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 The African Queen is a story of a prim church organist and a ‘ner-do-well mail carrier who
escape from the German army by boat down the very dangerous Ulanga River during World War
I. Knowing how dangerous the river is Charlie Allnut, the mail carrier; is reluctant to
travel down it (the river is supposed to be unnavigable). But Rose Sayer, the organist, insists.Rose’s
village is burned and all the natives are captured and hauled off by the Germans. The
Reverend, Rose’s brother, dies and Rose is left alone. Allnut goes back to
Rose’s village to check on her because he knows about the German raids. They know
that the Germans will be looking for the mail boat (the African Queen) because it is well
stocked with supplies, so they try to travel to the lake at the end of the Ulanga River.
 Charlie and Rose have contrasting personalities, to say the
least. Rose is a very conservative Christian who always thinks of the good of others.
Allnut is very ‘liberal’, he almost never goes to church and sees a great deal
of benefit in a good shot of gin. After a bout with the bottle and subsequent disposal of
the gin by Rose, these two eventually attract each other. They each like the good
qualities the other has, they can share their opinions and (eventually) not argue heavily
because of the difference.
 There are massive rapids on the Ulanga and Allnut takes Rose down the first set
to make her change her mind. Far from discouraged, she still wants to press on. A few days
later, the African Queen goes over a small waterfall, after being shot at by the German
lookouts at the fortress of Shona. The boat needs many repairs including a new shaft and
prop.
After a heroic repair job by both Rose and Charlie, the river seems to
peter out and the two get lost in the dense reeds.  They resort to pushing and pulling
the 'Queen', but it's all to no avail. The boat gets stranded in the mud when the
water level drops. All seems lost, but a huge storm floods the river and Allnut and Rose
wake up afloat on the lake the next morning. It turns out they were only a few hundred
yards from the lake. Their purpose of going to the lake, other than escaping, is to sink
the Louisa, a German ship that controls the lake, by making a torpedo out of oxygen
tanks aboard the African Queen. As they begin to make their move , a storm capsizes the
boat.
 Charlie and Rose are captured and taken aboard the Louisa. Allnut says he was
just fishing, but the Germans don’t believe him and sentence him to death for giving
false testimony. Rose tells the true story, but they still sentence them both to death.
Before they’re hanged, Allnut asks the German Captain to marry them. After the
"wedding" the African Queen resurfaces with the torpedo facing the Louisa. The
boats collide and the Louisa is destroyed, allowing Allnut and Rose to swim ashore to
freedom with their objective carried out.
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