3 Classic Katherine Hepburn Films – The African Queen / On Golden Pond / Iron Petticoat DVD – Humphrey Bogart, Nicholas Phipps

The African Queen The boozing smoking cussing captain of a tramp steamer Charlie Allnut saves prim and proper Rose Sayer after her brother is killed by German soldiers at the beginning of World War I in Africa. Many quarrels later the two set sail on the Ulonga-Bora in order to sabotage a German ship. Based on the 1935 novel by C.S. Forester the wonderful combination of Hepburn and Bogie (who won an Oscar) makes this a thoroughly enjoyable blend of comedy and adventure. Later came the book (and Clint Eastwood film) White Hunter Black Heart which chronicled screenwriter Peter Viertel’s experiences observing Huston throughout the making of the picture. On Golden Pond Family tensions explode for a loving couple Ethel and Norman Thayer (Katherine Hepburn and Henry Fonda in Academy Award winning performance) at their New England summer cabin on Golden Pond. Their daughter Chelsea (Jane Fonda) has come to visit with her new lover Bill (Dabney Coleman) and his tough young son Billy (Doug McKeon). The three generations collide. But what begins as a stubborn battle of wills between Norman and Billy slowly turns into a relationship that Chelsea always wanted with her father and Norman discovers how much he has missed by denying his daughter’s love. Iron Petticoat A US Air Force captain forces down a Russian MIG only to be confronted by a Russian fighter ace. The Captain is tasked with converting her to capitalism.