1951
John Huston
The African Queen is one of the most treasured films in the history of cinema, starring the electric pairing of Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn, directed by the legendary John Huston (The Maltese Falcon, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre).
Adapted from the novel by C.S. Forester, this much-loved wartime romantic adventure throws together slovenly, gin-swilling boat Captain Charlie Allnut (Bogart, Casablanca, To Have and Have Not) and uptight Rose Sayer (Hepburn, The Lion in Winter, The Philadelphia Story), the maiden-lady sister of a prim British missionary at the outbreak of WWI as the Germans move into East Africa.
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.
The chemistry of Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn is indisputable and The African Queen was nominated for four Academy Awards®, winning Best Actor for Bogart. Robert Morley (Too Many Chefs, Marie Antoinette) stars alongside with a screenplay was penned by James Agee (All the Way Home, The Night of the Hunter).
This Special Edition release includes a brand new Audio Commentary with script supervisor Angela Allen and a booklet with an exclusive essay from Helen O’Hara.
Adapted from the novel by C.S. Forester
For the 2010 4k restoration of The African Queen, Romulus Films —one of the film’s original production companies— provided access to the original three-strip negative at a London facility where the film was carefully scanned and digitized. The separate elements were then transferred to Los Angeles and painstakingly recombined and inspected frame by frame to ensure that every detail aligned and that any dirt and scratches were removed.
To ensure that the restored picture matched the filmmakers’ original vision, Paramount arranged a screening of an MPAA archive print for the film’s original cinematographer, Academy Award winner Jack Cardiff, whose comments were recorded live during the screening. That same archival print was later screened alongside the newly restored version so that the restoration team could ensure that all of Cardiff’s notes had been addressed. The result is a vibrant, warm picture that reverentially recreates the film as it was originally meant to be seen.
In 2024 a new UHD was produced from the 2010 restoration.
