On Feb. 20, 1952, The African Queen opened at the Capitol Theatre in New York. The sweeping drama was nominated for four Oscars at the 24th Academy Awards, claiming a win for Humphrey Bogart as best actor. The Hollywood Reporter's original review is below.
As charming as the C.S. Forester novel on which it is based, The African Queen is top flight entertainment, delightful, different, always interesting. It is filled with excitement and adventure and sparked by superlative performances from Katharine Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart.
Filmed in Africa by S.P. Eagle, the production is a stunning pictorial display, wonderfully accurate in its atmospheric values and eye-arresting scenery. The backgrounds add considerably to the enormous credibility found in this narrative about the daring odyssey made through the jungle by a missionary's straight laced sister and a dissolute adventurer.
The script, as adapted by James Agee and John Huston, does full justice to Forester's beloved work. It is a brilliant writing job, witty, incisive in its characters, warmly human in the unfoldment of its beguiling love story. Huston's direction is an extraordinary job considering that for the most part he is working with but two players, a condition that is barely noticeable because of the smart dialogue, the tremendously dramatic situations and the vivid action sequences that highlight the dangerous adventure.
The onlooker's attention bears of no distraction during the 104 minutes of The African Queen - quite a feat of production ingenuity, directorial resourcefulness and acting genius. The picture is an attraction bound to appeal to sophisticated audiences but it also possesses the ingredients of a popular success, drama, romance and action. Certainly it is a film that will be talked about, and this will help its bright box office prospects further.