Lifeboat

*There was an issue with my Shadow of a Doubt disc, so I skipped it to watch the next Alfred Hitchcock film on my list: Lifeboat.

"Dying together's even more personal than living together."

When a passenger ship, and the German U-boat that attacked it, sink, the survivors take refuge in the final remaining lifeboat.  The three women and six men, a combination of passengers and crew from both ships:

• The renown journalist, Connie Porter (Bankhead), with an opinion about everything
• The nurse, Alice MacKenzie (Anderson), who doesn't want to reach her destination
• The disillusioned mother, Mrs. Higley (Heather Angel), who refuses to believe her baby is dead
• The millionaire, Ritt (Hull), who is used to getting his way
• The American sailor, Kovac (Hodiak) that thinks he knows everything
• The helmsman, Sparks (Cronyn), looking for love
• The injured sailor, Gus (Bendix), who longs to dance again
• The steward, Joe (Lee), who wants to keep the peace
• And their captive, Willy (Slezak) the German sailor they rescued who seems to have his own plan

...must stick together to survive... since they are in the middle of the ocean, off course, with no idea when they will be rescued.  Problems arise as they decide on leadership and what to do with Willy...


I'm not sure how many times I've said it, but Alfred Hitchcock is a filmic genius!  How many directors have the vision to shoot a full-length film in a single location, let alone one as secluded as a lifeboat.  But it works here, with the audience feeling all the tension and panic of the cast.  I was unfamiliar with the cast, but they made the characters come alive.

Even though the premise is great, the film feels a little dated.  There are great moments, but it could have been better.  Good, but not great.  Not sure how to feel about the ending...


Lifeboat (1944) 97 minutes
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Starring: Tallulah Bankhead as Connie Porter
John Hodiak as Kovac
William Bendix as Gus
Henry Hull as Rittenhouse
Walter Slezak as Willy
Mary Anderson as Alice MacKenzie
Hume Cronyn as Sparks
Canada Lee as Joe