- Continuity: When arguing about who is going to steer the torpedoes, a cigar suddenly appears in Charlie's mouth.
- Boom mic visible: On first evening on African Queen, while Rose is drinking her tea, the shadow of the boom mic appears over the port edge of the boat several times.
- Continuity: When Charlie wakes up in the rain, his blanket is completely soaked. After Rosie lets him in out of the rain, his blanket is dry.
- Continuity: When Charlie calls Rose a psalm-singing, skinny old maid, the knot on his neckerchief changes.
- Continuity: When Rev. Samuel and Rose kneel to pray, his coat is unbuttoned. When they go out to attend the African man who screams, his coat is completely buttoned.
- Audio/visual unsynchronized: In the final scene, when Bogart and Hepburn are swimming in the lake, their voices reverberate as they talk to each other, revealing that they are indoors, not outside.
- Continuity: When Rosie tries to climb aboard the boat, you can tell from her shoulder blade and leg that she is naked. When Charlie helps her into the boat, she is wearing women's underwear.
- Revealing mistakes: Obvious double for Robert Morley as he tends the garden after the Germans leave.
- Continuity: In the scene where they were setting the torpedo, Bogart's cigar is shown to be a stub, and in the next scene it is longer.
- Continuity: In some close-ups of the African Queen, her name is painted in white letters. Other shots show the name of the boat in black lettering.
- Revealing mistakes: When Allnut goes underwater to check the propeller, the water lifts up the back of Bogart's toupee, revealing his bald pate.
- Revealing mistakes: When Charlie welds the replacement blade that he "made" onto the broken propeller, the new blade he is using is a perfect fit, and was clearly cut from the propeller he is repairing.
- Revealing mistakes: When Charlie and Rosie are being attacked by a swarm of mosquitoes, the entire swarm moves around in unison. They are superimposed on a glass plate over the film.
- Revealing mistakes: Allnut gets wet sleeping under the open sky, and Rose finally lets him into the canopied part of the boat. After he falls asleep, she opens an umbrella to protect him from the rain. When she opens the umbrella, it is already wet, presumably from previous takes.
- Continuity: When Charlie climbs back onto the boat after diving under the water to inspect the damage to the propeller and shaft, his hair and upper torso are clearly dry.
- Factual errors: The torpedoes that Charlie made for the African Queen were constructed from red hydrogen cylinders. He said they were oxygen cylinders, which are black.
- Continuity: During the final storm, a wave swamps the boat, fills the furnace, and extinguishes the fire. In the next scene, the fire is still flickering.
- Crew or equipment visible: When Charlie Allnut gets back aboard the boat after he pulled him with a rope, just after Rose screams because she has seen the leeches on his back, the head of a member of the troupe is visible below the screen.
- Continuity: When Robert Morley lays on his deathbed only a few days after being hit, forcefully, in the left cheek with a rifle butt, his cheek is perfectly smooth and pink with no sign of an injury.
>>> WARNING: Here Be Spoilers <<<
Goofs below here contain information that may give away important plot points. You may not want to read any further if you've not already seen this title.
- Factual errors: SPOILER: At the end, Charlie and Rose are married by the captain of the Luisa. However, their marriage would not be legal. The captain of a ship has no particular power to perform weddings. The US Navy, Royal (British) Navy, and various other countries specifically prohibit a commanding officer from performing marriage ceremonies.
- Continuity: SPOILER: When Allnut sets up the torpedoes in the African Queen, the holes are a little behind the prow. The turned boat, which supposedly explodes the German ship, has the torpedoes ahead.
- Continuity: SPOILER: Allnut's stubble is heavy when he is interrogated on the boat, but much lighter in the water after the Louisa sinks.
- Continuity: SPOILER: When the Germans arrive at the village, Rev. Sayer confronts a German soldier, who hits him in the face with a rifle butt. He falls to the ground, and the left side of his face near his mouth is swollen, bruised, and bloodied. The Germans then burn the village. A short time later, while the village is still smoldering, Rev. Sayer is working outside. Rose talks to him and brings him inside. His face is unblemished, with no swelling or bruising.
Related Links
