Nicole:
After the blood and carnage
of 300 and 3:10 to Yuma, this
sweet and funny story was a nice cleansing of the pallet. African Queen was
released in 1951 and stars Katharine Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart. At this point
they were both past their prime in Hollywood but surprisingly the film still did very well
in theaters. The movie opens in an African village where Katherine (Rose) is
uncomfortably playing the organ and singing hymns for the villagers. She looks miserable,
and it sounds like a bunch of cats are howling along. She is in a high button
necked Victorian dress that would have had me throwing fits to wear in the
heat. This is how she looks for the rest of the movie. Hot, sticky, dirty,
sweaty, and flushed. Humphrey Bogart (Charlie) is a sweet river rat that runs
supplies up and down the river in a steamboat called the African Queen. He is
good natured, a wee bit drunk, and can fix or fabricate anything mechanical. Rose’s
brother, who is a missionary, dies after the Nazis kidnap all of the villagers
and burn their homes to the ground. Charlie comes to help Rose get away and
then lay low to keep the African Queen away from the Germans. After Charlie
picks her up, Rose decides that she and Charlie are going to travel down the
river to blow up the German steamboat to help the war effort. He thinks she’s
crazy and she convinces him it’ll be grand. God save the Queen.
This movie moves pretty slowly as far as 2018 standards go. While Rosie and Charlie floated down the river, I found myself asking random questions. Did people really talk like that? (“Oh Charlie, We’re having our first quarrel”) They look old in this movie, how old are they? (44 and 52) Was she really British? (No) What kind of name is Humphrey? (A dorky one) Yo Hump, what up?! (You get the picture.) Even though my mind wondered, I was still engaged in the story. Katharine and Bogie have a light and funny chemistry that made me giggle and hope that they ended up together. (Hubba hubba) The few movies I’ve seen Mr. Bogart in have him cast as the cool, debonair type that can charm the sox off you. Not so much in this one, which is why I think it earned him his first and only Oscar. Charlie is one of those guys that doesn’t feel the need to prove himself or be a hero. He is perfectly happy with where he is in life and that’s okay. Rosie ends up slowly shedding her sweaty Victorian get up and relaxes enough to realize she’s fallen in love with the slob. After rapids, swarms of mosquitos, and a leech scene that still makes me squirm, they do eventually make it to the lake where the German steamboat is patrolling. They get captured by the Germans and the resultant scene and line are my favorite of the film. Charlie, as a last request, asks the Nazi captain to marry him to Rose. The Captain obliges, and says “I pronounce you man and wife. Proceed wiss zeh execusion!” Rest assured that this story does have a happy ending. I loved Rosie and Charlie and when things are at their darkest she prays the sweetest prayer for her love. God answers and all is saved. (Hurrah!!) There is some melodramatic acting that happens, but that’s part of the charm of old movies. It’s refreshing to watch something from a time when the assumption of sex was scandalous and high tech special effects were superimposing mosquitoes in the picture. I recommend this movie when you are in the mood to have something on that you can easily follow while eating dinner, scrolling Facebook, and discussing the finer points of pronouncing German words like "gummy".
I give it 10 blood sucking leeches out of 10. Raaaahhhlly I do.
Kyle:
Okay, so some movies are great films and I genuinely enjoy watching them, others hold a special place in my heart because I saw them in a particular place or time in my life. This film is both. The first time I watched African Queen was in 1998 when I was in Pitkin, Colorado and taking my Wilderness First Responder course. At the time, I was a poor (broke) college student, and was taking the course while living in an $11 per night Youth Hostile in the rural mountain town. There were a number of WFR students staying at the same place, and after classes concluded each day, we all huddled around the lone wood-burning stove, shared ramen-based dishes, and watched movies like African Queen on the only TV/VCR combo in the joint, while drinking Christian Brothers Brandy. Given the levels of luxury I have been fortunate to experience since then, the particular experience might seem pedestrian. I assure you- at the time, it was one of the great memories of my 21-year old life.That being said, this is a fine movie on it's own, and Bogie earned his only Academy Award from his performance. Sure, the premise is corny- let's roll down a river that has only been navigated by one other person, craft some makeshift torpedoes, and blow up a German ship out of revenge. However, the perennial drunk Charlie is the perfect foil for Rosie, and things like this seem to work out in such movies. The leech scene makes me squirm, and I will never pull a boat through pond scum in the manner as our beloved hero. I give the film a solid 11/12 discarded gin bottles. Being as that it has minimal language and violence, and no sex, I would say this movie is JA. That's right....Janet might actually approve of it.
This movie moves pretty slowly as far as 2018 standards go. While Rosie and Charlie floated down the river, I found myself asking random questions. Did people really talk like that? (“Oh Charlie, We’re having our first quarrel”) They look old in this movie, how old are they? (44 and 52) Was she really British? (No) What kind of name is Humphrey? (A dorky one) Yo Hump, what up?! (You get the picture.) Even though my mind wondered, I was still engaged in the story. Katharine and Bogie have a light and funny chemistry that made me giggle and hope that they ended up together. (Hubba hubba) The few movies I’ve seen Mr. Bogart in have him cast as the cool, debonair type that can charm the sox off you. Not so much in this one, which is why I think it earned him his first and only Oscar. Charlie is one of those guys that doesn’t feel the need to prove himself or be a hero. He is perfectly happy with where he is in life and that’s okay. Rosie ends up slowly shedding her sweaty Victorian get up and relaxes enough to realize she’s fallen in love with the slob. After rapids, swarms of mosquitos, and a leech scene that still makes me squirm, they do eventually make it to the lake where the German steamboat is patrolling. They get captured by the Germans and the resultant scene and line are my favorite of the film. Charlie, as a last request, asks the Nazi captain to marry him to Rose. The Captain obliges, and says “I pronounce you man and wife. Proceed wiss zeh execusion!” Rest assured that this story does have a happy ending. I loved Rosie and Charlie and when things are at their darkest she prays the sweetest prayer for her love. God answers and all is saved. (Hurrah!!) There is some melodramatic acting that happens, but that’s part of the charm of old movies. It’s refreshing to watch something from a time when the assumption of sex was scandalous and high tech special effects were superimposing mosquitoes in the picture. I recommend this movie when you are in the mood to have something on that you can easily follow while eating dinner, scrolling Facebook, and discussing the finer points of pronouncing German words like "gummy".
I give it 10 blood sucking leeches out of 10. Raaaahhhlly I do.
Kyle:
Okay, so some movies are great films and I genuinely enjoy watching them, others hold a special place in my heart because I saw them in a particular place or time in my life. This film is both. The first time I watched African Queen was in 1998 when I was in Pitkin, Colorado and taking my Wilderness First Responder course. At the time, I was a poor (broke) college student, and was taking the course while living in an $11 per night Youth Hostile in the rural mountain town. There were a number of WFR students staying at the same place, and after classes concluded each day, we all huddled around the lone wood-burning stove, shared ramen-based dishes, and watched movies like African Queen on the only TV/VCR combo in the joint, while drinking Christian Brothers Brandy. Given the levels of luxury I have been fortunate to experience since then, the particular experience might seem pedestrian. I assure you- at the time, it was one of the great memories of my 21-year old life.That being said, this is a fine movie on it's own, and Bogie earned his only Academy Award from his performance. Sure, the premise is corny- let's roll down a river that has only been navigated by one other person, craft some makeshift torpedoes, and blow up a German ship out of revenge. However, the perennial drunk Charlie is the perfect foil for Rosie, and things like this seem to work out in such movies. The leech scene makes me squirm, and I will never pull a boat through pond scum in the manner as our beloved hero. I give the film a solid 11/12 discarded gin bottles. Being as that it has minimal language and violence, and no sex, I would say this movie is JA. That's right....Janet might actually approve of it.
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