Movie A Day:The African Queen

I fancy myself a film enthusiast. In fact, I can appreciate film from every genre and time period.  During my life, I've amassed a fairly large collection of films. A good portion of them I have yet to see. Thanks to Netflix streaming, my library of movies to watch has grown by leaps and bounds. I will attempt to watch a new film a day, every day, throughout the year. I'm not saying I will this goal, for it is a lofty one; but I'll enjoy broadening my scope of film, and hopefully whoever decides to read this as well. Without further ado, here's The African Queen

"Never say die. That's my motto."

For film lovers out there, this is going to be one of those you seriously haven't seen it type films. For others, you may have no idea what this film is about. In a nutshell, starring Humphrey Bogart (a distant relative of mine) and Katharine Hepburn, it takes place in Africa during WW1, a gin-swilling riverboat owner/captain is persuaded by a strait-laced missionary to use his boat to attack an enemy warship. 

Immediately after watching this film, one has to really commend the work of the two leads, Especially Uncle Bogey. Humphrey Bogart turns in some of his finest work here as a steamboat captain just trying to stay out of this mess of a war. Nearly unrecognizable from his earlier work, Bogart actually looks quite sickly and it wasn't that much of a surprise to find out that he died just a few years later. Regardless, he chews scenery here and he deserved his best actor Oscar he took home from this film. Hepburn is no slouch herself. Earlier on, her stick up her ass attitude is a bit grating. As soon as she lets loose though, it's quite fun watching Bogart and her play off each other.

Fans of modern cinema will enjoy Hepburn and Bogart's relationship. Many scenes directly inspire more recent films like Pirates of the Caribbean. Specifically Jack Sparrow and Elizabeth Swanns relationship from the the Curse of the Black Pearl. The scene where Elizabeth pours out Jack's rum is "borrowed" from this film. 

The African Queen also inspired another Disney attraction. The Jungle Cruise was inspired from this film and watching it, it's easy to see why. Shot in Technicolor, this film was shot on location in Africa and the jungle is quite beautiful. For a film shot 61 years ago, it wears it's age proudly. Director John Huston shot a beautiful film. The plot moves at a fairly fast pace for this kind of film. Never becoming predictable, its 105 minute run time never over stays its welcome. The writing was quite sharp and witty for its time period.

Now is this the classic most make it out to be? yes and no. Yes, it's a classic love story set on the backdrop of a war with two actors at the top of there games. On the other hand, the love story is a bit too convenient at times and the ending is a bit rushed I think. Overall though I enjoyed this film and am looking forward to my next cinematic challenge. Until next time..

8/10