Hepburn is a missionary, working with her minister brother in a village in Africa. Like all good colonists, the two attempt to sway all of the natives away from thier silly native religions to a new silly religion, er, I mean Christianity, and in the first shot, the two are singing hymns to the somewhat bored citizens. Bogart comes into the picture when he arrives at the village in his rundown little boat The African Queen, making his usual rounds, and telling the two of the impending war, which would be World War One.
Almost immediately, a bunch of soliders walk into the village, proceeding to burn all of the huts and drive the citizens out. This causes hardship for Hepburn's brother, who slowly goes insane before dying (this pompous windbag obviously ran out of wind!). When Bogart returns to see the village in ruins, he takes Hepburn along in hopes they can return to safety. But when Bogart causally mentions that he has bomb-making equipment on the ship, Hepburn gets the notion that they can sail down the river and blow up the German vessel that patrols the river's enterance. Bogart thinks she's crazy, yet, nevertheless, they travel down the dangerous river, and so begins a very interesting trip, helped (or hindered?) by the fact that while Bogart is a fun-loving, gin-drinking ordinary joe, Hepburn is a prim and proper Christian. But this is Hollywood, and they overcome their differences and fall in love, or at least appreciation of each other.
The dynamic between these two legends is what make this movie entertaining. Even though many of the situations may seem dated to some more jaded modern audiences (especially when Hepburn discretely has a bath, making sure Bogart doesn't look, etc – and she's still wearing full-bodied garments when she dips in the water!), much of the material is still pretty cute and amusing when these two people are together.
John Huston directed this film, so of course he would feel some kinship to Bogart's hard-drinking, and resourceful character. And the film does have some gentle pokes at the prim and proper nature of Hepburn's character. The funniest moment is when Bogart breaks open the gin, and Hepburn breaks a sweat (the score music emphazises this horror of horrors, amusingly). Her temptation is extremly prominent; she is the example (a possibly sterotypical one, but not necessarily a false one) of the religious and proper individual who, when it comes right down to it, is frightened and repressed more than principled. But there is one thing which she experiences which allows her to break out of repression, and that is her impromptu river navigating; apparently, there's nothing in the Bible about feeling a rush after an extensive trip down the rapids.
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