IT is one of the most famous films of the 20th century. But as The African Queen pushes downstream through the reeds, who’d have thought the boat was actually chugging along Wareham’s River Piddle?

The classic movie, starring Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn, is soon to be released on fully-restored DVD and Blu-Ray.

It means part of Poole Harbour and the Piddle will be brought to the screens of thousands of homes around the world once more.

Although there is dispute in some quarters as to whether scenes were shot in Dorset, Wareham author Hugh Elmes said the stories were part of local folklore.

“Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn are supposed to have stayed in the Black Bear in Wareham and drunk in the public bar,” he said.

“They used the river mouth to get the reeds effect and the scene where they see the German U-boat was shot where the Marines camp now sits [at Hamworthy].”

Mr Elmes, 62, also described how the boat of a Parkstone fisherman was enlisted to double as another German craft.

He added: “It was very clever how they filmed it, considering how long ago it was made.”

Although much of the Oscar-winning picture was shot on location in the Congo, some scenes were considered to be too dangerous to be filmed in Africa.

The African Queen follows a booze-swilling riverboat captain who is persuaded by a prim and proper missionary to use his ship to attack a German warcraft. The inevitable love story that ensues sees the couple married before escaping from the enemy.

It took experts six years to meticulously digitise and enhance the original film footage from the 1950s.

• The African Queen special restoration edition is released on DVD and Blu-ray by ITV Studios Home Entertainment on June 14.