Lifeboat (1944)

• Year: 1944
• Released: 28 Jan 1944
• Country: United States
• Adwords: Nominated for 3 Oscars. 3 wins & 3 nominations total
• IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037017/
• Rotten Tomatoes: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/lifeboat
• Metacritics: https://www.metacritic.com/movie/lifeboat
• Available in: 720p, 1080p,
• Language: English, German, French
• MPA Rating: Not Rated
• Genre: Drama, War
• Runtime: 97 min
• Writer: John Steinbeck, Jo Swerling, Alfred Hitchcock
• Director: Alfred Hitchcock
• Cast: Tallulah Bankhead, John Hodiak, Walter Slezak
• Keywords: world war ii, journalist, sea, boat, u-boat,

	7.6/10
	78/100
	90% – Critics
	87% – Audience

Lifeboat Storyline

An American freighter sailing from New York City to London is torpedoed and sunk by a German U-boat, which in turn is bombed and destroyed in return fire. Renowned and well-appointed photojournalist Connie Porter, whose stories focus on her in the middle of whatever the subject she is covering, is alone in one of the freighter’s lifeboats, she helped aboard by Joe, one of the ship’s stewards, when the ship started going down. She is most concerned about the photographs she managed to take of the bombing and the accompanying story she will write first, her appearance and her material possessions second, and the rest of the world third. Before the lifeboat leaves the area of the debris field, other survivors of the bombing are able to take refuge on the lifeboat: C.J. Rittenhouse, nicknamed “Ritt”, a self-made wealthy industrialist; Alice MacKenzie, an Army nurse; Mrs. Higley, a shell-shocked woman from Bristol who went to the States to recover, only to give birth there, with the baby, Johnny, dying in the process of the rescue; brusque womanizer Kovac, an engine room man; Stanley, nicknamed “Sparks”, a radio man; Gus Smith, another crew member, who is sensitive to the fact that his real last name is Schmidt; and Joe, the aforementioned steward. However, it is the ninth and last passenger to board that causes the rest just a little consternation: a man named Willi, from the German U-boat, who says that he was only a crew member taking orders, and who apparently speaks only German (a language Connie speaks fluently) and no English. In their wait to be rescued, they have to work together to survive, which ends up being a difficult process at times, as they have differing views on certain fundamental things, such as who should be in charge, and thus what they should do, and just how much they should trust Willi, who may be the most knowledgeable among them in survival on the sea. But it’s those fundamental differences in them as people which may be their biggest threat in surviving.

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Lifeboat Movie Reviews

Intelligent and engrossing picture about some shipwrecked survivors of a torpedoing

Lifeboat chronicles the trip of eight passengers after being sunk the ship they were traveling . As during WWII , several survivors of a torpedoed ship find themselves in the same boat with one of the men who sunk it . They adrift on a lifeboat when they take on a German aboard .

This is a very good film , a highly theatrical experiment similarly to ¨The rope¨ ; dealing with several survivors in lonely lifeboat and it is based in part on a real shipwrecked . However , at film premiere was dumbly panned as an artistic flop by most critics , dismissed for a few embarrassing failures and flaws ; but is , nonetheless , today very well deemed . This sea-going ¨Grand Hotel¨ was filmed in a few takes to provide a seamless of movement but it remains nowadays what it was them a perfect film about shipwrecked survivors . Interesting screenplay , though partially claustrophobic , by Jo Swerling who adapted John Steinbeck’s original story . The film was shot entirely on a restricted set in which the boat was secured in a large studio tank . Alfred Hitchcock , always striving for realism , insisted that the boat never remain stationary and that there always be an added touch of ocean mist and fog compounded of oil forced through dry ice . Remarkable performances from a great cast such as tunnel-voiced Tallulah Bankhead as spoiled reporter Constance ‘Connie’ Porter , the veteran Henry Hull , the beautiful Mary Anderson , a tough John Hodiak , Canada Lee who was allowed to write his own lines , the character actor Hume Cronyn , William Bendix who joined the cast a few days into shooting when the original actor as Gus -Murray Alper- fell sick and special mention for Walter Slezak as astute Nazi in growing suspicion of the other survivors about him . The cast suffered harsh conditions during the hard shooting : actors were soaked with water and oil . Seasickness hit the entire cast at various times during production , and many of them caught pneumonia after constant exposure to cold water which led to two cases of pneumonia for Tallulah Bankhead , an illness for actress Mary Anderson and two cracked ribs for actor Hume Cronyn who almost drowned in a storm scene when he got caught under a large metal water-activator according to his autobiography . Production was temporarily halted twice to allow for recovery of the cast . And look for Hitchcock’s photography trademark on a newspaper that the survivors are reading .

Aside from the opening and closing scene , there is no score in this film , the only music is the flute . Evocative and atmospheric cinematography by Glen MacWilliams , though Arthur C. Miller was the initial director of photography but he was replaced after the first two weeks of filming, when Miller became ill . The motion picture was compellingly directed by the great maestro of suspense , Alfred Hitchcock ; only Hitch would face off the challenge of such a flick . Although the film did good business and succeed in New York as well as other big cities , it failed to attract audiences in smaller theatres and rural areas . As a result, it was a rare Alfred Hitchcock film that actually lost money at the box office . Remade as a Sci-Fi movie titled ¨Lifepod¨ (1981) by Bruce Bryant with Joe Penny , Kristine DeBell , Neil Ross , Carl Lumbly and ¨Lifepod¨ (1993) by Ron Silver with Robert Loggia , Jessica Tuck , Stan Shaw , Adam Storke , Kelli Williams and CCH Pounder .

U Boat

John Steinbeck’s story was cleverly adapted by Jo Swerling, although it appears Ben Hecht was also a collaborator in the screen play. Without a doubt, Alfred Hitchcock scored another hit with “Lifeboat”. For being done in one set, the boat, the movie never feels claustrophobic. The camera work is extremely effective because it conveys the hard voyage these survivors undertook after their Trans Atlantic ship was attacked by a German U boat.

The mood in the boat is driven by a sense of survival. The motley crew that gets on board after the shipwreck presents an assortment of people so different, but joined together by their predicament. It would have been highly impossible if these lives ever met, had it not been for the accident.

The characters are well defined. We see a glamorous reporter who manages to be in the boat by herself right after the wreck. The earthy Constance finds more from this experience than with her own work. Kovac, is the rough sailor who takes command. Gus, the injured sailor can’t do much more but rely on happy moments in order to keep sane after his terrible predicament. Willy, the devious German, who the group rescues, has an agenda, but the others are too involved in their own problems to see right through this man. Sparks and Alice finally find peace and love with one another. The rich man, Rittenhouse realizes his money is not worth anything if they are not rescued soon.

Hitchcock’s direction is what made “Lifeboat” the fine movie, and the classic it became. In a way, the ending is completely anti-climatic as the survivors realize Willy, the captain has steered them into a trap, but at the same time, after they watch the other German ship destroyed by an Allied vessel, they rescue a sailor, who threatens them, but is easily overpowered. We never see them saved, but we know they will be taken care by the approaching ship.

Tallulah Bankhead is excellent as Constance. In fact, her performance is perhaps exaggerated in order to convey the sophistication of the character. Little by little she is reduced to nothing as she loses all her material possessions, so dear to her and accepts the reality of the situation. John Hodiak, as Kovac, offers a mysterious side, as well as commanding power. William Bendix as Gus, offers a man who keeps thinking about happier times with his girlfriend.

Walter Slezak’s performance is also equally satisfying. We know from the beginning he is hiding things from the people in the boat, but at the same time, he offers their only salvation. Hume Cronyn, an actor that worked with Hitchcock in a few movies, is good as Sparks. Mary Anderson is the sweet Alice who acts as a balancing agent. Henry Hull and Canada Lee, round out the magnificent cast of the film.

This is a Hitchcock film that deserves to be seen more often, for it offers tremendous rewards to its viewers.

A Hitchcock film that doesn’t hold up as well as most of his movies.

“Lifeboat” is a film that is difficult to compare to most of Alfred Hitchcock’s other films. This is because it clearly was designed much more as a propaganda film than a typical Hitchcock movie. Because of this, it’s far less timeless than his other pictures.

The story is very, very simple…a group of passengers from a ship all take shelter in a lifeboat. Among them is a German sailor from the ship that sank them, as the ship managed to take out the sub as it was sinking. Can the people survive AND can they trust that German?

The main problems with the film now is that because it is all set aboard a lifeboat, the film seems much more static than usual. In addition, many of the characters seem less developed than usual…as if they are meant to be propaganda archetypes instead of believable people….again because it was made during WWII. As a result, the film is quite watchable but far from great or among his better films.

By the way, my daughter was reading up on the public’s reaction to the film. Apparently, many people were angry about the film and felt the Germans were portrayed way too positively. I can only assume these people NEVER saw the film, as the German aboard the lifeboat is scum…and the film makes no bones about that!