Review of The African Queen (1952) by Al M — 13 Aug 2010
The African Queen is a classic triangulation of talent: Bogart, Hepburn, and Huston. If you are expecting the grittiness of earlier Huston works (The Maltese Falcon, The Asphalt Jungle, Key Largo, or The Treasure of Sierre Madre), then you will most likely be disappointed.
Instead, The African Queen is primarily a romance set against the African backdrop of World War I. Hepburn's character is the sister of a missionary preacher in Africa whose local town is destroyed by German soldiers.
With her town and brother dead, Hepburn has no where else to go except onto the African Queen, the boat that Bogart uses to transport mail and other goods up and down the river. What ensues is a Benedict/Beatrice love story in which Bogart's boozy skeptic becomes enamored of Hepburne's idealistic spinster.
The African Queen is a fun, well-acted, and well-directed film, but it lacks any real depth that I would associate with genuinely great cinema. A good love story but not one that delves into anything overly insightful.
This review of The African Queen (1952) was written by Al M on 13 Aug 2010.
The African Queen has generally received very positive reviews.
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