Review of The African Queen (1952) by Josh M — 18 Jul 2009

A while back, I watched Clint Eastwood's White Hunter Black Heart, a movie based on a thinly fictionalized account of the filming of The African Queen. In Clint's version, you kind of got the impression that the only reason Huston wanted to film The African Queen at all was to go hunting, and that the movie was a bit of an afterthought.

It's a thought that I couldn't escape as I watched African Queen, because nothing in the movie really creates the impression that anyone cared all that much about it. Bogart and Hepburn basically carry the film with their considerable charms, but even so, the romance is never convincing, and given that it drives the whole film, that's a problem.

I find it bizarre that Bogart won an award for this of all films; watching this right after Sierra Madre only emphasizes how great Bogart could be, and how comparatively bland he was here. There's some great footage here and there, and as I said, I enjoyed both Bogart and Hepburn.

But two likeable leads do not a good movie make, and by the end of African Queen I was tired of the ridiculous plot, tired of amazing coincidences, and ready to move on to something else.