Check Out The African Queen (Commemorative Box Set) [Blu-ray] for $38.99

The African Queen (Commemorative Box Set) [Blu-ray] Review

“The African Queen” is not a contemporary film. The look is not contemporary, the technology is not contemporary, the acting is not contemporary; just about everything screams antiquated. This is an old movie set in an even older place and time. Filming on location in Africa with early-fifties technology was absolutely grueling, and that’s reflected in the look of the film. In some scenes, cinematographer Jack Cardiff’s expertise shines through with an absolutely beautiful image that can take your breath away in 1080P. In other scenes, the limitations of the bulky cameras, limited film stock, and low lighting conditions are evident. This is not a reference Blu-Ray, but it is without a doubt the best this film has ever looked. It belongs in any serious cinemaphile’s collection.

The African Queen (Commemorative Box Set) [Blu-ray] Overview

Studio: Paramount Home Video Release Date: 03/23/2010 Run time: 105 minutes Rating: Nr

The African Queen (Commemorative Box Set) [Blu-ray] Specifications

John Huston made better, more powerful films than The African Queen, but none so universally beloved, on first appearance and over the decades since. In this adaptation of the C.S. Forester novel, Humphrey Bogart (who would win the best-actor Oscar®) and Katharine Hepburn costar as an unlikely pair thrown together in German East Africa during the First World War. He’s the gin-soaked skipper of what we might call the title character, a none-too-reliable steam launch chugging along the backwaters of the “Dark Continent.” Hepburn’s a straitlaced Methodist missionary who, following the demise of her bachelor brother (Robert Morley) and the burning of their village by Kaiser Wilhelm’s troops, determines that the Queen should be used to attack the Königin Luise, a large German gunboat patrolling a lake downriver. It’s an absurd proposition. Then again, John Huston and the absurd were always on familiar terms.

It wasn’t until he got to the Congo that the director realized what a funny picture The African Queen was going to be, thanks to the odd coupling of Bogie and Kate: “One brought out a vein of humor in the other, and this comic sense, which had been missing from the book and screenplay, grew out of our day-to-day shooting.” Within the gunwales of a not-very-large boat, Huston managed to devise myriad ways to keep his two leading characters on separate visual planes even as circumstance and tender emotional urgency conspired to push them together. This was Huston’s first feature film in Technicolor, and the peerless Jack Cardiff (The Red Shoes) was there to shoot it. Unfortunately, neither of them could do anything about the process-screen technology needed for, and glaringly inadequate to, the sequence of Bogart and Hepburn shooting the rapids–just about the only lapse in an enchanting fairy tale for adults. The script is credited to Huston and James Agee; the uncredited Peter Viertel, summoned to the African locations to write some additional material, would later fictionalize the experience as White Hunter, Black Heart, a savage roman à clef. –Richard T. Jameson

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Customer Reviews

Movie review – Book Lover – Virginia
What can you say about a classic? I love this movie. I have been waiting for this movie to become available for a long time.It is a classic and I am so glad Amazon.com had it for sale.

Astonishing – Robert Ray – Sassafras, Victoria Australia
This BD version of “The African Queen” is quite astonishing. The picture is near perfect, and a great ad for BD. The film itself holds up very well, with wonderful performances from the stars. Should be on everyone’s shelf.

my 2 cents – W. Smetana – southcentral WI
One of the very best movies ever… and great actress/actor. Just beautiful… and better in Blu-Ray!

African Queen – M. Eddy –
Classic film. Beautifully done. Bogie (in his lone Oscar winning role) and Hepburn at their best – along with John Huston. Doesn’t get much better. Whenever I tell someone that I added this to my DVD collection – the comment is: “You didn’t have it already?” I have to tell people that it only recently became available on DVD – so run – do not walk – to add The African Queen to yours.

Buy The African Queen (Commemorative Box Set) [Blu-ray]

*** Product Information and Prices Stored: Aug 13, 2010 23:17:08

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