The African Queen

I simply don't see the allure of this movie.  Not only does the American Film institute recognize it as one of the 100 most significant American films ever made (although they dropped it to #65 from #17 in the 2007 revision to the list) and did Bogart win an Academy Award for his performance, but my dear sweet Grandmother absolutely loved it.  For my part, I found it clumsy and tedious. 

Most of what I didn't care for came from directorial/editing choices that I felt inhibited the storytelling.  Something interesting would happen, and then the film would cut to some scenic footage, and then back to the characters, where something else interesting would happen.  This narrative structure prevented the different scenes from connecting to each other, and the viewer never really felt a build in the conflict between Hepburn and Bogart, let alone their burgeoning attraction.  When they finally are confirmed in love, it feels as though maybe we missed something.  They go right from at each other's throats to "would you like some tea, dearest?" with out that intermediate recognition.

It also prevented what could have been a real tour de force from Hepburn.  Such a rich character in the hands of such a powerful actress could have become mesmerizing.  Instead, everytime she seemed to be gathering up steam, the film would cut to some hippopotamuses or such, and she would have to start from scratch again the next time we saw her.  If I were the AFI, I would have left this film off the list altogether.