When war strands a missionary with a drunken boat mechanic, the two must take on a gunboat with a steam launch.

Longer logline

When German troops burn the mission and the shock kills her brother, in a world where a single enemy gunboat controls the lake and the river between is all rapids, leeches and mudflats, a prim spinster and the gin-soaked mechanic whose boat she has commandeered must turn his battered launch into a torpedo, before the war, the river or one another finishes them first.

Film: The African Queen · Writer(s): James Agee, John Huston · Director: John Huston · Year: 1952