By Lee Pfeiffer
Like most classic movie fans, I have have viewed The African Queen countless times. However, I had never truly seen The African Queen until I attended a special digital screening of the restored version. Cinema Retro was among a select number of publications to be invited by Paramount for the unveiling of the restored version of director John Huston's classic adventure. The screening took place at Viacom headquarters in Times Square (Viacom is the parent company of Paramount). Following a reception attended by Ron Smith, the man who headed up the restoration process, we were escorted into the screening room where a new documentary was shown detailing the painstaking efforts to preserve the film. When the movie itself was shown in digital format, the result was literally breathtaking. The film looks better than Huston could have ever hoped for.