Bogart and Hepburn in The African Queen Blu-ray Bound

January 11, 2010

With Oscar season just around the corner, Paramount Home Entertainment has announced a March 23 for the debut of John Huston's The African Queen on Blu-ray Disc and DVD.

Humphrey Bogart won a Best Oscar for his work in the 1951 WWI drama costarring alongside Katharine Hepburn in The African Queen, the last film on AFI's 100 Greatest Movies list to come to home video.

On Blu-ray, The African Queen will feature restored 1.37:1 1080p video constructed using new comments from original cinematographer Jack Cardiff based on the original archival print, and mono audio.

Both Blu-ray and DVD versions of The African Queen will be offered in standard and limited edition commemorative sets. The standard editions will include the following all-new bonus feature:

• NEW: Embracing Chaos: Making The African Queen — This comprehensive documentary takes a look back at the production with commentary about the cast, the challenges of the filming locations and how the spectacular cinematography impacted the industry overall. Includes on-camera interviews with notable Hollywood icons, critics and crew members from the film including Martin Scorsese, Tony Huston, Richard Schickel and more, plus never-before-seen archival images and home movie footage provided by the estate of cinematographer Jack Cardiff.

The commemorative box set on Blu-ray or DVD, with a retail price of $43.99 versus $26.99 for Blu-ray, will also feature these exclusive goodies:

• Audio disc with a recording of the Lux Radio Theater presents The African Queen radio broadcast
• A Senitype film frame collectible reproduction
• Collectible postcards featuring reproductions of images related to the film
• Reproduction of Katharine Hepburn's out-of-print memoir The Making of The African Queen or How I Went to Africa with Bogart, Bacall and Huston and Almost Lost My Mind

Cover art and Amazon pre-order links for The African Queen on Blu-ray are due shortly and will be shared once we have them.

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