Classic Film Friday: The African Queen

It has been awhile since I did a real, old movie... that gave this classic film Friday its name. Well I must tell you Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn have just  the right panache to get one back into these classic films.

Made in 1951, this movie takes place in 1914, in the middle of Africa. Rose (Hepburn) a British Methodist missionary with her brother Samuel. Charlie (Bogart) is a boat captain of the African Queen. He warns that Germans are in the area, but they choose to stick it out because they are missionaries after all. The Germans come in and take all the natives hostage. Leaving her and her brother, and her brother soon dies. Charlie comes back and helps Rose bury her brother and pack up.

Then it becomes a tad bit fantastic, but that is ok if you keep in mind, it is just a movie. They decide that they are going to get back at the Germans by turning the African Queen into a torpedo. And firing the torpedo at a bigger German ship. But first they must navigate an unnavigable river, go past a German fort, make repairs to their boat and deal with nature. It seems like so much, but anything is possible if your mind is right... right?