The African Queen
United Artists | Release Date: March 21, 1952 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
91
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 15 Critic Reviews
Positive:
14
Mixed:
1
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
TV Guide MagazineStaff (Not Credited)
A film that has everything--adventure, humor, spectacular photography and superb performances. Read full review
100
Entertainment WeeklyChris Nashawaty
Bogart is hilariously crusty as a hard-drinking river rat who journeys downriver on a rickety steamer with a prim missionary (a flawless, lock-jawed Hepburn), trying to stay one step ahead of the Germans. Read full review
100
The New YorkerPauline Kael
An inspired piece of casting brought Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn together. This is a comedy, a love story, and a tale of adventure, and it is one of the most charming and entertaining movies ever made.
100
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
This was a movie that respected its audience and respected its genuine desire to be well and intelligently entertained. Read full review
100
The GuardianPeter Bradshaw
A ripping, gripping yarn, a surprisingly erotic love story and, as it happens, a premonition of Herzog's Fitzcarraldo. Read full review
100
The Hollywood ReporterStaff (Not Credited)
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. Read full review
100
VarietyWilliam Brogdon
An engrossing motion picture. Just offbeat enough in story, locale and star teaming of Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn to stimulate the imagination. It is a picture with an unassuming warmth and naturalness that can have a bright boxoffice chance Read full review
90
The New York TimesBosley Crowther
A slick job of movie hoodwinking with a thoroughly implausible romance, set in a frame of wild adventure that is as whopping as its tale of off-beat love. And the main tone and character of it are in the area of the well-disguised spoof...Mr. Huston merits credit for putting this fantastic tale on a level of sly, polite kidding and generally keeping it there, while going about the happy business of engineering excitement and visual thrills. Read full review
88
Slant MagazineMatthew Connolly
Bogart slyly draws upon his past performances here—men of weary-eyed cynicism and faded idealism—to give Charlie’s rudderless existence an extra-textual charge. Read full review
80
The TelegraphTim Robey
Grand, propulsive. Read full review
80
Time OutWally Hammond
Credit should also go to the crew; to Jack Cardiff for his frond-filled imagery and maestro sound recordist John Mitchell for his atmospheric soundscape. Read full review
80
Total FilmNeil Smith
With Huston spending most of the shoot big-game hunting, it’s probably cameraman Jack Cardiff who deserves kudos for turning this odd-couple romance into such a colourful escapade through east Africa. Read full review
80
EmpireIan Nathan
A perfect ensemble of cast, photography and screenplay are all subtly handled through Huston's direction, bringing out Bogart and Hepburn's performances beautifully. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
One of Bogart’s best acting performances. It shows his range – although having normally played an “alpha” character, here he is easily manipulated by the strong-willed Rose. Read full review
60
Chicago ReaderDon Drucker
The direction is often questionable, but the screenplay (by James Agee, John Collier, Huston, and Peter Viertel from C.S. Forester's novel) is a model of tight construction. Read full review
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