and he did win the Academy Award for Best Actor for this film. Overall a decent classic film, and a essential piece in the Bogart collecion.