The African Queen is an old, dirty, ugly, unreliable steamboat. No one would expect a missionary's sister and a rough, uneducated mechanic to take a boat like that down a dangerous river through the forests of Central Africa. But Rose Sayer and Charlie Allnutt do just that. Why do they do it? The First World War has just begun, and Rose has a wild and crazy plan. She and Charlie set off down the river and come close to death many times, but they survive all dangers - except the danger of falling in love.

非洲皇后是艘又老又髒又醜，而且還不可靠的汽船。沒人會認為一個傳教士的姐姐和一個沒受過教育又粗爆的技工，可以乘著船渡過一道經過中非森林的危險河流。但Rose Sayer和Charlie Allnutt確實這麼做。為什麼他們非要不顧生命安危而去冒險呢？一次世界大戰剛展開，Rose有個瘋狂的計畫。她和Charlie開始他們的冒險，其中有好幾次逼近死亡，但他們還是存活下來，而且，他們也愛上彼此。