My Favorite Films: The African Queen

My third and final My Favorite Films post in honor of the Humphrey Bogart blogathon is going to focus on The African Queen. I've really been looking forward to writing this post because it's my favorite Bogie film tied with Casablanca, and also because it premiered 60 years ago today in Los Angeles.

Released in 1951 and directed by John Huston, the film takes place in Africa during World War I and tells the story of an alcoholic boat owner (Bogie) who is persuaded by a missionary (Katharine Hepburn) to use his boat to sink a German warship.

There are so many reasons why I love The African Queen. It contains just about every element you'd want in a film (comedy, drama, adventure, romance, etc), it pairs Bogie with Katharine Hepburn, the color cinematography is beautiful and the story remains timeless to this day.

I think Bogie's role as Charlie Allnut really shows his diversity as an actor. Yes, his character is the "tough guy" he was most commonly known for playing, but it's different here because he's absolutely hilarious. The scene where he becomes intoxicated from gin and later when he attempts to imitate a hippo nearly made me fall out of my seat laughing the first time I watched it. Forget Marlon Brando, Bogie rightfully deserved the Oscar.

As with Bogie, this is also my favorite film and performance from Katharine Hepburn. Bette Davis was originally considered for Rose (she later dropped out because of pregnancy), but no one could have played her as well as Hepburn did. I do like Vivien Leigh, but I personally feel that the Academy made the wrong decision in the Best Actress category that year.

One of the best aspects of The African Queen is the chemistry between Bogie and Hepburn. It's so interesting to watch their relationship progress throughout the film- they start out as barely tolerating each other then end up in love by the films' ending. This was the only time they worked together, but they remained close friends for the rest of Bogie's life (she and Spencer Tracy were some of the last people to see him the night before he died in January 1957). 

**SPOILER ALERT**

The film was adapted from the C.S. Forester novel of the same name. I haven't read it, and I don't plan to, mainly because of different endings between the film and the book. If you've seen the (and if you read past the spoiler alert, I'm assuming you have), you know it ends as Charlie and Rose are captured by the Germans and married by the captain before execution. The Louisa then crashes into the remains of the African Queen and the torpedoes explode the ship, allowing Charlie and Rose to flee to the Belgian Congo. The book, however, ends as the Louisa is destroyed and Charlie and Rose go to inform the British Army. Honestly, I don't think I would like the film as much as I do if the ending hadn't been changed. I rarely say this, but I think this is one example of the movie being better than the book.

The African Queen was restored in 2009 for it's first release on DVD in 2010. I hadn't seen the film pre-restoration, but the video linked above shows comparisons between the two versions, and it's amazing to see how much the quality has improved. The color cinematography along with John Huston's direction is beautiful.

Overall, The African Queen is one of my favorite films and I hope it will be remembered 60 years from now just as it is today.

My Favorite Films: To Have and Have Not

In honor of the Bogie blogathon next week (I still can't believe it's only a week- I started planning this four months ago!), I'm writing another My Favorite Films post, this time on To Have and Have Not. 


Released in 1944 and directed by Howard Hawks, To Have and Have Not tells the story of Harry Morgan (Bogie), an American expatriate living on the island of Martinique who is persuaded against his better judgment to help smuggle resistance members onto the island while flirting with a lounge singer (Lauren Bacall, in her film debut).

The film was adapted from the Ernest Hemingway novel of the same name, which is also considered the worst of his books (I haven't read it, so I can't give my opinion). The plot may not be the most unique, but it's the remarkable chemistry between the two stars that makes it so memorable.

This was the first of four films that paired Humphrey Bogart with his future wife Lauren Bacall, and it was a match made in movie heaven. With some actors, it's obvious that the chemistry between them is forced. With Bogie and Bacall, I sometimes forget I'm watching a film. All four of the movies they made together (the others being The Big Sleep, Dark Passage and Key Largo) are wonderful, but To Have and Have Not stands out the most for me because, if you're familiar with the romance between Bogie and Bacall, it makes you feel as if you're watching two people fall in love (and, in reality, you are).

The best (and most remembered) scene in the film is without a doubt in which Bacall says "You know how to whistle, don't you, Steve? You just put your lips together and blow." Every time I watch this, I'm astonished that she was robbed of an Oscar nomination, not just for this film, but in general. In 1997 she was nominated for Best Supporting Actress in The Mirror Has Two Faces and in 2009 received an Honorary Award, but she had so many great performances in the 40's and 50's that sadly weren't recognized by the Academy. 

Overall, I consider To Have and Have Not to be one of Bogie's best films, and I hope those of you that haven't seen it will check it out. It's airing March 5 on Turner Classic Movies for those of you interested. 

Unfortunately, this turned out shorter than I wanted it to be as I'm busy planning next weeks' posts, but I hope you all enjoyed reading it!

My Favorite Films: Casablanca

In case you didn't already know, December is the month of the Bogie blogathon here at Forever Classics. In conjunction, all of the My Favorite Films post are going to be devoted to my top three picks from Bogie's filmography: Casablanca, To Have and Have Not and The African Queen, in that order (I won't be writing on The Maltese Falcon as it was featured as the noir of the month in April). Today's post is focusing on my favorite film of all time- Casablanca.

Released by Warner Brothers in 1942, the film tells the story of American expatriate and cafe owner Rick Blaine (Bogie) living in unoccupied Africa during World War II. Unexpected complications arise when Rick's former lover (Ingrid Bergman) and her Resistance leader husband (Paul Henreid) arrive at Rick's cafe and ask him to help them flee the Nazi's.

Casablanca is considered by many (including myself) to be the greatest film of all time, and it's obvious why: it's a perfect film with a wonderful cast, screenplay, score and director, all of which I will discuss more in depth later on.

"Of all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all the world, she walks into mine."

One of the many things that make Casablanca so wonderful is that it contains some of the greatest performances in cinematic history. This is my favorite Bogie's film, tied with The African Queen. I love that he is able to play the cynical tough guy (which he was frequently type-cast as) but in the end still possess the emotions of a man torn between, in Claude Rain's words, love and virtue. (And, for the record, no one will ever be able to say "We'll always have Paris" the way Bogie did.)

Ingrid Bergman's performance as Ilsa Lund is her most popular role, and I consider it to be her best. Ever since my first viewing of Casablanca, I've always taken note in her facial expressions. In particular, when her character is conflicted, she seems to capture the scene perfectly. This is because she herself was confused during filming: Just like Ilsa was torn between helping her husband or staying with the man she really loved, Bergman was clueless about who she would end up with since the screenwriters did not finish writing the final scene until the day it was filmed. Since this is her most remembered film, it's quite astonishing that her Oscar nomination in 1943 was instead for For Whom the Bell Tolls.

It's amazing to look at the chemistry between Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman. They did so well in their scenes together, which is odd because they rarely spoke outside of filming, on account of Bogie's wife at the time who constantly accused them of having an affair. The American Film Institute ranks it as the most passionate film ever made, as do I. One great example is the scene in which Ilsa comes to Rick's apartment to ask him for the letters of transit and admits she still loves him. (You can watch that scene here.)

Despite the popularity of Casablanca, Paul Henreid was a very underrated actor. While I don't think he was as great as the leading actors, his performance is still memorable since he plays one of the most important characters in the film. I particularly like the scene in the bar when Laszlo tells Rick he knows he's in love with Ilsa and also persuades him to give them the letters of transit. The supporting cast consists of Claude Rains, Peter Lorre, Sydney Greenstreet and S.Z. Sakall, who all, like Henreid, are extremely underrated. Even in supporting roles, they each add a lot to the film. For example, Peter Lorre has maybe eight minutes of screen time and he's in one of the most vital roles.

"We'll always have Paris." "Here's looking at you, kid." "Round up the usual suspects." "Play it Sam. Play, 'As Time Goes By'." Aside from the cast, the most recognizable thing about Casablanca is the screenplay. Even if someone hasn't seen it, the previous quotes are still vaguely familiar. It's a wonder that the screenplay turned out to be so great, considering the difficult time that brothers Julius and Phillip Epstein had writing it. The script was adapted from the play Everybody Comes to Rick by Joan Alison, but the title was changed to attract more viewers, similar to the film Algiers in 1938.

As I mentioned when discussing Bergman, the ending was rewritten several times to find the scene that best suit the story.Being the romantic that I am, I would have liked Ilsa to stay with Rick, but I strongly agree with what Julius Epstein said in the documentary You Must Remember This: The Making of Casablanca (which is available on the special edition DVD): the film wouldn't have the legacy it has today if it ended the way most people wanted it to. It shows a man giving up the woman for something he knows is more important, which is why it's so remembered today.

"As Time Goes By", originally released in 1931, is now one of the most well-known songs in film, but it was almost removed from Casablanca. After filming was complete, composer Max Steiner wanted to replace it with an original song, but, by this time Bergman had cut her hair for her part in For Whom the Bell Tolls. Scenes could not be re-shot and the song could not be removed since it was such a large part of the film, so "As Time Goes By" (thankfully) stayed.

And of course Google didn't have the picture I wanted.

Lastly, I want to discuss Michael Curtiz' direction. Curtiz made several great films including White Christmas and Mildred Pierce, but Casablanca was his masterpiece. Another thing I mentioned about Ingrid Bergman was the closeup shots. It's a remarkable quality, not just with her, but with the film as a whole. For example, the scene when Ilsa comes to Rick's cafe and asks Sam to play "As Time Goes By". Rick, hearing the song, walks over to Sam and he and Ilsa see each other for the first time since she left him in Paris. The way the camera captures their expressions is just perfect. It's one of my favorite scenes in the film.

Overall, I've seen Casablanca dozens of times and it still continues to amaze me as a film. I'll be re-watching it throughout December and I hope many of you will do the same.

Review: The Making of the African Queen or How I Went to Africa With Bogart, Bacall and Huston and Almost Lost My Mind by Katharine Hepburn

Goodreads Summary: The Making of The African Queen or How I went to Africa with Bogart, Bacall and Huston and Almost Lost My Mind by Katharine Hepburn. Published by Alfred A. Knope New York 1987 Filled with laughter and personal insight into the making of the movie, many photographs.


I love Katharine Hepburn. I love her autobiography Me: Stories of My Life. The African Queen is one of my all time favorite films. So it shouldn't be surprising when I say this is one of my new favorite books.


Hepburn gives the reader a vivid insight into her experience making The African Queen with Bogie and John Huston- which is great, because she talks about several things I haven't heard discussed in most documentaries (for instance: I didn't know she objected to the original script or that she actually suggested a few of the most popular scenes to Huston.) I've heard some complain before that they thought Hepburn's writing style a bit hard to read, but I've never had issues with the writing in either of her books (and I personally love the way she writes anyway).


Another thing I love about this book is that it contains several behind the scenes pictures and stills that I've never seen before and are probably really hard to find anywhere else.


Overall, I found The Making of the African Queen to be a quite wonderful book. I'd suggest checking it out if you're a fan of the movie. This book is currently out of print, but is available in places like libraries and Amazon, and it also comes with The African Queen box set, which is how I got my copy. 


"Now what do you suppose ever happened to Charlie and Rose? Where did they live? Did they stay in Africa? I always thought they must have. And lots of little Charlies and Rosies. And lived happily ever after. Because that's what we wanted them to do. And every summer they take a trip in the old Queen- and laugh and laugh and laugh and laugh..."

-closing paragraph, page 129.

Humphrey Bogart Blogathon Announcement+ Blog Updates

As most of you probably know by now, Humphrey Bogart is my favorite actor. In honor of his 112th birthday on December 25th, I've decided to host my first blogathon, which will run from December 23-December 25th. I realize that's it's three months away, but if you'd like to participate, I ask that you let me know by December 22nd. Your post can be about his films, his life or anything else Bogie-related.

Here are a few banners I made to promote the blogathon (feel free to make your own if you'd rather):

Just a few other blog updates:

Starting Saturday, I'll be changing the blog header at the beginning of every month featuring a film that somehow relates to that particular month.

Also, I'll be starting a new "blog series" called My Favorite Films. As the title says, about once or twice a month I'll do blog posts talking about some of my favorite films, mainly focusing on my top twenty for now. I'm planning to blog about a few special films to coincide with the blogathon in December.

If you have any questions about the blogathon, let me know in the comments, or contact me through Twitter.

Ida Lupino & Humphrey Bogart- For the Ida Lupino Blogathon

My entry for the Ida Lupino blogathon, hosted by Jen to remember Ida seventeen years after her death on August 3, 1995.

My favorite film of Ida's would have to be High Sierra (1941). The film was directed by Raoul Walsh and co-stars my favorite actor of all time, Humphrey Bogart, in the role that made him a star. I considered just discussing the film itself, but I instead decided to write about a topic that has interested me for some time: the much-speculated relationship between Ida and Bogie. As you may have already noticed, several websites and biographies state that they strongly disliked one another, while a majority of them also say they were good friends throughout filming. 

Bogie first co-starred with Ida in They Drive By Night (1940), also directed by Walsh. (I'll admit that I have yet to watch this film, but I've heard Ida's performance is wonderful.) I wasn't able to find her exact quotes, but I have read statements from Ida that they didn't get to know each other well and she was thrilled when he was cast opposite her in High Sierra, which strongly supports the theory that they got along.

Also supporting this theory is information found on Bogie's Wikipedia page about the filming of High Sierra, saying:


"Bogart worked well with Ida Lupino, and her relationship with him was a close one, provoking jealousy from Bogart's wife Mayo."-  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humphrey_Bogart#High_Sierra

There are quite a few statements/articles however that say the opposite about Bogie and Ida's relationship:


"Never a team player, Lupino had quarrelled with Humphrey Bogart during the production of High Sierra, and vowed after the film’s completion that she would never work with the actor again."
-http://www.sensesofcinema.com/2009/great-directors/ida-lupino/


"When Ida Lupino found herself unable to cry during the film's final scene, co-star Humphrey Bogart coaxed her into it by telling her, "Listen, doll, if you can't cry, I'm going to take the picture away from you." Despite this, Lupino disliked Bogart's verbal treatment of her, and refused to accept another co-starring role with him in Out of the Fog." -http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0033717/trivia


From a certain point of view, I suppose it could be seen that Ida and Bogie disliked each other since they never made another film together and she didn't want to co-star with him in Out of the Fog (1941). I would like to point out, though, that they did collaborate again in 1944 to perform High Sierra for the Screen Guild Theater's Live Radio Programme, which is available here.

What do I think about the rumor's surrounding Ida Lupino and Humphrey Bogart? Well, being a huge fan of both, I like to believe they were friends despite several arguing reports.

Either way, High Sierra is a wonderful film that I feel every classic film fan should see, and it's a great way to remember Ida on the sixteenth anniversary of her death.

I would also like to thank Jen for hosting this great blogathon. It was a lot of fun, and I hope there are more to come!

Review: Dead Reckoning (1947)

IMDb Synopsis: A soldier runs away rather than receive the Medal of Honor, so his buddy gets permission to investigate, and love and death soon follow.


If you're a classic film fan, you most likely are already aware that Humphrey Bogart made a lot of film noirs. This is one of the few I hadn't seen. I don't think it's as great as some of Bogart's other films, but it's most definitely worth checking out.


As far as performances go, Bogie is still witty and clever, as he always is (and he continues to make fedoras look great). Lizabeth Scott, while not as remarkable as actresses like Lauren Bacall and Gloria Grahame, is still very promising as the femme fatale. I'd also recommend watching her in The Strange Love of Martha Ivers costarring Barbara Stanwyck and Kirk Douglas.


Again, I don't think Dead Reckoning is as great a masterpiece as The Maltese Falcon or The Big Sleep, but I did find it to be a very entertaining film noir that's worth a viewing.

4/5 stars 

A Tribute to Katharine Hepburn

I posted this last Thursday, but for whatever reason Blogger removed it from my site :/

It's no secret that I'm a huge Kate Hepburn fan. She's my second favorite actress ever, just behind Ingrid Bergman and Lauren Bacall, who are tied for my number one spot. Today, May 12, would have been her 104th birthday, and in tribute, I'm going to write about my five favorite films/performances of hers and why I love them. Although, I won't be going into plot details (since I'm obviously no good at that).

These are in no particular order- just listed chronologically by year.

Stage Door (1937)

It's actually kind of unusual for me to pick a Katharine Hepburn film from the 1930s as one of my favorites. I do like some of her earlier films, but I've always preferred her films from the fifties and the sixties (as you will see farther into this post) since I think her acting was more mature and so much stronger. I think Stage Door, however, is one of the best dramas to come out of the thirties- it's no Gone With the Wind, obviously, but it does have great potential and wonderful acting from Hepburn, Ginger Rogers, and Lucille Ball. 

Adam's Rib (1949)

Adam's Rib is one of my two favorite Tracy/Hepburn films (I'll be writing on my other favorite later in this post). It's honestly one of the most hilarious films I've ever seen. Tracy and Hepburn had stellar chemistry, and this film really shows how well they did together. I've always loved Hepburn's strong, feminist performance. She also has several great scenes with Judy Holliday (in the role that helped land her the lead role in Born Yesterday). This film is a delight, and definitely an all-time favorite for me.

The African Queen (1951)

If I had to pick only two or three of Katharine Hepburn's films to be my favorites (which would be very hard, mind you), The African Queen would definitely be one of them. I just love her performance, and I think she was marvelous alongside Humphrey Bogart (who I have a huge liking for, if it's no already obvious).

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967)

The Lion In Winter (1968)

My Picks: The 50 Best Male Performances in Film

 Just like my previous post, I'll be listing my top fifty male performances. Again, I'm not limiting myself to one role per actor.

My top 50, in alphabetical order by film title:

Humphrey Bogart as Charlie Allnut in The African Queen (1951, John Huston)

Harold Russell as Homer Parish in The Best Years of Our Lives (1946, William Wyler)

Cary Grant as Dudley The Bishop's Wife (1947, Henry Koster)

Humphrey Bogart as Rick Blaine in Casablanca (1942, Michael Curtiz)

Paul Newman as Brick Pollitt in Cat On a Hot Tin Roof (1958, Richard Brooks)

Jack Lemmon as Joe Clay in Days of Wine and Roses (1962, Blake Edwards)

Sidney Poitier as Noah Cullen & 

Tony Curtis as John Jackson in The Defiant Ones (1958, Stanley Kramer)

Fred MacMurray as Walter Neff in Double Indemnity (1944, Billy Wilder)

James Dean as Cal Trask in East of Eden (1955, Elia Kazan)

Andy Griffith as Larry "Lonesome" Rhodes in A Face In the Crowd (1957, Elia Kazan)

Burt Lancaster as Milton Warden,

Frank Sinatra as Angelo Maggio &

Montgomery Clift as Robert Prewitt in From Here to Eternity (1953, Fred Zinnemann)

Bing Crosby as Father Chuck O'Malley in Going My Way (1944, Leo McCarey)

Clark Gable as Rhett Butler in Gone With the Wind (1939, Victor Fleming)

Henry Fonda as Tom Joad in The Grapes of Wrath (1940, John Ford)

Spencer Tracy as Matt Drayton in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967, Stanley Kramer)

Henry Travers as Clarence &

James Stewart as George Bailey in It's a Wonderful Life (1946, Frank Capra)

Clark Gable as Peter Warne in It Happened One Night (1934, Frank Capra)

Gregory Peck as Father Francis Chisholm in The Keys of the Kingdom (1944, John Stahl)

Dana Andrews as Mark McPherson in Laura (1944, Otto Preminger)

Sidney Poitier as Homer Smith in Lilies of the Field (1963, Ralph Nelson)

Ray Milland as Don Birnam in The Lost Weekend (1945, Billy Wilder)

Peter O'Toole as King Henry II in The Lion in Winter (1968, Anthony Harvey)

Kirk Douglas as Vincent van Gough in Lust for Life (1956, Vincent Minnelli)

Humphrey Bogart as Sam Spade in The Maltese Falcon (1941, John Huston)

Frank Sinatra as Frankie Machine in The Man With the Golden Arm (1955, Otto Preminger)

Ernest Borgnine as Marty Piletti in Marty (1955, Delbert Man)

Dick Van Dyke as Bert in Mary Poppins (1964, Robert Stevenson)

Gary Cooper as Longfellow Deeds in Mr. Deeds Comes to Town (1936, Frank Capra)

Cary Grant as T.R. Devlin in Notorious (1946, Alfred Hitchcock)

Marlon Brando as Terry Malloy in On the Waterfront (1954, Elia Kazan)

Montgomery Clift as George Eastman in A Place in the Sun (1951, George Stevens)

Gary Cooper as Lou Gehrig in The Pride of the Yankees (1942, Sam Wood)

Leslie Howard as Henry Higgins in Pygmalion (1938, Anthony Asquith)

James Dean as Jim Stark in Rebel Without a Cause (155, Nicholas Ray)

Gregory Peck as Joe Bradley in Roman Holiday (1953, William Wyler)

Joseph Cotten as Charles Oakley in Shadow of a Doubt (1943, Alfred Hitchcock)

Gene Kelly as Don Lockwood in Singin' In the Rain (1952, Stanley Donen)

Warren Beatty as Bud Stamper in Splendor In the Grass (1961, Eliz Kazan)

James Mason as Norman Maine in A Star Is Born (1954, George Cukor)

Robert Walker as Bruno Anthony in Strangers On a Train (1951, Alfred Hitchcock)

William Holden as Joe Gillis in Sunset Blvd (1950, Billy Wilder)

Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch & Phillip Alford as Jim Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird (1962, Robert Mulligan)

James Stewart as John "Scottie" Ferguson in Vertigo (1958, Alfred Hitchcock)

Robert Taylor as Roy Cronin in Waterloo Bridge (1940, Mervyn LeRoy)

Laurence Olivier as Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights (1939, William Wyler)