German East Africa, 1914. Humphrey Bogart is the slovenly gin-swilling Charlie Allnut, while Katharine Hepburn portrays Rose Sayer, the maiden-lady sister of a prim British missionary (Robert Morley). When invading Germans kill the missionary and level the village, Allnut offers to take Rose back to civilization. She can’t tolerate his drinking or bad manners; he isn’t crazy about her imperious, judgmental attitude. However, it does not take long before their passionate dislike turns to love. Together the disparate duo work to ensure their survival on the treacherous waters and devise an ingenious way to way to destroy a German gunboat...

Adapted from the novel by C.S. Forester, this much-loved wartime romantic adventure combines the masterful direction of John Huston with the indisputable chemistry of Humphrey Bogart, who won a Best Actor Academy Award for his performance, and Katharine Hepburn in their only on screen pairing.

When you strip the story down to the basics there's not a lot going on. It's the relationship between the two very different personalities which make for the humour and drama that is slowly rolled out. The story could easily have been told in half the time, but then the audience wouldn't be as invested in both the characters and their blossoming relationship. This was a time when movies were all about characterisation, building suspense and drama... Not green screen effects and non-stop over the top action.

By today's standards, some of the controversy surrounding the movie at the time seems a little bizarre. The censors were not happy that the original script featured, as in the book, two unmarried characters cohabiting on the boat and so this aspect was seriously played down. Bogart's character was originally intended to be a London cockney, but for ease of production, this was changed to make his character Canadian.

Extras include a new audio commentary with Script Supervisor Angela Allen and Ian Christie; Audio commentary by cinematographer Jack Cardiff; Audio interview with Sir John Woolf (4 min, 43 sec); Embracing Chaos: Making The African Queen (59 min, 20 sec comprehensive documentary about the making of the film); A video interview with co-screenwriter Peter Viertel; Video interview with critic Kim Newman; Video interview with historian Neil Sinyard; 2010 NFT Q&A with Anjelica Huston and script supervisor Angela Allen; 1981 NFT / Guardian interview with John Huston; Lux Radio Theatre adaptation from 1952 with Humphrey Bogart and Greer Garson; Behind the Scenes Stills Gallery; Original theatrical trailer.

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Nick Smithson