Review of The African Queen (1952) by Jacob G — 10 Oct 2011

Seen with 2011 eyes, The African Queen is a bit precious. A journey down an African river on a steam boat and a budding romance--it's not something you'd make a whole movie about today. (Look, Titanic doesn't count. That was an ocean, NOT a rivier.).

But part of the joy in classic cinema is that they DO take relatively simple ideas and make them work. Complex characters, good plot scenarios, and a few helpless situations go a long way in building the film up and making it work.

(Incidentally, the movie--at least the blu-ray edition I watched--is longer than the Flixster stated run time of 1h and 3m. I forget how long it was exactly, but between the hour-and-a-half mark and two hours.).