Romancefest 2011: The African Queen

It's February so that means it's time for the second annual Romancefest. I've dubbed it. . . Romancefest 2011. I'll be watching 28 romantic flicks in 28 days this month and posting about each one. I'm going to stick mostly to movies I haven't seen, though a couple might be ones I technically saw at one point but can't remember all that well, or saw part of and never finished for whatever reason. Once again I'll be working off of the American Film Institutes "100 Years, 100 Passions" list. If you'd like a reminder of what I watched last year, just check February 2010 in this blog. This year I took a few suggestions off of another "classic romance" list that included some foreign flicks, because there weren't enough movies left from the AFI list that I hadn't seen already to fill up the whole month.

So, here we go:

The African Queen

Being a fan of classic flicks, and Humphrey Bogart in particular, it's kind of crazy that I never watched all of THE AFRICAN QUEEN until yesterday. This is the one he won the Academy Award for, and pairs him with fellow screen legend Katharine Hepburn. I did sit down to watch it once several years back but never got around to finishing it, and its unavailability on DVD or Blu-ray until recently didn't make seeing it super easy as VCRs began to disappear.

THE AFRICAN QUEEN takes place in the part of Africa controlled by Germany in 1914 as the first World War is breaking out. Hepburn plays a missionary from England who must escape Africa before the Germans close in, and she's aided in her escape by Bogart, who plays a riverboat captain from Canada. Like a couple of his other famous characters, Bogart is once again happily apolitical and would rather sit out the war in relative comfort, roughing it on his own and laying low. Hepburn, however, is more headstrong and morally driven, and sees an opportunity to help weaken the Germans. Together, they strike out, traveling the rivers of Africa in the clunky little boat called The African Queen.

I can sympathize with Bogart's point of view. He looks at a tough situation, throws up his hands, and says, "Oh well, too bad we can't do anything." Hepburn shakes her head and logically points out the ways they can at least try. No torpedo? Let's make one. Rapids too rough? Let's ride them anyway and see what happens. Boat crippled? Let's fix it from scratch.

Aside from these attitude differences, you've also got Hepburn's prim and proper religious character butting up against Bogart's rough around the edges professional bachelor, happy to spend his spare time getting drunk. If there's one thing a century's worth of movies has taught us, it's that opposites attract, and in a story like this, of course Bogart and Hepburn are going to bicker, and then find themselves drawn to each other.

Of course that's what happens, but there's a pleasant surprise after that. It's so subtle that you almost miss it, but I was pleasantly surprised to notice that once Bogart and Hepburn decided to let go and fall for each other, they never went back. They just kind of allowed themselves to ease into a more loving and intimate relationship, continued on their mission down the river, and didn't experience any of the contrived relationship ups and downs that more plot driven movies have become slaves to. It was refreshing and nice to see a couple grow close without having to sit through them growing apart again, then getting back together, then fighting again, then getting back together, over and over again as the plot requires. You really get the feeling these two genuinely like each other.

Aside from all that, the other nice thing about this movie is the beautiful Technicolor photography taking full advantage of the exotic African locations. The Blu-ray restoration that I saw was beautiful and made the movie look like it was shot yesterday. The color, combined with the impeccable image transfer, made me feel like I was really seeing Bogart and Hepburn as real people for the first time, not just as untouchable screen legends separated from me by decades of time. Every now and then there are some special effects shots that stick out as a little awkward by today's standards, but other than that, this flick from 1951 looks like it was shot yesterday.

So, some adventure, some romance -- Romancefest 2011 is off to a good start.