‘The African Queen’ Gets a Sharper Look : As more discriminating collectors are demanding better copies of classic favorites, remastering firms are coming up with a new process to digitally clean up old versions.

You haven’t really seen director John Huston’s “The African Queen,” a 1951 best picture Oscar nominee, until you’ve seen the newly remastered version, due out Oct. 27.

The difference is marked, which is evident during a simple comparison test.

First watch the version that’s been on video for years and then check out the latest, well-scrubbed edition--which is cleaner and crisper looking. You can see more of the detail in this tale of a crusty old trader (Humphrey Bogart in an Oscar-winning performance) navigating enemy-infested waters during World War I with a prudish missionary played by Katharine Hepburn.

“The African Queen,” selling in a $60, CBS-Fox package that includes Hepburn’s book “The Making of the African Queen,” is just one of many films getting this royal remastering treatment these days.

“People are getting more sophisticated, especially collectors in some foreign countries, who are very particular,” said Ken Holland, president of the local remastering firm IVC. “They like old films to look pretty clean, like a modern-day production.

“We’re constantly redoing libraries digitally and storing them on digital tape. For this process, we used to use tape that worked on the same principal as your average home video tape. But in the past few years digital recording has come into play for not only sound but images. It looks better and stores better on digital.”

It’s all done with computers, said Holland, explaining the process called VIP (visual improvement process): “The film is scanned digitally, with each frame examined to see what deviates radically from the image--like scratches and dirt. In some of these older movies there are defects at the beginning where the film may have been cinched when it tightened on the reel, causing scratches. When they sat in film cans for years they slid down on the reel, causing cinch marks.

“If the version used for duplication isn’t clean, the imperfections get copied in and become part of the picture. That just gets worse over the years. This process isolates the defects so they can be removed more easily. Also, we can bring out the detail and electronically sharpen it and clarify the image.”

Was “The African Queen” a real mess?

“It was in normal shape for its age,” Holland said. “I’ve seen films in worse shape, like a John Wayne film called ‘The Big Trail’ (1930). It looked like there was a constant snowstorm going on.”

Holland, who noted his firm just cleaned up the 1960 Western “The Magnificent Seven” for MGM/UA, credited the laser-disc market for some of his projects.

“If an old movie is going to laser, it needs to be especially clean,” he said. “First of all the laser fans are very particular. Also, because of the high resolution, defects look even worse.”

What’s New on Video

“Indecent Proposal” (Paramount, no set price). This movie struck a nerve with fans, who are intrigued by the question it poses--if you’re desperate for money would you have sex with someone for $1 million? A young couple (Demi Moore and Woody Harrelson) gets such an offer from a handsome billionaire (Robert Redford), who’s smitten by the young wife. Basically an entertaining soap opera, with no real in-depth examination of the fascinating issues it raises.

“Elvira Madigan” (World Artists, 1967, $25). One of the most romantic movies ever made, it’s about a young couple (Thommy Berggren and Pia Degermark) so desperately in love that they run away to try to live on love. Gorgeously shot and lyrical, this Swedish movie, by director Bo Widerberg, is almost like a fantasy. If you’re in a romantic mood, this will considerably enhance it.

“Jane Eyre” (FoxVideo, 1944, $20). Based on Charlotte Bronte’s novel, this brooding Gothic suspense tale, set in a spooky English manor, centers around a romance between a governess (Joan Fontaine) and the head of the household (Orson Welles). Slow in spots but fairly absorbing most of the way.

“The Dark Wind” (LIVE, $93). Famed documentarian Errol Morris, who did “The Thin Blue Line” and “A Brief History of Time,” tries his hand at fiction and stumbles badly. Deadly dull mystery about a Navajo policeman (Lou Diamond Phillips) trying to solve a murder.

Upcoming on Video:

“Happily Ever After” (Tuesday); “Three of Hearts,” “The Sandlot” and “Cop and a Half” (Wednesday); “Dennis the Menace” and “Tom and Jerry: The Movie” and “A Far Off Place” (Oct. 26); “Posse,” “The Dark Half” and “Born Yesterday” (Oct. 27); “Who’s the Man?” (Nov. 3); “The Muppet Christmas Carol” (Nov. 5); “Sliver” and “Weekend at Bernie’s II” (Nov. 10); “Free Willy” (Nov. 16); “Lost in Yonkers” and “American Heart” (Nov. 17); “Made in America,” “Cliffhanger” and “The Adventures of Huck Finn” (Nov. 24); “Rising Sun” (Dec. 1); “Sleepless in Seattle,” “Super Mario Bros,” “Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story” and “Guilty as Sin” (Dec. 8); “The Firm” (Dec. 16); “Dave” Dec. 22).