Katherine Hepburn plays an English Missionary in the middle of Africa. She is stationed there spreading the word of Christianity to a village of natives. When her village is decimated by World War I German soldiers looking for conscripts and supplies, she joins up with Humphrey Bogart's disheveled steamboat captain, Mr. Allnut. Bogart just wants to hide and stay out of sight until the war blows over. The war is no concern of his and the smart money is on steering clear of trouble. Hepburn has other ideas. She clings to an improbable scheme meant to hit the Germans where it hurts for jolly England. She drags a reluctant Bogart into a perilous river journey whose trials and tribulations neither could have imagined.
This movie is beautifully filmed. Some of it was filmed on location in Africa. The story moves along at a brisk pace. I don't feel there are a lot of wasted scenes. It's always nice to have a movie at or under the standard two hour running time. Bogart and Katherine Hepburn are fantastic actors. They have good chemistry in the adversarial relationship that later blossoms into love (think Han Solo and Princess Leia). I also liked the pace at which their relationship developed. I didn't feel like it was forced or rushed.
The bad thing about the movie is that it can be a bit dull at times. It moves along like a play in one setting (the steamboat) just like Hitchcock's famous experiments with "Rear Window" and "Rope." Also I am not sure I buy Bogart's motivation to take the river journey to blow up the German warship. I understand that at first he just wants to humor Hepburn's character and show her how hard it will be to embark on the trip, but I am not sure his character would truly be convinced to carry on.
Overall, a good movie with two great acting legends and a good director in John Huston. However, among the other greats in the AFI 100, I find it pretty ordinary.
Rating: *** - Average
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