Six decades after Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn walked its deck, the African Queen — the most legendary riverboat in movie history — is to be restored to its former glory.
Owners of the 28-foot wooden steam-powered vessel have had the faded film star moved from dry dock in the Florida Keys, where for years she has sat in a state of disrepair, to a boatyard where she will undergo months of refurbishments to bring her back to life.
“I’m looking forward to seeing people’s reactions when that little steam engine starts up again and we hear that old ‘ker-chunk, ker-chunk’,” said Jim Hendricks, a Florida Keys hotelier and owner of the African Queen.
Click here for the full report with photo of the boat in drydock and click here for the original preview trailer for the 1951 film.
