In what was surely a major triumph in 1951, The African Queen is John Huston's first film in colour. Starring Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn, the pair sail down the Belgian Congo in his boat, 'The African Queen'. The title comes to mean a great deal more, of course. This is a wonderful film for which Humphrey Bogart won his only Academy Award (though, Marlon Brando in A Streetcar Named Desire would have been my choice) for his counter-type performance as a lost, poor man with a heart of gold. He is truly charming and surprisingly funny. Katherine Hepburn, in one of her many Oscar nominated performances, is brilliant also. She and Bogart have a wonderful chemistry that holds the film together - they are really the only characters in this film. James Agee & Huston's clever screenplay engages and, the mark of a great film, it has held up well over time. My only criticism would be of Allan Gray's music score - it doesn't fit the drama much at all. Don't let that detract, this is a marvelous film.
9 on the DaveScale.
(dir. John Huston, UK/USA, 105 mins)
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