Trying to hard to be another African Queen, this movie miscasts Cary Grant as a drunk. He is no Humphrey Bogart and so has to present his alcoholic in comic terms; making this film rather unrealistic. Moreover, children enter the mix and do little more than increase the cuteness quotient to paper over (& yet reveal) the formulaic nature of the entire enterprise.
That said, this is quiet, unassuming fun that cannot fail to amuse. The humor is light and the oblique sex jokes unlikely to offend any but the bluest bluestocking. The chemistry between Grant and Leslie Caron is palpable and they make a bright and breezy couple: The Filthy Beast & Miss Goody Two Shoes. Both performers are as good as each other - comically - and their sense of timing is excellent. It is only a pity that this vehicle for their undeniable talents did not have more to say about the sex war than it does –it could then have been the romantic comedy classic that The African Queen is.
Copyright © 2009 Frank TALKER. Permission granted to reproduce and distribute it in any format; provided that mention of the author’s Weblog (http://franktalker5.blogspot.com/) is included: E-mail notification requested. All other rights reserved.
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