THE AFRICAN QUEEN, 1951, Paramount, 105 min. Dir. John Huston. Gin-soaked captain Humphrey Bogart decides to take pity on skinny, psalm-singing spinster Katharine Hepburn after her brother is killed in a German attack during WWI – and instead, winds up falling in love and ferrying her downriver to launch a suicidal assault on a German warship.
PRIZZI’S HONOR, 1985, Disney, 130 min. Mob hit man Jack Nicholson falls in love with Kathleen Turner, only to learn that she too is an assassin for hire. In director John Huston’s hands this relationship between two killers becomes a hilarious parody of domesticity, until the nature of their work takes a dark, disturbing turn. William Hickey, Robert Loggia and Anjelica Huston (who won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar) provide solid support.