Charlie Allnut: I don't blame you for being scared, Miss, not one little bit. Ain't no person in their right mind ain't scared of white water.Rose Sayer: I never dreamed that any mere physical experience could be so stimulating!
Charlie Allnut: How's that, Miss?
Rose Sayer: I've only known such excitement a few times before -a few times in my dear brother's sermons when the spirit was really upon him.
Charlie Allnut: You mean you want to go on?
Rose Sayer: Naturally.
Charlie Allnut: Miss, you're crazy.
Rose Sayer: I beg your pardon.
Charlie Allnut: You know what would have happened if we would have come up against one of them rocks?
Rose Sayer: But we didn't. I must say I'm filled with admiration for your skill, Mr. Allnut. Do you suppose, after I've practised, that someday I might try? I can hardly wait. Now that I've had a taste of it. I don't wonder you love boating, Mr. Allnut.
Charlie Allnut: What a time we had Rosie, what a time we had.
Initially, I wasn't sure what to think of this movie. I started watching it once, and stopped after about 20 minutes, not feeling gripped.
The second time I watched the whole thing and really liked it.
It's actually a charming story.
Katharine Hepburn is Rose, a pious, austere woman serving as a missionary with her brother in Africa. As WWI breaks out, the Germans destroy their church and the village it's in, and her brother dies of disease. She is picked up by boat captain Charlie (Humphrey Bogart), who intends to take his boat, the African Queen, and try to hide out from the Germans.
Rose has other ideas. She wants them to embark on a dangerous mission to navigate treacherous waters, evade a well-armed German fort, and attempt to destroy a German ship. Charlie thinks she's nuts, but tries to appease her when she refuses to relent, though he believes it's certain death:
Charlie: We can't do that!
Rose: How do you know? You never tried it.
Charlie: Well, yeah, but I never tried shooting myself in the head neither.
Things become cute when love blossoms between Rose and Charlie. Where before Rose was stubbornly courageous, but a bit stodgy and uptight, she transforms into an exhilerated woman -brightened by the thrill she is getting from the entire experience of the adventure and her newfound love. It's like she's really living for the first time. Charlie also lightens up, and embraces her lunatic plan. He still harbors doubt that her plan will succeed, but he's enjoying the journey anyway and is happy, and the two doggedly work towards their goal:
Charlie: Pinch me, Rosie. Here we are, going down the river like Anthony and Cleopatra on that barge! I'll never forget the way you looked going over the falls -head up, chin out, hair blowing in the wind. The living picture of a hero-eyne!
Rose: Fancy me a heroine. Oh, Charlie. You've lost your mind.
Charlie: Lost my heart, too.
Bogart and Hepburn were excellent. Bogart in particular was so different from how I'm used to seeing him that I kept forgetting it was him. He won a well-deserved Oscar for the role (Hepburn was nominated, but lost to Vivien Leigh for A Streetcar Named Desire, and while I normally like Vivien Leigh better, I think Hepburn should have won -but I'm not a fan of Streetcar). The two had great on-screen chemistry, and that's what made the movie really work.
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